Day 13 of Writing 101: What does the Freud in you say?

A lush green field beneath. Too green. Like a tube of colour has been emptied all at once.

A free fall. The pull of gravity. A shiver.

***

A bucketful of snakes suddenly upended on the floor. Long, slimy creatures gradually covering every inch of the floor, the bed, even the bed-posts. A throbbing heart. Fearfully shifting feet. A shiver.

***

A dark, dark night. Front wheel of the bicycle slowly rising, so that the cycle is suddenly vertical. The futile attempt at pushing it to the ground. A dark shadow, taller than the highest tree appears. Chills through the spine. A shiver.

***

Car honking.

“Coming. I’m coming. Please wait. Please.”

Random pushing of the books into the bag. Hurried steps down the flight of stairs.

Oh, God! The assignment! 

Hurried, breathless steps up the flight the stairs. Car honking.

“Oh, please wait. Please wait. I am coming.”

Shifting gears. More honking. The rumbling sound of a vehicle moving away.

“Please wait. Please,I have an exam. Please.”

A shiver.

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Spoiler Alert: Can you interpret dreams? I need you! What you read above are fragments of dreams (or should I say nightmares) that I see from time to time. Needless to say, I wake up with shivers. And voiceless screams. (The last nightmare plagued me all through my school years, a reminder of the time when the pool-car that took me to school left without taking me). At once I knew what I needed for today’s assignment, because most of these dreams are recurrent:

Today, tell a story through a series of vignettes (short, episodic scenes or anecdotes) that together read as variations on the same theme. They can each be as short or long as you see fit — they don’t have to be the same length — but they need a common feature to tie them together, whether it’s a repeated phrase, a similar setting, or the appearance of the same person.

So, if you’re indeed a dream-interpreter, don’t forget to get in touch with me!

Thanks!

Copyright © 2015 Arpita Pramanick