I’m in a small dorm room, I’m confused as to why I am there. All my things are there, my doona, posters, books, laptop etc. Jet I never lived in a dorm room…
I look out the window and see that it’s nice weather outside.
Only to happy to leave the confusing dorm room I head for the beach.
The beach has bright white sand and the water looks inviting. There are lots of people swimming, building sandcastles and sun bathing. It all feels a little staged, not quite real.
I feel sort of like I have a fever, my head feels heavy and my eyes move slower than usually.
There is a lifeguard sitting up on his platform commentating and giving bathers instructions. ‘Hannah over here is showing just why a biki is not always a good idea when there are waves’, ‘Mark, please go and get a job, you look far too happy’, ‘Amanda you really should watch out for people swimming when you decide to boogie board towards the beach’. It’s sort of comical the way he commentates everything.
A small spider is trying to swim past all the splashing children, one of the screeches as it sees the spider and flicks it away instinctively. The spider ‘flies in a mighty high arch towards the horizon, happy to be swimming amongst the fishes now’ the lifesaver announces.
I blink slowly and the weather changes, it becomes overcast and dark. I blink a few more times and it is almost as dark as night, the sky completely taken over by black clouds. Everyone continues swimming merrily, like they are robots programmed to have a good time. There are a few women chatting with the water up to their ankles. I can only see their outlines against the water it has gotten that dark.
Suddenly there is a brilliant flash of lightning across the sky. In that bright bright light everything is illuminated. I now only see the women’s outline because I am blinded by the light.
Across the waves, close to shore, now giant spiders crawl. In the darkness they were camouflaged against the ocean and sky. In that quick burst of light they were visible, but once the lightning had danced across the sky in a split second and was gone, so where the spiders. At least I no longer saw them….
aaaaand my alarm clock goes off.
The image of the spiders still bright in my mind, their shadows cast across the waves. Like an outline you cannot blink away, similar to looking at the sun.