It’s not even a week in 2021 and it has shown how terrifying an octopus can be. What do I mean by this? I mean the night of the wild events that played out with the attempted overthrow of our country’s Capitol, I had a dream where I was attacked by an octopus. Twice.
It was a weird Inception moment where it was a dream within a dream. In my first one, I had to help my family move because they apparently bought a new home. As I was exploring the hallways, I saw octopus tentacles slither around each corner. I realized I had to leave because I was going to be late for work. Every corner I turned, the tentacles would slither away. Finally, I turned one last corner and came to face with an octopus. lt did its octopus slither-crawl (whatever you want to call their movement) toward me. I “forced” myself to wake up.
The next thing I know I literally think I’m getting out of bed and doing my morning routine. I was panicking because I felt like I was going to be late for work. I walked into my office and I noticed my bearded dragon’s top was open and he was nowhere to be found. I glanced at my window and saw he was climbing the mesh. I went to pick him up and then I heard a creak in the corner. I looked over and a hulking octopus emerged from the shadowy corner with pus-filled bloodshot eyes and lunged for me while flailing its tentacles to grab ahold of my body. A movie that comes to mind in this situation is Denis Villenueve’s Enemy with a spider backed up against the wall.
And if the imagery and the feeling of its form against my skin weren’t terrifying enough, it emitted screeching and clicking sounds from somewhere on its body as it tried to pull me in. It echoed off the walls and morphed into what sounded like dreadful cries of 1,000 people all in unison; that of lost souls being tortured in the nethermost regions of hell.
There was nowhere to go.
All I could do was force myself to actually wake up. My heart was racing. I looked around my room and my clock. I was unsure if I was awake or if I was dreaming. Thoughts were storming through my mind. Why the hell would I dream a nightmare of an octopus?
Then I heard it. The same clicking in my dream.
Click… Click… Click…
My breath got caught in my throat. I tried to not cough—oh shit, what if it’s covid?—in case the nightmarish octopus was roaming my apartment and this was a dream. I needed to be silent. Wait! I looked over in the corner by my dresser. There was a shape resting on top. I wasn’t sure if it was just my sweatshirt I threw onto my dresser before going to bed, or if it was something worse… All I could see was just darkness and a black mass, almost as if it was watching me. Could it be an octopus? No. It’s absurd. Nobody would first think of an octopus. Unless…
The clicking continued in a steady manner.
Click… Click… Click…
I thought I saw the mass move… Is it breathing? Are those tentacles? Thoughts start racing. Are the tentacles under the covers? What are the chances of an octopus grabbing the ankles and pulling the weight of yourself under the bed? What if the neighbors had a pet octopus and it escaped? What the hell is going on in 2021?! WHY WOULD ANYBODY DREAM, OR THINK, OF AN OCTOPUS?!
Then, loud music played to my right and I realized I was indeed awake as it was my alarm for me to wake up and get ready for work. There was something relieving about hearing the static-filled news play. I allowed myself to breathe again and just lie there for a few minutes. I heard the clicking again and sat up, focused. And I finally realized what it was.
It was the two damn clocks in my living room clicking and ticking awaiting for the sun to rise.
I quickly looked up what an octopus in a dream can mean. You know what it said? Chaos. Seems fitting for a rather chaotic moment in history this year.
What a strange time to be alive.