@#$%^^! AQUA-MONKEYS!!!!

When I was in bootcamp I had to learn a lot of things to be able to serve in 'todays Navy'. I learned how to walk into a room full of teargas and stand there like a man; to polish my boondockers (boots to you) until I could see the teeth of a smile reflected three yards away, how to put out a fire blindfolded while everyone is screaming around you, how to politely turn down a superior officers request to be sodomized by you while you whistle 'In-the-Navy'. But nothing sticks out more than a little class I had to take called: "How to survive a swarm of Aqua-Monkeys while lost at sea!".

Sure a lot of my fellow recruits had a good laugh.
"Aqua-Monkeys! Pffft! When am I gonna have to deal with Aqua-Monkeys?"
In 1993 however, when the USS Telemachus went down off the coast of St.Cyr, France due to an inexplicable hull breach, there was only one survivor to be found. A young EN3 who told the story of how his two and half days on a lifeboat were a living nightmare. Why? Man eating Aqua-Monkeys that's why! Like most of his shipmates, the crew reportedly scoffed at the idea of a full on Aqua-Monkey attack. The results. 55,000 well fed french Aqua-Monkeys and the greatest maritime disaster the Navy has faced since Pearl Harbor.

Even now, some 12 years after the Navy, I wake in the middle of the night. Cold sweat. My hand clutching the pistol I keep under my pillow. Desperate eyes scanning the bedroom dark for....Aqua-Monkeys!

Scenes from my real life: Messages in the dark (Redux)

The third dream came to me. A kiss of omens on the lips of morning. As much as I can remember this is what happened:
I stood on the rooftop to a German Resteraunt on the corner SR-84 and 9th Ave. This is in Ft.Lauderdale a few blocks from my old home. My best friend, when he was 15, used to live on top of this rooftop. He had a sleeping bag. A gym bag stuffed full of clothes. A few yellowed Stephen King novels, a drawing pad and a few comicbooks I lent him. I remember how I used to sneak him into my room through the window so he wouldn't have to sleep in the rain or so I could smuggle a few sandwiches for him. In my dream last night, I came up to the rooftop looking for him. There was a fire and everyone had abandoned the city. For some reason I thought he might still be here though. But he was gone. His bags were there and so were the comic books I lent him. I knew now I was the last person in the city and for some reason I couldn't get back down off the rooftop. What I remember most vividly was watching this wall of flames advance down the horizon and though I knew the flames would consume me soon, that I would die up here on this rooftop, but I just took a seat and lit a cigarette. The fire was so beautiful. I envy my friends who can paint and work with colors, because I would need that kind of talent to show you what it looked like.

( The night that led up to the dream )