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Welcome to Thus Say the Prophets!
This is the retelling of a disturbing dream my wife had last night (9.06.09). She's a private person and seldom shares such things publicly however this dream was powerful and greatly disturbed her so she wrote it out and allowed me share what she wrote:
Dream:
I have been to a concert at the north of San Francisco. It is later, and I'm on a BART train heading into the city. I partially hear something in the background - perhaps a conversation. Something like 'they are to use their knives'. It doesn't seem to be important though, so I don't pay much attention.
Now I'm walking down a street in San Francisco. At the end of a block, I hear a news report coming from somewhere overhead. It says '...communication has been intercepted. The Islamists [sic] are to use their knives only...". I know this means they are to use knives, specifically NOT guns. When I hear this, I duck into a nearby shop.
The shop is tiny, as are many in San Francisco. There is an almost empty knife display case at the end of the counter. The proprietor had been down a set of stairs behind the counter, at the opposite end of the counter from the knife display, whispering to another man standing by a doorway. This is a second doorway to the shop and while it looks like it leads to the owner's living quarters, I don't really know where it leads. I think to myself he looks Muslim, but perhaps he has not heard the message yet. He walks to where I am and asks in a friendly way if he can help me. I ask what knives he has left, and he has three different ones - $5, $29, and $45. I say I'll have one of each, please. As he puts them on the counter I realize I have only $50 .. not the $100 I thought I'd had since I'd bought an airplane ticket before coming into the shop. The shop owner/keeper is called away by someone else to that other doorway ... this time he's talking to what I think is his wife, who's head (covered by a hajib) is just peeking out the door and who, I think, has a young child hiding behind her skirt on the other side of that door.
I could have paid for the two smaller knives, but put all three into my backpack and quickly walk out the door of the shop. I may need them to defend my life. When I am a few doors away, I hear him yelling "you can take them now, but you will have to return them to the counter before you die!" I gulp and continue walking swiftly, pretending not to have heard. I know the bloodshed will start at any moment - but has not started yet. No one else outside seems alarmed or even worried. Yet.
Either first hand, or as scenes from a movie, I see the following:
Three immense dirigibles/air ships appearing over the hills surrounding San Francisco. They each have a different shape. One is green, and round - perhaps clover shaped. They are FAR larger than any hot air balloon and each is full of male Muslim warriors.
At an intersection in San Francisco with no traffic, Muslims dressed mostly in American garb (with turbans) come from one direction. A slightly smaller number of non-Muslims meet them from the opposite direction (the direction I'm in). Both sides are armed with knives ... long ones. I cannot hear what's being said but I know the non-Muslims are being told to revert and say the Shahada (acknowledge that there is but one god, Allah, and that Mohammed is his prophet) or die.
A larger street-scene with many more people. Dead and severely injured people in the streets. Blood on the streets and, mostly, on the injured and dying. Muslims stabbing and killing people as they come out of stores and houses. The Muslims have blood running down their knives and down their forearms onto the streets and sidewalks as they advance. When presented with the option to become Muslim or die, some choose to revert. At that point (this is a dream, remember?) they become like zombies and begin hunting those of us who are still alive and not Muslim. Some even become pale and look like zombies in movies, becoming mindless killers. The truly dangerous ones, though, are the ones that continue to look and act just like us -- then make their move.
A school playground on a corner. Night has fallen. The blacktop is marked off with lines for basketball and, nearer the buildings, for foursquare. There are no people present. There are 15 - 20 huge dogs there - brindle great danes and mastiff mixes, other mixed-breed dogs as well. They walk around singly or in small groups, milling about or patrolling. While I see no one, I know the people are afraid there are dogs on both sides also, and that they (the people) will be attacked. The people don't realize the dogs are ALL, every one of them, loyal to the American non-Muslim side.
At dusk, in a park that may be Golden Gate park, on a dirt road, I see a few Muslims with knives looking for non-Muslims. They do not see any. There is one Muslim fighting a bear with his knife. The bear does not understand, but will die anyway.
*****
Rewind a bit: it is shortly after I have run off with the three knives. No one has been killed yet. My family is south of here. In order to find and be with them, I will have to get through all of San Francisco, much of San Mateo County, Santa Clara County including San Jose, and continue through more cities. While heroes in books and movies could and would do that, I'm just me and not an action hero. I know I want to "go home" and be sure my family is safe, but I would not make it and so should go north where the fighting will not be nearly as intense.
It is beginning to get dark and I am on foot moving north. It is very quiet. Almost no one else is outside. Just past the school where the large dogs will soon be, I see perhaps a dozen other adults and young adults coming out of a side-entrance to the University. They are merging onto the almost empty street where I walk. They also know what's about to happen though no one speaks much. At this point, I know the slaughter is going to begin at 9 pm local time - and that will be soon. Some of these people walk with me for awhile. Although we are walking together, there is some distance between each of us ... just in case. We are alert to any sudden movement, and a little scared of anyone else we see. Anyone could be "one of them". Someone in this group I'm walking with tells us that part of the message had been that "they were not to swear or use profane language". I tell myself I must remember this, it is important.
Shortly after this, I meet up with a good friend I haven't seen in many months. After we check each other out, I get into her station wagon with her family and we continue going north. She has no weapons, so I give her my second best knife. I hold onto the best for myself and the smallest as a backup - or for another unarmed person if I feel led. The freeways alternate between being abandoned and being packed full of cars. It feels very strange indeed. At one point we are searching desperately for the 3 quarters we'll need to get past a toll basket. Eventually I find them.
As we are finally out of the Bay area, my friend takes an offramp to a gigantic parking lot. The lot is fully manned just like it would be before a big Giants baseball game - parking attendants in vests, orange cones, people being directed to go to specific locations in their cars, etc. As we approach the main gate, I hear a couple of the workers who are moving (or working on) two abandoned cars not far from our line. One says "oh shit" and the other says something similar. I feel a sense of relief, knowing they are not part of the Muslim wave/attack.
The building we are directed to is in a spiraling cone shape. We don't know if we'll be allowed in. When we get to the gate, the attendant there tells my friend there is room for 2 in a 3 bedroom and 1 in a 2 bedroom. The rooms are near the top. Although there are actually 5 of us in the car, this will work out fine and we are so relieved that we're almost happy. We have "made the cut". This place should be safe since there's only one way in and its WELL guarded. I am still not entirely convinced because there is NO other way out, and if they get in.... well, then, that's the end.
My friend is settling her family in their room(s). Now I'm on foot inside the building, near the top where our rooms are, and I walk past other people's rooms. There are no doors on the open doorways. I try not to look inside the rooms, but cannot help noticing two or three different rooms, each with a young baby on oxygen. No one else is in these rooms except the infant. The walkway passes a counter that may have once been used to sell snacks, but now there's a young woman in a nurses uniform there, writing notes on a clipboard. As I come up to her, I can see by her name tag that she's a student nurse. I stop and tell her that I'm WAY out of practice and haven't worked in years, but that I am a registered nurse. If they need the help. She smiles and looks friendly and tells me she'll call me "_______________". I don't remember the name now, but it was one letter off from hers and several syllables long. She says not to use "country of origin" or any other identifiers. She'll pass my information along and is sure they'll be happy to have my help.
A few minutes later I get back to where my friend's room is. She says "oh, hey, Andrea - they were looking for you to help out just now" and then I see two normal looking American people, dressed in white, outside the door. Almost immediately one is on my left side and the other is on my right and I'm walking out the door back into the walkway. Within a few steps, each has hold of one of my elbows and I realize they are not what they seem. They had NOT used the name the student nurse had given me, and I don't think I'd given anyone there my real name (which they knew). I was in real trouble.
Here's where I woke up, fully alert and a bit alarmed.
Having all you can to stand... STAND!
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