5th
Strange dream last night…
I was coming in to port on a long, narrow boat. My father was there. I looked into the sky, and saw dozens and dozens of helicopters, each with heavy silver cables attached to their frames. The cables, however, did not hang down below the helicopters, but rather, they stretched up and disappeared into the clouds above the helicopters.
As I watched, one of the helicopters began to weave drunkenly from side to side, performing half-barrel rolls with each oscillation, until it finally turned completely upside-down and came hurtling towards the water - and our boat. Fortunately (for us), the helicopter hit the water in front of our boat, and was immediately swallowed by the dark water. I stood on the railing, prepared to leap into the water to assist anyone I saw, but I could see neither struggling crew members, nor pieces of the shattered transport.
Rescue crews were, by that time, arriving, so I disembarked onto the dock, rather than stay to help (I’m not that strong a swimmer to begin with). It was a strange, pseudo-futuristic dockside. Buildings in the distance appeared to be constructed of very gothic and dark steel, and heavy clouds hung overhead, black shot through with fiery orange and red.
There was a young girl, perhaps eight, wandering around, and I realized she was looking for her (father? mother?) parent. I suspected the object of her search had been in the helicopter. Before I knew it, she was clinging to me tightly, and I was carrying her to the site of the downed helicopter. She was tall (for her age) and skinny, but surprisingly light; I carried her with almost no effort at all.
We arrived at the dock, and looked out to where the rescue crews were still working. I watched one worker reach into the thick, black water and I discovered the source of its darkness: the bay was completely choked with dead leaves. They lay, tangled and thick, from just below the surface of the water, all the way to the floor. The worker pushed armfuls of rotted and water-logged leaves aside, and revealed a body. He grabbed the corpse, and yanked it from the water.
My concern now returned to the young girl in my arms. If her parent(s) had been on this helicopter, they were now long gone, and she should not be here watching when some anonymous stranger shifted a clotted mountain of leaves to reveal her father or mother lying white and still beneath the surface of the water. I turned, the young girl’s arms still locked tightly around my neck, and walked away.
