The Supermarket

So, in this dream you are running supermarket isles in first person view. As you take corners, the world swings left-to-right, right-to-left, and then scrolls beneath your feet. You see a store clerk stocking melons and immediately a rusty crowbar floats into your field of vision. You Half-life 2 the store clerk in the head with the crowbar, hear a digitized scream as his face explodes into a pixilated cloud of red, and keep on moving.

Behind you, following you, is a woman carrying two very full grocery bags. When you stop, she stops; when you move, she moves. She is relentless in her pursuit, and every time you swivel your vision to see her, her face becomes a mask of Hurry-Up-I-Don’t-Have-All-Day.

Another clerk spawns beside you, just inside your peripheral vision. He is holding a plate with little tooth-picked cheese samples. You swivel, pound him with the crowbar, and watch in high resolution as his body slumps against the far wall. The little cheese samples roll on the floor in a pleasingly realistic fashion. The woman behind you stares blankly ahead. Clearly she is unimpressed.

Once the deli isles are cleared of riffraff, you head toward the front doors of the marketplace. They open as you draw near, allowing you passage to a misty street that leads to nowhere. Nothing breaks the hazy horizon. The store is gone. You are left alone in a blank world with the woman carrying two very full grocery bags. This time when you move forward, she does not follow.

Turning to face her, you see her give a polite smile. Her face becomes a mask of Thank-You-For-Helping-Me-Out-Of-The-Store-Now-Go-Away. Her eyes are closed as she smiles, and all at once she is the sweetest and least sincere person you have ever known in your entire life.

In your dream, this realization scares you awake.