Episode 7 - Nightmares

## Nightmares

A white drawing on a black background of a cube showing 3 sides. The top side has a red eye that is open, the two sides below have closed red eyes. From the bottom of the cube there are wires. The image is framed in a white border.

### Author

William A. Wellman

Mort has a bad dream, Solomon finds a new project, and Valerie meets a frenemy in paradise. The theme of tonight’s episode is Nightmares.

***Content Warnings:** Static, violence, death + dying, smoking, body horror, sleep paralysis, sexism, homophobia, abuse, kidnapping + abduction*

## Intro - Secret Meanings

Nikignik narrates to the Dreamers about the meanings of their dreams and nightmares. They comment that their favorite is "the one with the teeth", which can often represent your fear of how others see you. A dream of being naked in public could show that you're feeling insecure or vulnerable. The dream of walking in a never ending forest in the realm between life and death means, of course, "Hello from the Hallowoods."

They are speaking from under a bed. The person who sleeps above them is afraid of monsters, even though Nikignik is the only one there. The dreamer is currently having a nightmare and Nikignik savors his fear.

## Story One - Blue Shirt Boy

Mort is told by the other boys in a playground that he can't join them because he doesn't have a blue shirt. They surround him and push him to the ground. Mort asks if he finds a blue shirt, could he be friends with them, but the boys tell him that he can't even wear shirts. Mort looks down and sees that his body is all metal and plastic painted red with a massive claw for one hand. Mort screams and reaches out to a boy for help, but his claw snaps shut and cuts the boy in half like paper.

The boys are now seagulls. Mort stands on white beach with black water. A small brown woman stands knee-deep in the water. She tells Mort that "this is the end" and that he will be with her soon. Mort realizes that the beach isn't made of sand and gravel, but bones.

Mort wakes up in a panic. Polly is smoking a cigarette in the back of the room and tells Mort that he has been talking in his sleep. Polly asks what Mort's bad dream was about and he says he dreamed that he had no friends. Polly asks why having friends is so important to Mort, but he can't say why. Polly tells him that friends are worse than enemies. Everyone will always let you down eventually, he says. With friends, you're just not sure when.

Mort asks if Polly is his friend, but Polly tells him to go back to sleep. Mort decides instead to go for a walk. He walks along the crumbling street of the town that he and Polly are traveling through. Mort sees a seagull and offers it his hand in a sign of friendship. The seagull twists away and he sees that it is undead and rotted. It shrieks at him, pulls a scrap of blue fabric from the ground, and flies away.

### Interlude One - Granny Mend

Nikignik advises listeners who have trouble falling asleep or staying in bed once they are asleep. Simply say "Granny Mend" three times in a mirror before bed. A figure in a rocking chair will appear in the back of your room, quietly humming and embroidering. As long as you do not look too closely under her bonnet, Granny Mend will help you sleep well.

## Story Two - And It Shall Come To Pass

Solomon Reed is walking down a road. He is thinking about about one of the redeeming qualities about people is their quick ability to trust. There is a beautiful song in every person. As he limps down the road due to an injured leg, an old red pickup truck speeds past him and he falls off the road to get out of the way. The car's driver, Zelda Duckworth, backs the car up and apologizes for nearly hitting him. She asks if he's okay and needs any help. Solomon explains that his daughter was meant to help him with something, although he couldn't remember what specifically. His memory is beginning to fail him in his old age.

Zelda asks if he wants a ride, but Solomon says he doesn't know where he is going. She offers for him to stay the night at her house and, after Zelda's insistence, Solomon agrees. She seems friendly enough, although he can barely see without his glasses.

As they drive, the two begin some small talk. Zelda says that she has been living up here for over twenty years, before the rains even started. She asks what Solomon does for a living and he tells her that he works with his hands, mostly woodworking. When they arrive, Zelda notices that Solomon has trouble exiting the car and she moves to help him. He avoids putting weight on his injured leg and she notices a cut on his face that is beginning to bleed through its bandages.

Zelda chats as she begins to prepare lunch. Solomon doesn't really focus on any of her words. He takes a pair of glasses out of his red coat and puts them on the table. One lens is shattered completely.

### Marketing - Terrorist Organization

Lady Ethel Mallory announces to Dreamers that the Stonemaids have been labelled a terrorist organization by the Botulus Industries terms of service. These individuals, dangerous though they may be, deserve love and rehabilitation. If Dreamers have any information on the Stonemaids, they are encouraged to report it. Valerie Maidstone has been placed in special care and will be removed from the Prime Dream until the conflict is over.

### Story Two, And It Shall Come To Pass

Nikignik admits that these interruptions to their broadcast interests and concerns them and returns to the story.

Zelda is wild and full of life, Solomon thinks. She might laugh mostly at her own jokes, but they are all new to him. He asks if she lives alone in this big house as she helps him fix his glasses. Zelda explains that since her husband, Dex, passed away, she has been living alone but has help from her son. He wants her to move to the Scoutpost but she doesn't want to leave all the memories in her house.

Solomon shows her a locket. Inside are two faces, his daughter and his wife. Zelda comforts him and says that it's not easy to let go of those that we have lost and Solomon says that he knows he will see them again one day.

Zelda finishes fixing Solomon's glasses and starts washing dishes. He asks if she ever has strange dreams. She says that she dreamt the night before that her son was in the basement filled with water. Someone is looking for him, though, and she hopes that he's okay. Solomon tells Zelda that he believes the Lord gives him instructions in his dreams and although he doesn't always understand, he attempts to carry His plans through.

Much to Zelda's confusion, Solomon pulls out a fife with bone inlay. He blows a single note on it and the specter of his dead wife appears behind Zelda. Her fingers pierce Zelda's head without leaving a mark and Zelda collapses. Solomon thanks the phantom and sends her away with another note.

Solomon returns to his thought on people's quick ability to trust others. Everyone wants someone to relieve them of their failings and of their sins. He examines Zelda and is unhappy with her "quality," thinking that she doesn't seem to have much standard for beauty or housekeeping and has an affinity for material things. However, he thinks, the Lord can work through even a blunt instrument. There is a song inside of everyone, but sometimes a good craftsman is needed to set it free

### Interlude Two - Silver Boxes

Nikignik explains that they are troubled by the interruptions from the Botulus Corporation. Dreams have been their domain for thousands of years and it is frightening to see BotCo harness this for advertising. No realm is safe from them if there is money to be made. Their silver Dreaming Boxes spread across the world like a disease.

## Story Three - Cosmos In Paradise

Valerie Maidstone is sitting in a lawn chair by a pool. The sky has many stars and multiple planets. She suddenly realizes that she is holding a tanning reflector. Lady Ethel Mallory, wearing red heart-shaped sunglasses and a white bathrobe, joins her, asking if she enjoys the view. Valerie responds that she's sitting in a coffin with a painted ceiling.

Ethel says that she is happy to have Valerie be a part of the BotCo family and, when Valerie says nothing in return, mockingly apologizes for mentioning family when Riot is still missing but says that their Reunion Organizers are working hard to find her. Valerie asks Ethel what she *really* looks like, since she appears different in this dream. Ethel stops smiling and says that in a dream, you can be anything or be anywhere. Right now they're in paradise, but that can change quickly.

Ethel snaps her fingers and the dream changes. Valerie is strapped to a hospital gurney and people are cutting into her skin. The bones in her hands, now visible, squirm in the darkness. Valerie screams. She didn't expect the pain to feel so real.

Then they are back at the pool. Ethel says that she likes Valerie's brand - a rebellious rock and roll outcast - and the loyal following she's built. Ethel wants to acquire this brand, but she knows that Valerie will never give in no matter how much they hurt her. When they have Riot, however, that will be a different story.

Ethel admits that while she is in charge of finding Riot, she will not be in charge of what happens to Valerie while she is here. That is the job of someone a bit higher up the chain of command, though Ethel is sure he has lots of "lovely" plans in store for her. Ethel turns and disappears from the landscape and Valerie wonders if in real life she still has skin on her hands.

## Outro - Nightmares

Nikignik closes the broadcast with a speech about the importance of dreams and nightmares. Some listeners have complained, wondering why their dreams are interrupted with these disturbing stories. They say that they do this because we carry our dreams with us into the day. They cause us to reflect on ourselves and what is changing us. Dreams are a universal language and Nikignik whispers into the minds of beings across the universe who sleep for moments or for millennia. One day, these whispers will become a shout of triumph.