The Alligator

The alligator walked slowly into the garage; he must have been seven-feet long if an inch.

He lumbered slowly through the open garage door and toward the stairs. I picked up a broom and tried to shoo him away but it failed to deter him. He was focused and on a deadly mission. He hissed, snapped his powerful jaws at my feeble attempts as he continued on his way. I yelled to warm my grandparents sleeping upstairs but my screams were muffled. It was like I was trying to yell underwater in vain. The gator climbed slowly, one step at a time until he was on the second floor.  He turned and headed toward the bedroom. I ran after him, trying futilely to warn everyone.

But the reptile continued to stalk his prey.

The alligator walked down the hall and into my grandparent’s room. Just then, my dog Rexie, who had died two years ago, attacked the him. The sound of screaming reptile and canine curdled my blood.  He was fighting him off, trying to give the two people in the bed time to escape. I grabbed him by the collar and pulled his bloodied body away. The alligator focused on my grandparents and attacked.

I woke up in a sweat.

I sat in my bed, arms planted into the bed as I breathed rapidly. My nightmare had been so vivid. So real.  The clock read 4:49 a.m. and my rapid heartbeat wouldn’t allow me to go back to sleep. My feet hit the floor and I slipped on my running shoes.  I’m up — Might as well run, right?  I ran a few miles as an incoming storm blew in from the west.  Lightning flickered and illuminated my path as I grappled with my dream. What did the alligator represent? What did it all mean?

The phone was ringing when I returned home. I ran over to answer it before it woke everyone and then stopped ringing.

“Stan?” a familiar voice called out to me.  But the voice sounded tired, almost defeated.

“Stan? It’s dad. I don’t know how to tell you any other way than this — your grandmother just died in her sleep.”

I felt like someone punched me in the stomach.  Then I realized what my dream had been about: I had seen death. I had seen the alligator. And I had seen him attack.