my dream from last night…
I was asleep…
then my eyes opened —
I found myself riding in a big open jeep…
rolling through a watercolor countryside…
A man and a woman sat beside me —
strangers both…
their voices touched with Aussie accents…
I was almost certain we were somewhere Down Under…
They were warm and welcoming…
laughing too easily…
yet seemed genuinely glad to have me along…
But something was amiss…
Their smiling eyes were lanterns hiding moths…
As we rolled on…
their words moved like dragonflies over water…
I realized they were a married couple —
a wealthy one at that…
Everything we passed seemed to belong to them —
the fields…
the hills…
the winding road itself…
Soon the watercolor countryside fell away…
to a stretch lined with mansions in every color…
blooming like paper wildflowers…
They said I could choose one someday…
but not today…
First…
they wanted me to see their home —
to decide whether I wished to go on with them…
Oooo Sweet!
I guess I can opt out of this dream if need be…
Ahead, in the distance…
a fire-blue sea…
its sands like crushed diamonds…
We drove right up to the edge…
got out…
The wife sent her husband away…
once out of sight…
she took my hand…
we walked… talking…
we knelt together…
shaping small castles
from crushed diamonds…
At one point…
she moved too close to my face…
We both noticed…
We paused…
our eyes locked…
we began to kiss…
In the moment…
I was overcome with sudden…
fierce passion for her…
I stepped into it with my lips…
gave her everything I had…
Then something changed mid-kiss…
Her mouth felt wrong —
fake…
plastic…
I came to, inside the dream and thought,
What am I doing…?
I pulled away…
She kept trying to draw me back…
I broke loose…
Then she sank to her knees…
her cry landing before she did…
…
and after a moment…
away she ran…
brokenhearted…
…
I looked around…
didn’t see either one of them…
In fact…
I didn’t see anyone…
The beach was empty…
I decided to go swimming…
The water looked amazing…
so I dove headfirst into the deep…
then ¡ was surrounded by great white sharks…
My dreaming ass swam out of there with a quickness…
…
The next thing ¡ knew…
¡ was waist-deep in a shallow stream…
the banks just a few feet away on each side…
stitched with snakes…
As ¡ looked closer…
¡ saw there were many of them…
Then a deep man’s voice said…
the creatures were a rare species…
only found here in this place…
¡ felt a shiver of dread ghost in me…
¡ gathered myself…
moved ever so slowly downstream…
but It wasn’t slow enough…
…
Inevitable fangs flew like caltrops.
In an instant…
¡ was hit from both sides…
bitten on my right hand…
and my left…
¡ felt the pain…
…
the sharp pierce of skin…
…
poison enter my body…
…
¡t burned like moonshine and blood…
…
¡ knew ¡ was in trouble…
…
everything started to fade…
…
…
then i woke up…
…
was just a dream…
© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson | All rights reserved
`’.,°~
Heart of Loia `'.,°~ 