Just A Dream from A Long Way Gone

"We arrived in Mattru Jong late that night. Junior and Talloi explained to our friends what we had seen, while I stayed quiet, still trying to decide whether what I had seen was real. That night, when I finally managed to drift off, I dreamt that I was shot in my side and people ran past me without helping, as they were all running for their lives. I tried to crawl to safety in the bushes, but from out of nowhere there was someone standing on top of me with a gun. I couldn’t make out his face as the sun was against it. That person pointed the gun at the place where I had been shot and pulled the trigger. I woke up and hesitantly touched my side. I became afraid, since I could no longer tell the difference between dream and reality." page 14-15

I choose this passage because I can relate to it somewhat. Also, this passage was very vivid. I could feel his anxiety and stress through his style of writing. Everyone has those dreams where they can’t run fast enough or can’t scream loud enough for people to hear of help. His dream seems more in content with what is going on his life though. It could actually be real. That must be terrifying that he has to live in his nightmares. “…I could no longer tell the difference between dream and reality.” How does he deal with that at the age of 12?

After visiting my Uncle Joe’s ranch one year I kept having this dream:
A bunch of animals are stampeding. Horses, deer, rhinos and every type of animal imaginable are coming straight for me in an open field. I run as fast as I can and try to avoid them in any way. I look to my side and see some brush that I could hide in. But my mind won’t let me turn off into the brush that could offer shelter. My gut yearns to be able to go that way and I just can’t. My mind can’t control my feet and I keep running in the path of the animals. It’s frustrating to the point I want to cry. Then, the moment comes when I can feel the vibration of the animals on my heels. They hooves sound like a thousand booms of thunder going off as they hit the ground. I trip, slamming hard on the ground. I wake up after this moment, feeling anxious and frazzled. I hate not being able to control the dream but at least I knew it was just a dream.

Also, I have had dreams where I’m running through the halls of my school and I hear the bell ring. I wake up because of that and find my alarm going off. It’s weird how that works. This is kind of like him waking up to the gunshot.