leosdreamjournal

[leosdreamjournal]

the events in this post are not real! they were dreamt up (by me). enjoy!

i was a part of a traveling group of fugitives/runaways traveling by rail. we were all relatively young, with the youngest being around early high school age and the oldest around early 20s, if i had to guess. i don't know why we were on the run, but it must have been something important because of later events involving a conspiracy and a cracked code.

the first part of our trip was relatively straightforward, and even enjoyable. we were stowed away on a train, but because of our position in the open cargo car, we were unbothered by any authority (thinking about it now, it felt very much like the train scene in beverly hills chihuahua - much more whimsical then frightening or uncomfortable). the scenery for much of the trip was desert-like and very sunny and pleasant.

at a certain point, after we had made it past desert and into a more wooded, still quite rural area (i have a sense it was in california, which tracks because i spend much of my waking time there), we were found out. i don't remember much of this part, or how it went down. all i know is one minute we were on the train, the next we are hiding out in a small town.

the hideout was spacious but cozy, especially considering the group consisted of about 15 people. as far as i can tell, it was in some sort of abandoned building, but it felt more like a basement - low ceilings, dim lighting, etc. i remember getting to be quite comfortable there after a while. there was certainly a sense of time passing, perhaps weeks before anything major happened.

there is only one person whom i remember in detail. i don't remember his name, only that it started with a C, so i will refer to him as such. C was slightly taller than i was, and had a shaggy blonde haircut. he was very quiet and tended to be gone from the hideout (or at least preoccupied with his own thoughts when he was there) most of the time. it made people uneasy with him because he let on so little about himself, but i was curious about him.

as time went on, natural authority began to form. there was an unspoken "leader" class and a "follower" class - usually the distinction was between older and younger group members. i was considered a "leader" of the group, considering i was among the older crowd. C, considering his distance from the rest of us, was considered a "follower", although truthfully, no one had any sense of authority over him because he tended to be on his own in everything. there was disagreement as we attempted to form plans and structure to our new life, but most of the time it resolved itself. tension began building nonetheless as people became restless, having been promised an eventual return to normalcy.

one day, someone spoke up about C's odd behavior. she told us he must be working against us, and we should kill him when he returned (in retrospect, this was a monumental overreaction. if i had written this as a story, i would have maybe had her demand us to question him or cast him out of the group, but dream logic is dream logic. oh, well). people were divided, but all seemed generally wary of him and many agreed to the proposal. i was uneasy. i didn't know him that well, but i felt a connection to him and sensed there was more going on.

they were all still arguing when he returned. he was frantic, clearly sleep-deprived, but with a hopeful look about him. he was carrying an unwieldy stack of papers of all kinds. we all quieted, all trying to weigh our options, when he spoke up, telling us he'd "figured it out."

he laid the papers on the floor. he began to explain what he had found. in the papers, there were various cryptic messages and codes. over the course of maybe a half-hour, he ran through his findings and finally told us the grand connection he had made. i helped him lay the papers out while he spoke, and after a while more of the younger members joined in. what the whole connection or conspiracy was, i don't remember (wouldn't it be a much better story if i did, though? alas...). at the end of it all, no one quite knew what to do. it wasn't a perfect fix for our situation, but it was an incredibly significant finding that created many new questions and implications. most of all, no one knew what to do about C, because this proved to them that all the times he was off on his own, he was working to help them all, not to stab them in the back. from this point on, C was considered a "leader", with a hesitant respect from the rest of us.

the information C had found led us to another place in town. in secret, the leaders all left with the papers and walked towards the new location. C and i lagged behind the rest of the group just a bit, and it was then that we grew closer. we talked, and he told me about what he's been doing during the long hours he was away, where he was, and other more trivial things about himself. we were also physically closer, often walking so close together we would bump shoulders or hands, and it was a great comfort to me to connect with someone as everything else was going on.

we arrived at an old garage where C had been working on his theories. it was a small room with a very large table, and the unease and hostile energy made it feel very much like a war-planning table. the hostility came from the lingering distrust of C, even as he went over the information a second time, answering questions, while we all planned our next moves in light of it. he was extremely helpful to us, and yet i was the only one that trusted him.

and from then on, it becomes too muddled to recall. the only other vivid "scene" i remember is earlier, before the secret meeting, when i was alone in the hideout with another member of the group. i didn't know her very well, but we found some old abandoned things, including a jewelry box. we played around with accessories and even made some of our own, and although she was my age, it made me feel excited and playful like i was in childhood. we became friends after that.

---

i wish i had kept dreaming with this one! i'm very curious how it would have ended and there's so many unanswered questions - what was this whole conspiracy? why were we on the run? why were there so many of us, and at the age range that we were? how were we connected?

also, i have to admit, i was very curious to explore my dream-self's relationship with C. although i didn't mention it because i didn't find it very relevant, there was definitely some romantic tension there ;)

this is my first post on this blog in an attempt to collect my dreams for inspiration, reflection, and whatever else one collects dreams for. hopefully it will be the first of many.

- leo