Jimmy's Dreams: Some Dreams Are Nightmares

by Saxon Andrew

  He booked a flight to Salt Lake City and saw devastation along with a new element. The sky was pitch black from ashes raining down and he knew that the super-volcano in Yellowstone had to be erupting.

  He opened his eyes and took a flight directly back to New York. He walked into the apartment and saw his mother and Tom looking at a computer screen. They looked up and saw his expression. Candice jumped up and took Jimmy in her arms. He began weeping uncontrollably and Tom now had no doubts Jimmy was seeing something cataclysmic. He finally regained control and said, “The United States is gone. I have to go to Europe.”

  Tom said softly, “What about South America?”

  Jimmy sighed, “I’ll look later if I don’t find anything but I really think South America will also be affected by the shock wave, tidal wave, and volcano eruptions. You know that the ring of fire causes large earthquakes in South America. I suspect they will register higher than eleven on the Richter Scale after that object hits the United States.”

  Candice asked, “Tidal Wave?”

  “It appears another large object hits in the Pacific Ocean. I saw a wave that looked more than a mile-high go over Los Angeles. Everything in California up to the edge of the Rockies will be inundated and scoured away. Japan, Korea, China, the eastern coast of Russia and all the islands of Indonesia are also in the direct path of that monster wave.” Candice’s eyes opened wide and Jimmy nodded, “I am now seeing the actual event taking place.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Tom asked softly.

  Jimmy sighed, “Well, Europe is next and then Asia.”

  “What about Australia?” Candice suggested.

  Jimmy shook his head, “Ninety percent of Australia’s population is within fifty miles of the coast. The Pacific impact will send a tidal wave directly toward Australia’s east coast where a huge percent of the population is located. Eastern Australia is history and probably the rest of it as well.”

  Tom stood up and said, “Surly there are millions of humans far inland that won’t be killed.”

  Jimmy shook his head, “The sky is black with volcanic ash from Yellowstone’s super-volcano erupting and many other volcanos that have been shocked back to life by the impact. I believe that most dormant volcanos on Earth will be shocked into life when those objects hit. The air will not be breathable until the ashes settles out. Until it does, every person on Earth is in jeopardy of suffocating.”

  Tom pulled up a map on the computer and said, “Let me see. Middle of the US is one strike. Pacific Ocean is another. One more over Africa, the Middle East, or Asia would pretty much do it.” He paused and said, “If I didn’t know better, this looks like God or destiny has planned our destruction.” Jimmy stared at him in silence and then went to his room. Tom looked at Candice, “Are we wasting time doing this?”

  Candice nodded toward Jimmy’s room and said, “I have to believe there is a reason for him having these dreams.” She turned to Tom, “I’m not giving up and neither should you.”

  Tom smiled, “If you’re in, I’m with you.” Candice smiled as Tom looked at the list of stocks Jimmy gave him and turned back to the computer. He put his hand on Candice’s and smiled.

  • • •

  Jimmy left three days later for Europe and arrived in London. He closed his eyes and saw the city was covered in about fifty feet of ashes. There were no lights and no movement in his dream. He stayed in a hotel and boarded a jet for Rome the next morning. He closed his eyes and saw France, Germany, and Austria were also under a huge coating of ashes. He sighed and almost opened his eyes but he suddenly saw an area of white clouds. How could that happen with all the ash in the atmosphere. He opened his eyes and, though it was a clear day, there were white clouds in the same place far below the jet. He took out an Atlas and looked quickly at where they were flying. He saw the small area was in the mountains between Switzerland and Austria and he made a mark on the map. He saw that nothing changed between there and Rome; there was only devastation. He boarded a flight for Zurich and left eight hours later. He landed and opened the phone book. After six phone calls, he found what he wanted.

  A cold front moved through Europe and the skies were overcast for a week. He hung around the hotel and waited patiently until high pressure moved in from the Mediterranean and he took a taxi to the heliport outside of Zurich’s airport. He found the place and knocked on the door, “Are you Alem?”

  “Yes, what do you want!?”

  “I called you a week ago about taking me into the mountains.”

  “Are you going to pay my price? You’re just a kid.”

  “Yes, do you want cash or do you want to charge it.”

  Alem smiled, “Now you know cash is king. Where do you want to go?”

  “I want to go to the mountains between Switzerland and Austria. Is your helicopter capable of making the trip?”

  “I can fly you to Rome if you want but it will handle that distance easily. Do you know where you want to go?”

  Jimmy took out the atlas and showed where he had made a mark. “I saw some white clouds just above the top of some mountains. I’d like to go and see if I can find them.

  The helicopter pilot smiled, “We don’t need to go searching for that. That looks like you’ve made a mark close to Sol’s farm and there are always clouds there.”

  “Who?”

  “Solomon Abram. We just call him Sol. Are you ready?”

  Jimmy smiled, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  “Uh, uh, uh.”

  Jimmy stared at Alem and then shook his head, “Oh, I forgot. Jimmy reached into his computer bag and took out three one-thousand Euro notes. “We agreed on two-thousand,” Alem said.

  “I might want to use you again and this is a down payment just in case.”

  “And if you don’t need me later?”

  “It’s yours.”

  Alem smiled, “Blessed are the young for they provide for the old.”

  Jimmy laughed and followed him out to the helicopter. “What kind of helicopter is this?” Jimmy asked.

  “It’s an Airbus EC 155. It’s called a Dauphin.”

  “How far can it fly?”

  Alem shrugged, “Over four-hundred miles but I’ve added two extra fuel tanks which increases its range considerably. Don’t worry, we have plenty of fuel for where we’re going.”

  Jimmy climbed into the passenger seat and Alem started the rotors turning. He waited for the engines to warm up and asked for and received clearance to lift. The helicopter rose into the sky and once it cleared Zurich’s air space, it turned east and headed into the mountains. Jimmy would occasionally close his eyes and all he saw was ash falling to the ground and getting deeper. He opened them and left them open until he arrived at the place Alem called Sol’s Farm. They were circling high above what was obviously a narrow valley and Jimmy said, “Can you take it a little higher?”

  Alem smiled and the helicopter shot up with a hard push. Jimmy closed his eyes and saw ash was too thick to see through. He opened his eyes and said, “Take us below the clouds.”

  Alem began descending and entered the white clouds hanging over the small valley. The clouds were surrounding them and Jimmy saw Alem struggling with the controls, “Is there a problem?”

  Alem shook his head, “No. It’s just that the updraft in this valley is quite powerful. I have to reduce the pitch of the blades almost to the point of zero lift.”

  Jimmy closed his eyes and only saw white clouds around him. The helicopter dropped below the clouds and Jimmy saw the first clear air since he closed them a week earlier. The ash was not falling into the valley. “Do you want to go down?”

  Jimmy smiled, “No, I’ll do that next time I use your services.”

  Alem nodded, “Ok, hang on. When I increase the pitch, we’re going up like a Saturn Five.” Jimmy gripped his chair’s arms and felt the helicopter shoot up at high speed. Alem immediately pushed the stick forward and the helicopter moved straight ahead until it cleared
the mountain walls surrounding the valley. Alem immediately pulled back on the pitch and tried to keep the helicopter level as it began immediately falling. “Damn that updraft. It could get somebody killed.”

  Jimmy nodded and thought, or save their life.

  • • •

  They arrived back in Zurich and Jimmy thanked Alem again and took a taxi back to his hotel. He sat down and thought about all the ash in the atmosphere and decided that he was right about the horrendous impacts on the planet had brought hundreds of dormant volcanos back to life. He thought about the next flight and resisted it. He knew he should take it but was frightened of what he might see. He was just not equipped to handle this nightmare. But…if he found it…then plans would have to be changed. He booked a ticket to Cairo, Egypt and from there to New Delhi. He boarded the jet and took off at five AM local time, Zurich. It was a four-hour flight to Cairo and he refused to close his eyes until he the jet started its descent into the airport. He heard the Captain announce the jet’s descent and he closed his eyes. From twenty-five-thousand feet up, he actually saw the asteroid flashing through the atmosphere high overhead in the direction of the Indian Ocean. He kept his eyes closed and saw a brilliant flash far over the horizon.

  He opened his eyes and as he left the plane and picked up his luggage, he sat down and stared straight ahead for more than an hour. Then he stood up, went to the Delta counter, where he canceled his flight to New Delhi and booked a flight back to New York. He didn’t need to go to New Delhi to know what happened.

  He learned from reading Astronomy Magazine that the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was about six miles wide traveling at twenty miles a second. The asteroid he saw flashing across the sky toward the Indian Ocean was at least thirty miles long and was moving a lot faster than twenty miles a second. He had hit the stop watch on his wrist chronometer when it passed over head and stopped it when the brilliant flash appeared. He’d work out the speed of the asteroid later. He didn’t want to think about it now.

  He knew that scientists had estimated that the asteroid that hit sixty-five-million years ago pushed most of the water out of the Gulf of Mexico and fossils of ancient sea life were found more than fifteen-hundred miles inland in the United States. India and every other county bordering the Indian Ocean was toast. Australia’s West Coast that might have survived the Pacific impact would not survive the Indian Ocean strike. Most of the east coast of Africa would also be gone. He thought about it and pulled out a world map and stared at it. There were areas that might not be affected. Brazil and possibly the countries in South America on the northern coast might survive.

  Then he remembered an article he read about the dormant volcano just off the west coast of Africa in the Canary Islands. Geologists had reported that a giant volcano, Cumbre Vieja, had one of its sides in a precarious position and that if it came back to life, the entire eastern side of the towering beast would slide into the ocean causing a massive tidal wave more than a thousand feet high. It would move out across the Atlantic Ocean at high speed toward North America, South America, and the Gulf of Mexico and would arrive in twelve-hours. He pulled out his computer and began searching and found the article.

  The east coast of the United States, and possibly southern England, was directly in its projected path along with Brazil and the northern countries bordering the gulf. Ninety percent of those countries’ populations were living close to the coast and stood no chance of escaping before the monster wave hit. He read that some scientists debunked the tsunami happening. They insisted that the giant landslide wouldn’t happen quickly but would happen in stages, like most landslides. The tsunami wouldn’t happen if that took place.

  Jimmy knew they did not consider in their report the impacts of three giant asteroids hitting Earth. That mountain was going to collapse and the tsunami was a reality. So much for the Eastern United States and all the cities located on the shoreline.

  But what about Russia? He thought about it and went back to the ticketing counter and changed his flight from New York to Moscow. He continued making queries about the locations of active and dormant volcanos until his flight announced last call for boarding. He put his computer away and ran to the door.

  • • •

  Moscow was dead just like Europe. It was buried under ash along with most of the land east of it. He booked a flight for Japan upon arrival and the ticketing agent looked at him suspiciously. “My mother contacted me and told me to meet her in Japan or my traveling days are over,” Jimmy said.

  The agent smiled, “Those who hold the purse strings…”

  Jimmy smiled, “Hold a lot more than that.” Jimmy added. The agent laughed and handed him his boarding pass. He was tired of flying but if he didn’t do it now, he’d be forced to come back later. Swallow it all at once or little sips. He’d rather suffer and get it over with. Fifteen hundred miles east of Moscow, the ashes began to diminish. After two thousand miles, it was on the ground but not much more than several inches. He would occasionally see small communities far below but they were widely scattered. They should survive. Or would they?!

  Jimmy sat up straight in his seat and knew this was a wasted trip. He was only thinking about the direct results from the impacts and not the long term impact it would have on the planet. With this much ash in the atmosphere, sunlight would not break through. He blew out a breath…nuclear winter. It would get cold and remain cold for anywhere from one to four years. Crops wouldn’t grow. And feeding the people in Russia had always been the country’s largest issue. Starvation would remove the survivors.

  And what about animal life? The extinction of the dinosaurs removed more that eighty percent of all land animals larger than fifty pounds. These asteroids were truly planet killers. He wished his computer was operational on the flight but he was forced to guess at the impact of a four-year winter. One thing he suspected, not many had stores large enough to survive that long. If the world knew what was coming…the ensuing panic would lead to anarchy and probably kick off World War Three. The asteroids would only arrive to add to the planet’s misery.

  He finally arrived in Japan and refused to close his eyes. He stayed in a hotel for a day to overcome the pain in his sore joints. He did stretching exercises in his room and moved slowly through some judo and karate moves to stretch out. At the end of the day, he was better. He called his mother to let her know he was coming home. He heard the concern in her voice and told her not to worry.

  The next day, he boarded the first flight on his long journey home. As the Jet left Tokyo International, he closed his eyes. Nothing was left of the world’s largest city. The wave that hit Tokyo arrived with such force that even buildings anchored to withstand major earthquakes were smashed off their foundations. He opened his eyes and blew out a hard breath. He focused on a mantra Ahn had taught him and he closed his eyes. The dream wasn’t there and he found sleep somewhere over the Bearing Sea.

  • • •

  He arrived home after two weeks of travel and had to drop his bags as his mother rushed up and took him in her arms, “I’ve missed you so much! Do you have any idea of how much I love you! Please don’t tell me you’re leaving again! You must…”

  Jimmy put his index finger on her lips, “Shhhh.” He removed his finger and said, “My travels are over; I love you just as much and I do know how much that is, and I’m going to have to leave you in a few months to go to college.”

  Candice stared at him and he said, “Ok, go ahead.”

  “Do you honestly think going to college will make any difference?”

  Jimmy closed the door to the apartment, took his mother’s hand, and led her to the sofa. “I think I’ve found a place for us, where we might survive.”

  “Might?”

  “I need to go to college to learn everything that’s available to make our survival possible. We also need to decide who is going with us.”

  “Going with us?”

  “Mom, I’m not going to allow humanity to go out wit
h a whimper. Of course, there will be others with us. The task of surviving what is coming is a mammoth undertaking and we must do all we can to make sure it succeeds.” Candice stared in silence and Jimmy finally said, “What?”

  “If we go, Tom will go with us.”

  “Of course he will go with us.” Candice remained silent and Jimmy understood, “You’re saying the two of you will stay together no matter what happens.”

  “Yes. Are you ok with that?”

  “I am. It’s about time you found love, Mom.”

  “I do love him, Jimmy. It’s happened so quickly but it’s like…I don’t know.”

  Jimmy smiled, “Perfect.”

  Candice smiled, “Exactly.”

  Jimmy hugged her and after a moment released her, “Mom?”

  “Yes.”

  “I know I asked you when I was very young and you told me not to ever bring it up again. But who was my father?” Candice closed her eyes and blew out a loud breath. “Mom, after all I’ve seen over the last few weeks, I can handle it.”

  “Jimmy, you won’t believe me.”

  Jimmy’s eyes narrowed, “Mom, how can you say that?”

  “Because no one would believe me. No one!”

  “I want to know, Mom.”

  Candice blew out another hard breath and sat back on the sofa. “I was nineteen years old when it happened.” She looked at Jimmy and he nodded for her to continue. “I was in my room, alone, and I think I was sleeping. I suddenly began having a dream that felt like it was not a dream.” Jimmy tilted his head and Candice quickly said, “I was with…someone in my bed.”

  “You don’t know who it was?”

  “I felt like I was still in a dream. I heard someone say, “You shouldn’t be doing this Ayet. Then the dream took me and I don’t remember anything else. Two months later, I went to the doctor and found out I was pregnant.” Jimmy stared at her and Candice shook her head and started to stand up, “I KNEW YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE ME!!”

  Jimmy grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to the sofa, “I believe you, Mom.”