I was sitting in class when I noticed Adam standing at the window looking intently out. I saw a long streak of jet-black cloud, almost cartoonishly so. I jumped up over to the window, which took up most of the broad wall. More distinctly black clouds stretched out to the right, and I instantly recognized it as true tornado weather. The classroom started chattering as Adam and I looked nervously up and down the street. Suddenly, he pointed to the far right and shouted "Look, there!" There were four or five tornadoes touching down simultaneously! They looked like they were drawn in, like animated chalk lines superimposed over the scenery. I didn't panic yet because there was no destruction going on at any of the points of contact. I crossed my fingers, but just as I was starting to relax, I saw some funnels touch down on our side of the street and start breaking trees. Adam said, "Oh no, that's the Brook House!" as a tornado touched down on the building where I lived, and where my sister also had an apartment.

Panic started to grip me, and I instinctively turned, bent low, put my hands over my head, and ran for the doorway. It was just in time, as the window blew inward, shattering glass which cut my left hand at the knuckle. It even hurt for a couple seconds, but I just kept running. I saw a heavy red couch at the back of the room and scrambled behind it, now on all fours. All the while, wind and glass kept vortexing into the room, which was so swirling now with debris that I could barely see if other people were safe. All I could think about was the building collapsing under the force of the winds, so I knew I couldn't wait it out where I was. I grabbed the couch, which now became a light, unfolded futon, and ran out the door into the hallways.

I knew there must be a courtyard somewhere in the middle of the school without a roof, so I walked briskly up and down the hallways, still shielding myself with the futon just in case. Although it seemed like the threat of glass was over, it was still raining and blowing heavily so the building was still in danger. It seemed that the school also housed army training courses, and lots of uniformed young men were roaming the halls. I finally found an open area, but the rain was too much. I decided to find a way out for good. I reached a dead end in the hallway and turned around, when I ran into some of the classmates. One guy said, "Look around for anything with alternating steps, we need a makeshift ladder." They kept walking in the opposite direction. I intently scanned the walls as I headed towards what I hoped was the exit, but other than a few metal barrier pieces that were too short for ladders, I didn't see anything and felt like I was letting them down.

Finally, the hallway opened up to the downtown. The skyline seemed intact other than a few broken windows. Suddenly, I saw a large building tipped over and swaying dangerously back and forth, right across the street from me! I stepped back reflexively, but that's when I noticed it was swaying in increments, like a neon sign. Finally, I realized that it was only an animated display on the side of a large bus, advertising an amusement park that had a leaning building just like in the picture. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I considered heading to the subway entrance just to my right, when I remembered I should check on my sister first. I was still holding the futon.

In the next dream, Adam and I were part of a mafia outfit. We were in a barber shop waiting to perform a hit on one of our own guys who had become a dangerous loose cannon. We hid before the guy came in, and he looked like a young punk, maybe 20 or so, with a blonde bowl haircut. He was skinny and kind of goofy looking, but we knew he was a psychotic killer. When the barber put a hot towel over his face before shaving, Adam sneaked over and whispered in the barber's ear. He put a gun on the chair and told the barber to shoot the mark as soon as he took off the towel. I thought it was a terrible plan, but after a few moments, I realized it was probably just a distraction ploy. When the towel came off, the mark immediately saw the "gun," which was bright metallic blue and looked almost like a toy. He shouted for us to "come out" and walked angrily over to the window to look for snipers.

Adam jumped out from behind a doorway and threw a rubber ball at the mark, distracting him. When he turned around, Adam had a lighter and hairspray, and he let loose a flame directly onto the mark's face. He screamed and collapsed in the corner. I grabbed the blue gun, which now just looked like a long cylinder, and pushed a button on top. Hairspray came out. Adam said, "Yeah, I don't know where I got that from." By this time, the flames had gone out and the mark had recovered. He ran to for the door, but I grabbed him just as he was opening it. Suddenly, the barber rattled off a bunch of shots from a machine gun and the mark went down. I jumped back, screaming, "What the heck man?" I was just lucky not to get hit. Amazingly, the mark got up and, slumping slightly, managed to get his hand on the doorknob. A couple was outside, and we recognized the guy as a rival gang member who the mark had also worked for. The mark shouted, "No, please!" as the guy outside pulled out a machine gun. He shot the mark point blank in the face about half a dozen times, laughed, and walked off. I turned away, not wanting to see how horrible he must have looked after that. Somehow, he was still alive and Adam took the time to taunt him. Amazed at his resilience, I slowly turned back to look. His face was totally fine! It was then that I decided this must be a cheap TV show and they couldn't afford good special effects.

posted by Larry at 10:07 AM