gemfyre | Bizarre dreams ahead

But my first "non-lucid" dream in a while, which means I've actually managed to sleep heavily for a while. I don't think lucid is really the correct term for the dreams I've been having, but they are the kind I am more conciously aware of where they're going and they don't let me fall into deep sleep and just let my mind wander into utter bizarreness.

It started with me with a couple of other folks on a dock or pier or something somewhere. Sketchy on the details but somehow we are kidnapped and ushered into a bus by Amygdala (a lesser known Arkham Asylum inmate) and driven to a suburban house, which seems to be holding a large kids party, we disembark the bus and wander to the young couple who seem to own the house.

Turns out they are running some child-selling racket - hence all the kids. I ask if they have been kidnapped from their parents - yes they have. I tsk and say they should have stolen orphans. They are needing more people to help look after all the kids (there are maybe 50 of them? - all under 10, most under 7 years of age). They want me as a cook. Apparently they have videos of me as a teenager that they will as blackmail if I try to leave/rat them out. I immediately start racking my brains to see if I actually DID anything incriminating as a teenager that may have been filmed.

Despite being kidnapped, all the kids seem happy and pretty well behaved. Of course, the streamers and balloons in the front yard and the guy in costume and the petting zoo trailer are all part of the ruse to make the abundance of children seem normal, but they are also there to entertain the kids. I go for a wander around the property.

It's a pretty regular one storey house - 70's/80's style, a large front room which has a metallic ceiling and a big screen TV and lots of beanbags and doonas and boardgames on the floor among kids and stuffed toys. The house has various extensions on the back - all large dorm rooms, with triple decker bunks for all the kids to sleep in. The quarters are a bit cramped, but well kept and clean. The backyard is large and has more play equipment and a few well appointed caravans, these I discover are staff quarters.

At some point I mention to the couple that I have never cooked for a crowd before, let alone 50 kids. I will certainly be needing a bigger kitchen and some sous chefs. They mention they are building a transportable that will be the new kitchen, and the older kids will make great helpers.

Eventually night falls, and despite there only being a few bathrooms that I can detect, all the kids end up bathed and in their pyjamas and ready for bed. I use the bathroom too and as I'm heading out a little blonde girl asks for a hug.

I think I woke up then. Weird. I love dreams.