NIGHTMARES

When I was very young, starting about the age of six, I started having a recurring nightmare. It was always the same: I was being chased by a man, a mean man, a bad man. While running from the man I ran into a building and down a very long hallway lined on each side by teachers and children. As I was exiting the door at the other end I would turn and see that the mean, bad man had just entered. After exiting the building I found myself on a playground and as I ran to the edge of the playground with more teachers and children watching, I ran into a shallow body of water (about shin deep on me) with a dense woods on the other side. Just as I am about to reach the other side of the water, I look back to see the mean, bad man in the middle of the body of water, it's depth up to his waist, being attacked by alligators and killed. That is the dream; I'm alone to fend for myself while people stand around and watch, and just as I'm about to be caught I'm saved by alligators. I had that dream for years as a child, into my early teens in fact, although the frequency lessened as time went by.

I often wonder what triggered such a young mind to have such a horrid dream. Could it be that I had just started first grade, in a Catholic school no less. I remember those Nuns were mean, so maybe I felt threatened by them and the other children were helpless to come to my aid. That would fit except that it was a man chasing me, not a nun or a black bird, but a man. And what of the alligators? What did they symbolize? I have always found it to be an interesting puzzle, one that I will likely never piece together. Do you remember any childhood nightmares that continue to puzzle you?