The Girl with the Yellow Eyes

I’m now in China for 3 weeks, and here lies the first of any dreams that might come my way. Last night I awoke at 2am from a disturbing nightmare featuring my daughter Lucinda. The house we were staying in was a combination of Heartbreak Hotel and the Newcastle house from my childhood. We (my family) were all sleeping in the downstairs bedroom, which was my younger sisters’ shared bedroom from that latter property.

I awoke in a panic, realising my daughter was missing, nothing but crumpled sheets in her bed remaining. I tried to turn the lights on, but the electricity had been cut, and I fumbled blindly along the walls. I had a horrible feeling in my chest that something awful had occurred. Without waking Li, I groped my way out of the room, trying other lights in the house as I went without success.

I eventually made it upstairs and along the extension to my old bedroom, where Dana was sleeping. Next to my old room was a low crawlspace, extending back quite some distance. It could only be reached by getting down and sliding in on one’s belly. Inside, a duvet had been laid out, and on this bed was Lulu, asleep.

I whispered her name loudly and woke her, asking what she was doing up there. She told me the girl with the yellow eyes had taken her here. My heart went cold and I asked who she was. “My friend” was her reply. I assumed she had been dreaming and sleepwalking, but my skin prickled all over and I asked whether she was with us now. The question was ignored.

I crawled inside to retrieve Lulu but became wedged by my shoulders in the process. I had a claustrophobic panic attack and thrashed around like a trapped animal. After freeing myself, I took to drastic measures and grabbed my daughter by the ankles. I dragged her out this way, only for her to lunge for my throat and begin throttling me with an inhuman strength. I managed to pull her off, and saw that her face had taken on a ghastly aspect. All her features were puckered together, as though a vacuum cleaner had sucked them forward.

I tried to scream to wake someone and predictably, no sound came out of my throat. Being next to Dana’s room, I woke her. As another sufferer of sleepwalking, I hoped she might have some explanation as to what was happening to Lulu. Eventually, Lulu’s features returned to normal and I carried her back downstairs. However, the nightmare was not over.

Upon reaching the room, Lulu attacked me again, and we were forced to wake the rest of the household and enlist outside help. Skip forward, and a team of clergy and scientists had taken over matters, assuring us they would get to the bottom of it. A priest told me she had been possessed by the spirit of a dead man, some John something or other, I’ve already forgotten his surname.

I went to check on her, and found her lying on her back under a big sheet of clear plastic, a female scientist injecting a yellow liquid into her eyes with a huge syringe. When asked what the meaning of this was, the scientist said it was necessary to purge the evil. Lulu began to moan, then complain that she was blind and couldn’t see. I rushed over and saw a yellow wormlike parasite burrowing around under her eyeballs, occasionally poking out its head. The scientist held a pair of tweezers and tried to extract it, but wasn’t quick enough.

Then Lulu sat bolt upright and grabbed me by the throat again, choking me more violently than before. Her face had returned to the same awful, puckered features, now and again flashing into those of the man who possessed her. I punched him in the face in an effort to ward him off, all the while conscious that I was probably hurting my own daughter. I awoke before the exorcism was completed.

I tried to piece together the narrative in my head, if it even had one, remembering the ‘girl with the yellow eyes.’ I wondered if she was the ghost of a previous possession victim whose eyes had also been injected with that yellow liquid.

Zoological Discoveries on the Ice Moon

I only remember the latter half of this dream, and it involved visiting a museum where I watched a Moon landing's live broadcast, transmitted in real time. I don't understand how I was seeing this, but it was like viewing an aquarium exhibit, with the Moon's atmosphere on the other side of the glass. Don't question the tech, I suppose. It was an Ice Moon, with an Antarctic landscape, all sheer ice and frozen seas. Two lads from a council estate were pratting around on the ice in the vicinity of the landed rocket, throwing large amounts of garbage around. It angered me that these chavs were given the responsbility of such an important mission. For the first time, animal life had been found in space, and the moment was sullied by hooliganism. The Moon was covered in penguins, the same species found on planet Earth, Humboldt's, I believe. This debunked the theory that all alien life must inevitably be different. 

I walked along the gallery, watching the penguins on the ice and diving into the water. Then it was boundless oceans and teetering icefloes. Off in the distance, beyond a colony of penguins, I spied the spiral tusk of a narwhal rising from the floes. So life here was just as it was on Earth, sort of - narwhals are native to the northern climes. Then I saw something different, primeval, and my heart was all a flutter with excitement. These were prehistoric relics, animals long extint on our planet. They looked like long-necked Pliosaurs, poking their snouts up from the sea, almost vertically. Their needle-like teeth jutted from their snouts, and on the heads and necks of the males were bristling red dragon quills. I watched in awe at the majesty of these terrifying beasts as they snatched penguins mid-dive, and performed their courtship rituals. 

I continued around the tank and saw smaller dinosaurs underwater. One was a Parasauralophus, running along the bottom of the tank like a hippo. It was far smaller than traditionally portrayed, so perhaps a juvenile. That, or we got it all wrong about dinosaur mass. One of the Pliosaurs dived down to the bottom and made a lunge for the parasaur. In the corner of the tank, wrapped protectively around a clutch of fish-like eggs, was a small, herbivorous dinosaur, Dryosaurus maybe, trying hard to camouflage itself from the predators. Being up close to the glass, I saw that it was covered in printed code, and I realised it was a sophisticated robot. More people turned up, and an annoying woman started screaming about the Pliosaurus, shouting that there were hundreds and thousands of them. 

London Adventures

I really enjoyed this latest dream. It started with me in a London pub, complete with a courtyard, in a slightly more secluded location than is typical of the scene. I was with Li, and my friends Darren and Irina. Spike and Druisilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer were also there, and I instantly hit it off with them both. We drank into the late hours of the night, and Li ordered tailored suits for both Spike and myself. In the end, we decided to sleep in the pub, and the landlord grudgingly obliged, moving aside tables and putting down sleeping bags. Obviously, he wasn't going to argue with two evil vampires. The next day, feeling a bit worse for wear, I awoke and told everyone about my amazing evening and new friends. Spike and Dru slept through the day, but we had plans to meet up again that same evening to carry on. 

In the meantime, I took my leave of Darren and Irina and struck off into the city alone to do some exploring. I don't know what happened to Li and Lulu. After a while, I noticed I was being followed. The day after my dream, I had a very clear impression of my stalker. He was male, and of human appearance, but moved in such a way as to denote the demonic. Now, however, my memory of him is more hazy. His lurching movements were accompanied by a frightening, sharp string-like musical motif, such as might be heard in a horror film. His body appeared almost segmented, like his torso was sliding back and forth from his hips. He wore a gilded suit, which reminded me of something mechanical.

He followed me into a shopping centre, and here was the maze wherein I could attempt to lose him. In and out of shops, up and down escalators I went. Eventually, after many clever maneuvers in the backrooms of the complex, I gave him the slip in Debenhams and quietly left the shopping centre via a hidden fire exit. This was risky, as there would be no witnesses around if he cornered and killed me, which I was convinced was his intention. I heard the horror music begin to play again... With legs feeling like jelly, I rounded the corner of the alley and broke line of sight. Then I was back into the crowded thick of the city, making with haste for the pub. 

Once there, I was disappointed to learn that Spike and Dru had split, and two other friends from Colchester had arrived to take their place. We tried to recreate the jollity of the night before, but as I was slighlty hungover still, and the company of the newcomers was, quite frankly, odious, we did not reach the heights of revelry hitherto attained. They wanted to sleep in the pub, but I was over that gig, and desired of nothing more than collecting my daughter from a fictitious relative's house (so that's where she was) and getting out of town. The vine had run its course, and this tourst longed for hearth and home. 

I arrived at Li's relative's swanky townhouse in a well-to-do part of London and picked up Lulu. We were to take a hackney carriage to the station. A hackney carriage is a fictitious contraption somewhere between a taxi and an old fashioned horse and carriage. Shaped like a small, two person gig with no horses attached, and powered by a motor controlled by foot pedals, the idea is to maintain one's balance and use gestures and subtle leanings to direct the vehicle. I loaded up the luggage in the back, climbed aboard with Lulu, and waved goodbye to the overbearing relatives. Then we were cutting through the streets, dodging pedestrians and traffic, station bound. Several times I lost my balance in the hackney carriage and had to stick a leg out to stabilise it in the manner of a bicycle come to a stop. It took some getting used to, but Lulu seemed to be enjoying the experience.

Eventually I got the hang of the thing, but not before I heard the dreaded strings of my relentless pursuer. I sadly awoke before an andrenaline pumping carriage chase could begin.