Escaping the Singing Woman

This hub is written in response to the request to share a night time dream, no matter how bizarre. It is written just how I remember the dream taking place, as I saw it. I was 8-10 years old in the dream, though it was dreamed repeatedly over a number of years. If it seems sketchy in parts, remember, that's how dreams are. Not everything makes seance. Enjoy!

We pulled off the highway, onto a dirt road that ran along side of a river.

Ah! My favorite dream.

Out the window of the car I could see the grassy bank and knew the water was hidden below it's steep edge. Slowly the car crept along. Mom and Dad seemed to be enjoying the view, but me? I just wanted to swim!

Anxiously I stared down the road, for that curve. The one that ran right on the edge of the river. The one that meant we were almost there!

Finally we reached it, and just like every time before, Mom brought the car to a halt as Dad swung the car door open. He peered out, judging how far down the river was, then removed his glasses and placed them on the dash. Finally, as we all screamed with anticipation, he dove in.

My brother, sisters and I unbuckled and stuck out heads out the rear window, watching for him to surface: He would come up, spewing water, and tell us the water was fine. We could stay and swim that day!

After what seemed like ages, Dad surfaced, made his speech (as if we would have gone home, had he said otherwise), and Mom drove the car to the parking space, with the passenger door open.

As soon as the car was parked, my brother, Jeffery, and I took off down the beach to a clump of cottonwood trees, where we had begun building a fort the last time we had been here. We gathered drift wood to close in the space between the tree roots, where the water had washed away the sand.

When we tired of that, we decided to explore the beach. Wandering down towards another clump of trees, we saw a play house mad of ply-wood. It was two stories high, with an opening for the door and several more for windows. A ladder nailed to the wall was the only way up to the second level.  Climbing to the upper floor, we could see that Mom and Dad were talking to some one.

In all the times we had visited this place, we had never seen another soul. Who could be here? At our swimming spot?

Racing back up the beach, we saw a long brown Jaguar parked alongside our car. Our cousins!

This was an unusual twist.

Standing near the vehicles and talking wildly, we told them of the adventures we had already had that day. Then we took off to find our dads, who had wandered upstream.  We got them to come see the play house and grant permission to sleep in it overnight.

That night we roasted marshmallows over the fire. Sommer and David were not only our cousins, they were some of our closest friends. We didn't get to see them often, so we cherished every occasion together.

Just as the sun was setting, we carried our sleeping bags and pillows to the play house. Dad came with us to make sure we were settled in properly, and told us to come back to camp if we got too cold.

Late into the night we talked, finally drifting off, one by one.

We woke with the sunrise, still grinning at the fact that we were all together.

Looking out of a window, through the clump of trees that had first lead us to this marvelous play house, we saw a large white Southern-style mansion, with pillars and evenly spaced windows. None of us recalled noticing it the night before, but before we could wonder too much, a woman, dressed in a long red gown, stepped out the front door.

She stood a moment, then, pulling the door closed behind her, she began walking toward us.

She looked young and old, at the same time. Ageless, maybe. Her pale skin and long black hair told of sorrow. Her graceful strides made us feel like we were observing someone from another time.

Silently we watched, as she came near. We were suddenly aware of how far away our parents were.  This woman, somehow, seemed dangerous.

Collectively we pulled back from the window. We didn't want to be seen. Not by Her.

She continued to glide down the beach, toward us. She seemed not to notice anything around her. The morning breeze did not interest her.

We watched. It seemed we could do nothing else.

When she was almost to the play house, she began to sing. Her voice was amazingly beautiful, though sad, beyond description. We couldn't make out the words, but felt that she mourned for someone.

We listened, until she was out of sight. Then we realized we were hungry.

Gathering our things, we tried to climb down the ladder, only to discover that we couldn't. Our legs would not go through the opening in the floor.

Jeffery jumped repeatedly onto the ladder opening, determined that he would go through.  He scattered sand on it and watched, as it floated in mid air.  He tried to pry up the floor boards.  We could see our parents building up the fire, and could hear them talking.  Dismayed and scared, we yelled for help.  Surely, they could hear us!

When there was no response, the boys decided to jump out of the small window. To our horror, we found that we could not. The opening was as solid as if it had been bullet proof glass.

All that day we yelled for help. Our parents seemed oblivious to the fact that we were gone.

They made breakfast, and ate it leisurely. They went swimming. They took our little sisters for walks. Lunch came and went, then supper. We were tired, scared and confused. We fell asleep, exhausted.

The next morning dawned cold and windy. We looked forlornly out the window, just in time to see the woman in red walking towards us. Again, we drew back in fear, and she began to sing. That day passed pretty much the same as the one before. We tried to tear up the floor, but it was no use. That night, we cried ourselves to sleep. We were beginning to fear that we would die in that wretched play house.

We woke with the wind blowing sand and rain through the window opening, and jumped up, knowing we were free. Throwing our bags down the ladder opening, we noticed the woman again.

This time she looked up at us. Her eyes were cold. Her face appeared to be made of stone.

Once again, I began to feel sorry for her, and afraid.

"Lady, shut up! Don't you dare start to sing!"

It was David's voice that broke the silence. He was angry, and rightfully so.

"Go back where you came from, and leave us alone!"

With that, the woman disappeared...

We raced down the ladder and up the beach. We were so glad to be by the fire. To see our moms and dads again. To be hugged by our sisters. We were so glad to be free.

"I see you finally got cold," my dad said, absently. "Well, get your stuff loaded. We will be leaving after breakfast."

We tried to tell them about the time we had had. About the woman in red, and the way that she sang. About the house, beyond the trees...

It was then that they said, "Enough, there is no house on this beach."

"Yes there is," and we pointed, back up amongst the trees, only to see an empty sky.

The water, the swimming, the beach. Playing all day in the sun, exploring uninhibited. It was my favorite dream, though it was never the same twice. That is, until I dreamed of the woman in red. My brother, Jeffery, had the same dream too.

We both dreamed it repeatedly, until the day we spoke of it.

After that, it never came again.

However, it was not the last time we ran into Her.

Ivorwen, 2009.

Looking for a writing platform? Join Here