The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Barrow-Down Dreams

alatar · 08-25-2008, 11:00 AM

It was just another somewhat sleepless night, with a few Tolkien-related dreams thrown in...

It was somewhere in the middle of the night - I'd gotten to bed late and had already been up once - when Frodo and I were on the run from some assorted orcs and a troll or two. I was seeing the scene from the Sam point-of-view, and oddly I looked more like Sean Astin than myself. So I'm trying to get Frodo to MOVE! and yet my master seemed to be interested in every little leaf and twig that we passed. I knew that the pursuit was close, as, like in the recent Olympic marathons, the track near the end of the race doubled back on itself, and so one could see one's pursuers across the barriers. The barriers in this LotR dream world were just a line of trees and shrubs, and even these were few and far between, but luckily for me, the orcs and trolls felt obliged to stay on the track, and so even though they were right across the barrier, I knew that I still had a few moments before they caught up to me and Frodo, as they would have to continue down the track a bit before making the return loop. Frodo continued his meandering, and I hoped that I could keep him moving and that we, like at the Olympics, were nearing the end of the race. But what was that smell...?

***
I awoke to the smell of a skunk. There's something about those mercaptans that can raise the dead. Thought that someone had left the dog into the house after she'd been skunked, so got out of bed to investigate. All windows and doors were closed; nothing in the ductwork; I sniffed the dog, and she was fine; I checked both the front and back porches to see if we had some nocturnal visitor, and eventually gave up, figuring that somewhere upwind a skunk met its end. Went back to bed to try again to get some sleep.
***

It was a field of surpassing beauty. It was snow-covered, though the snow was whiter than I had ever seen, whiter than any white ever. But there were colors as well; greens, reds and blues in HD. It was incredibly vivid, and yet calming. There were these tree-like things that were like dandelion seeded clocks, and though large, waved in the wind like sea anenomes. I was awed; the fronds, if they be so called, waved as if caught in slow ocean waves. As I looked more closely, the entire structure/tree - and there were a few of them - made shapes just like the one sees when seeing clouds blown across the sky. This particular one appeared as a galloping white horse, and I immediately thought of the horse heads in the Flooding of the Bruinen. It was so cool and peaceful and spellbinding. I had my camera with me, and with much excitement went to capture this environment, wondering if the Downs accepted QuickTime movie format uploads (as still pictures just wouldn't be enough).

Of course, my camera was out of batteries. I left the scene, now seeing a road that led up a hill. At the top of the hill there was a convenience store, and I figured that I could get my batteries there and then return to capture the footage of what Lothlorien *should* have looked like in Peter Jackson's version. I began looking for the 'battery aisle,' and then noticed a person approaching the door of the store from the parking lot. The person was masked and hooded - I could not see a face, and I suddenly knew that the person was about to rob the place. Being close to the door, I went over and turned the latch while yelling to the manager that we were about to be robbed. The masked/hooded robber pulled a gun and began shooting out the glass in the door. A bullet grazed my abdomen, leaving a stinging trail as it passed and then adding a warmth from the small amount of blood that began to flow. I thought not much of it as the bullet must have been very small caliber - we here would call it a "slug" shot from a "BB gun" - and the robber was having a tough go of shooting out the glass. Across the storefront there was another door, and I went to lock that door as well.

But the other robbers were already there. I didn't get a chance to lock the door before this hooded robber began shooting through the glass. This gun was larger caliber, and the first shot knocked out a large hole in the door, and shards of metal and glass into me.

I retreated to another aisle, and the group of bad guys entered, passing by, and I felt just like Barliman in PJ's FotR, hoping that they would just rob the place and pass me by. Which they did, at first, but as I had yelled out, "Go ahead, take what you want and go!" - it wasn't my store - maybe I had attracted attention to myself. Another man came by and pulled out a knife, and held it menacingly towards me. He looked Dunlandish, which I thought odd. He said something, and I tried to distract him while I focused on the knife approaching throat level, hoping to get a chance to knock it from his hand. He turned away at a noise, and I smacked his hand upward. The knife flew up and hit the soft-tiled ceiling, and I hoped that it would have stuck there, but it bounced and dropped and landed right beside us on a cookie display. He looked at me; I at him and we both went for the knife...

***
There was a knock at the front door. The clock indicated that it was 6:45 AM, and no one was expected. I was already dressed, and so ran down the stairs to the front door. It was a local police officer knocking, who apologized for disturbing me, but just wanted me to know that our van door, parked in the driveway, was open. He said that it looked like nothing was missing (I wouldn't have cared if there were as the van is perpetually filled with kid stuff), but one never knew. I figured that this officer was new, as someone who will not be mentioned routinely leaves the van door open. The officer was very nice as he retrieved and handed me the morning paper. Like anyone who shows up, I asked if he were interesting in watching the kids, but he said, "No way," and he ran off to his car and sped away.

After that, my heart was racing too much to sleep, and the kids were up wanting to know who was at the door, and so we started another day.

08-25-2008, 11:00 AM	#39
alatar Doubting Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Heaven's basement Posts: 2,466	Tangential Tolkien Terrors It was just another somewhat sleepless night, with a few Tolkien-related dreams thrown in... It was somewhere in the middle of the night - I'd gotten to bed late and had already been up once - when Frodo and I were on the run from some assorted orcs and a troll or two. I was seeing the scene from the Sam point-of-view, and oddly I looked more like Sean Astin than myself. So I'm trying to get Frodo to MOVE! and yet my master seemed to be interested in every little leaf and twig that we passed. I knew that the pursuit was close, as, like in the recent Olympic marathons, the track near the end of the race doubled back on itself, and so one could see one's pursuers across the barriers. The barriers in this LotR dream world were just a line of trees and shrubs, and even these were few and far between, but luckily for me, the orcs and trolls felt obliged to stay on the track, and so even though they were right across the barrier, I knew that I still had a few moments before they caught up to me and Frodo, as they would have to continue down the track a bit before making the return loop. Frodo continued his meandering, and I hoped that I could keep him moving and that we, like at the Olympics, were nearing the end of the race. But what was that smell...? * I awoke to the smell of a skunk. There's something about those mercaptans that can raise the dead. Thought that someone had left the dog into the house after she'd been skunked, so got out of bed to investigate. All windows and doors were closed; nothing in the ductwork; I sniffed the dog, and she was fine; I checked both the front and back porches to see if we had some nocturnal visitor, and eventually gave up, figuring that somewhere upwind a skunk met its end. Went back to bed to try again to get some sleep. * It was a field of surpassing beauty. It was snow-covered, though the snow was whiter than I had ever seen, whiter than any white ever. But there were colors as well; greens, reds and blues in HD. It was incredibly vivid, and yet calming. There were these tree-like things that were like dandelion seeded clocks, and though large, waved in the wind like sea anenomes. I was awed; the fronds, if they be so called, waved as if caught in slow ocean waves. As I looked more closely, the entire structure/tree - and there were a few of them - made shapes just like the one sees when seeing clouds blown across the sky. This particular one appeared as a galloping white horse, and I immediately thought of the horse heads in the Flooding of the Bruinen. It was so cool and peaceful and spellbinding. I had my camera with me, and with much excitement went to capture this environment, wondering if the Downs accepted QuickTime movie format uploads (as still pictures just wouldn't be enough). Of course, my camera was out of batteries. I left the scene, now seeing a road that led up a hill. At the top of the hill there was a convenience store, and I figured that I could get my batteries there and then return to capture the footage of what Lothlorien should have looked like in Peter Jackson's version. I began looking for the 'battery aisle,' and then noticed a person approaching the door of the store from the parking lot. The person was masked and hooded - I could not see a face, and I suddenly knew that the person was about to rob the place. Being close to the door, I went over and turned the latch while yelling to the manager that we were about to be robbed. The masked/hooded robber pulled a gun and began shooting out the glass in the door. A bullet grazed my abdomen, leaving a stinging trail as it passed and then adding a warmth from the small amount of blood that began to flow. I thought not much of it as the bullet must have been very small caliber - we here would call it a "slug" shot from a "BB gun" - and the robber was having a tough go of shooting out the glass. Across the storefront there was another door, and I went to lock that door as well. But the other robbers were already there. I didn't get a chance to lock the door before this hooded robber began shooting through the glass. This gun was larger caliber, and the first shot knocked out a large hole in the door, and shards of metal and glass into me. I retreated to another aisle, and the group of bad guys entered, passing by, and I felt just like Barliman in PJ's FotR, hoping that they would just rob the place and pass me by. Which they did, at first, but as I had yelled out, "Go ahead, take what you want and go!" - it wasn't my store - maybe I had attracted attention to myself. Another man came by and pulled out a knife, and held it menacingly towards me. He looked Dunlandish, which I thought odd. He said something, and I tried to distract him while I focused on the knife approaching throat level, hoping to get a chance to knock it from his hand. He turned away at a noise, and I smacked his hand upward. The knife flew up and hit the soft-tiled ceiling, and I hoped that it would have stuck there, but it bounced and dropped and landed right beside us on a cookie display. He looked at me; I at him and we both went for the knife... *** There was a knock at the front door. The clock indicated that it was 6:45 AM, and no one was expected. I was already dressed, and so ran down the stairs to the front door. It was a local police officer knocking, who apologized for disturbing me, but just wanted me to know that our van door, parked in the driveway, was open. He said that it looked like nothing was missing (I wouldn't have cared if there were as the van is perpetually filled with kid stuff), but one never knew. I figured that this officer was new, as someone who will not be mentioned routinely leaves the van door open. The officer was very nice as he retrieved and handed me the morning paper. Like anyone who shows up, I asked if he were interesting in watching the kids, but he said, "No way," and he ran off to his car and sped away. After that, my heart was racing too much to sleep, and the kids were up wanting to know who was at the door, and so we started another day. __________________ There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it.