Dreaming #Covid_19

Two nights ago, I experienced my first Covid-related dream. Often, if a dream is memorable enough to stay in your mind for hours after waking, you realise its fragmented storyline was a weaving together of snippets out of your previous day, things you’ve read or experienced in the past, and whatever is your present chief preoccupation.

My pandemic dream was interesting, to say the least. Someone had drilled through rock layers and accidentally released the Covid-19 virus from the age of dinosaurs into our time. Thus scientists concluded that this virus caused dinosaurs’ extinction —  the event known as Cretaceous-Tertiary — and would be the cause of humanity’s extinction, too. I thought to myself (still in my dream), Okay, this thing is too big to fight, so best to enjoy myself while I can, out in the sunshine hopefully prolonging my life with Vitamin D. Then I went on to dream about a rather fine Jaguar convertible sports car.

Isn’t the mind great? I realised the drilling part of my dream originated from the fact that several oil drillers had started following me on Instagram, despite my profile making it clear that I am into conservation and nature. Of course, if you’re into eco stuff, you’re bound to think about extinction quite a lot, so the dinosaur theme is a logical extension of this. As for the car, I have long held the mistaken belief that oil comes from dead dinosaurs: however, since my dream, I have discovered it comes from decayed marine organisms. Never too late to learn!

Has anyone else had any Covid-related dreams they would like to share?

Friday Fictioneers — Yumi and the Gods

This week’s photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers, courtesy of Ted Strutz, brought to mind one of my poems (a secret favourite of mine) that I published on my blog a couple of years ago. The poem is a progressive haiku centred around the phases of the moon and contains the names of two Japanese Shinto deities: Tsukuyomi the Moon God, and Amaterasu the Sun Goddess. I’ve sandwiched this poem between two short pieces of prose, producing a story within a story.

For newcomers to Friday Fictioneers, the challenge requires you to produce a story of 100 words (maximum). It’s worth noting that according to WordPress and to my word processor, compound adjectives and nouns count as one word and not two, although only if you hyphenate them. As a Brit, I love hyphens 😉

YUMI AND THE GODS

The ghost-ferry headed for the shore, each of its passengers’ experiences unique en route to the afterlife and dependent upon their main focus at the moment of their taking.

Yumi was looking heavenward…

under cutglass stars
she dreams of Tsukuyomi
new moon love potion

nocturnal circus
leg draped over crescent moon
girl hangs upside down

gibbous halfway house
shadow night crickets gossip
she needs sedating

full moon tree-trunk spin
naked dancing on silver
she coruscates dew

blackbird sings her home
waning moon ambushed by dawn
Amaterasu

The gods awarded Yumi first prize for her dream and allowed her to live.

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To read other Friday Fictioneers’ stories for this week, or to add a 100-word story of your own, please click on the blue frog below.

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