Fred Hansberry

Fred Hansberry – August 23, 2005

I was really new to Pangea when it happened. I was one of the few people who discovered this world on my own. Which is nice because I didn’t have anything to give a Coyote to teach me and I was too old to get recruited for that kid group. In the beginning, I didn’t do much outside of staring at my DreamHub and watching other people’s dreams. I was a little too scared to jump in and explore. That’s my personality. But one day, I saw a dream in the fog that looked fun. I don’t remember what it was that I saw that made me feel that way but I hopped into that random dream.

When I got in, I was in this massive field with thousands of people. There was music playing loudly. People were laughing and drinking and having a great time. I walked around and everyone was so nice to me. They had barbecues going and were playing games. At first I thought it was a tailgate for a football game or something but that music was so loud that I asked someone what was going on. They told me it was a concert, one of Pangea’s biggest. I couldn’t see it because I was so far away but there was a huge stage way up front where bands were playing. Even though I was so far from the action, I heard everything perfectly. It was great.

I decided to stay with the group I was with and we played dominoes. We played a few games before it happened. When it did, it was like the sky opened up and started pouring heavy rain. It came down so heavy and fast that people barely had enough time to react and put their things away. It was as if someone was dumping buckets of water on you.

I ran for cover by this RV that had an umbrella tent but that quickly turned out to not be enough. The rain came down so fast that I was in ankle deep water in maybe a minute or two. At that point, people really started panicking. I remembering seeing things getting swept up in the water. I remember trying to run for higher ground and going from running, to trudging through water, to swimming in what felt like no time. People were screaming all around me. Tables and grills and random things floated by me. We were all trying to grab onto what we could. I was terrified. I tried to wake up with all my might but I couldn’t.

At one point, I was holding onto what looked like a massive speaker and the water was throwing me against everything. I held on with all my might. Then, I saw one of the people that I met when I first got to the concert. She was standing on top of an RV screaming for help. I tried to swim to her with the speaker but it wasn’t working. Eventually I let go of it and tried to get to her. I got close, maybe just a few feet away, when I suddenly woke up. Just like that

I have no idea what happened to us that night. I don’t think I want to know. The whole thing traumatized me. I don’t like being around a lot of people when I’m dreaming anymore. I’d rather just do my own thing or sit here on this park bench where you found me. It’s safer being alone.