Sudden Dreams

Sylvia woke with a start. She knew she had been dreaming but her mind was still too fuzzy to rely on. It was something about a man and a building that looked a lot like her apartment complex. But then almost every apartment building in her neighborhood looked the same. She glanced at the clock and saw it was only five minutes before the alarm would go off so she shut off the alarm before going to the bathroom. As she washed her face and brushed her teeth, she couldn’t seem to shake the after effects of that dream! 

Since it was a workday, she selected her navy blue suit with a tailored white blouse and low-heeled navy pumps. As she dressed, she tried to remember what the man had looked like but nothing except it was a man in casual dress came to her. Her coffeepot was set on automatic so fresh coffee aroma greeted her when she reached the kitchen. She grabbed a box of cereal from the cupboard and set it beside the bowl and spoon she had placed on the table last night. She never was the sharpest tack in the morning so she always prepared for breakfast ahead of time. She turned on the TV for the morning news as she quickly ate breakfast and drank her coffee. Traffic seemed to be flowing well and most of the news was left over from yesterday so she turned the TV off, grabbed her keys off the board on the wall and latched onto her purse as she passed it by the door. 

She was grateful her apartment was on the ground floor and she didn’t have to wait on an elevator. Even though she woke ahead of time, she had dawlded too long while dressing and was pushing the limit for getting to work on time. As she went through the main door, she brushed past a man and hurried down the steps. Her bus was just arriving at the bus stop when she reached the sidewalk. At least the bus stop was right in from of her building so she didn’t miss her ride to work. She saw an empty seat close to the rear door and was able to get there before anyone else did. She really hated to have to stand all the way to her office. She gazed out the window at the beautiful day then suddenly something clicked in her mind. The man she brushed by coming out the door was the one she had seen in her dream this morning. Maybe the building he was entering in her dream was so familiar because it was her building? She pondered this all the rest of the way to her stop without coming up with any answer. Once she was in office she had no time for it and pushed it to the back of her mind for the rest of the day. It probably was just coincidence after all.

The day flew by as it usually did and she was grateful when it was time to go home. She caught her bus but got off a couple of blocks before her building so she could pick up dinner at her favorite mom and pop restaurant before going on home. She always looked forward to walking those couple of blocks. It gave her a chance to stretch muscles she did not use sitting at a desk or walking around the office. Tonight as she walked toward her building, she saw a crowd of people and several police cars at the place where she lived. Now she picked up her pace and quickly arrived at the edge of the crowd. She excused herself as she pushed through the crowd until she was stopped by a policeman at the bottom of the steps. 

“Where do you think you are going, Miss? No one goes in or out of this building. Please step back.”

“But officer, I live here. Why can’t I go home?”

“Do you have any identification proving you live here?”

“Yes, sir. Here is my ID card. I live in unit 103 on the ground floor and am just coming home from work. What has happened? Is there a fire?”

“No, Miss. There is no fire. Here is Officer Jordan, he will see you to the manager’s office so the manager can verify you live there. Here is your ID card.”

“Follow me, Miss.”

I followed him into the building and Stan, our manager vouched I did live in 103 so Officer Jordan escorted me to my apartment. “Please stay in your apartment until we give the all clear. It shouldn’t be long now. Our investigation is almost complete.”

“But what are you investigating?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. There will be a report on the news later if you are still interested. Please lock your door as soon as I leave. Goodnight now.”

I followed his directions but I always kept my door locked anyway. I took my dinner to the kitchen then went to the bedroom to change into something more comfortable. As soon as I returned to the kitchen, I turned on the TV to local news. I guess I was so shocked by all the commotion, I did not notice the news trucks when I came home. Now I was seeing my apartment building on the screen and it felt really weird. The news reports had no more information than I did but they were making a fuss about lack of information. That is what their advertisers wanted after all.

I switched channels but all local ones were covering the unknown news at my address so i settled for a game show on one of the streaming channels then an old movie. When the movie was over I changed channels back to the news and started getting ready for bed. Just as I had my pajamas on, I heard a report on my building. I ran to the TV as they reported, “A person in apartment 303 had been found dead. Police suspect it was murder. No further information at this time”

That was two floors directly above me! I’m glad I always lock my door. Imagine a murder in my building the same day I dreamed of a man coming in then actually saw him coming in the door as I left for work. I wonder if he had anything to do with the murder? Oh well, it is a not really any of my business.

Sylvia drifted into a deep sleep. Sometime during the night she had another dream. She saw the same man enter the apartment building across the street. This time it was dark but the street light left no doubt it was the same man. He even had on the same kind of clothes. She sat bolt upright as the dream woke her. She looked at the clock and saw it was 3:24 AM. She got up and went to the kitchen for a drink of water while she tried to shake the dream. What had happened that she suddenly had these dreams? She had never remembered dreams before yesterday morning. Now there were two dreams with the same man. I’m going to call in work to take the morning off. The police should know about this man I dreamed about.

She went back to bed and slept undisturbed until the alarm woke her. Today she started with a phone call to the office leaving a message she needed a sick day because she wasn’t feeling well. She got to the kitchen just as the coffeepot stopped its brewing cycle so she poured a cup and took it to the bedroom with her. She took her time dressing until she heard sirens across the street. She ran to the front window to see the same chaos as yesterday at her building. Crowds of people were gathering in front of the apartment building across the street and were being held back by the police. News trucks were starting to join the crowds and police. Sylvia quickly finished dressing and joined the crowd. She made her way to the front and tried to cross the yellow tape barrier now in place. A police officer stopped her. 

“No one allowed past the barrier. This is a police investigation. Please step back.”

“Officer, my name is Sylvia Myers, I may have information for you. I live across the street. I just want to talk to someone to give them the information.”

“Stay here. I’ll bring an officer you can talk to.”

Sylvia waited impatiently while trying to decide how to tell them about her dreams. A plainclothes officer approached, “Miss Myers, Miss Sylvia Myers? I’m Detective Gavin. I understand you have some information for us. Please follow me inside to the manager’s office where we can talk.”

The two went up the steps and into the manager’s office. “Now Miss Myers, what information do you have for us?”

“Yesterday morning I had a dream a man was entering an apartment building that looked like mine. When I left for work I passed a man of the same description coming into my building. Last night I dreamed of the same man entering this apartment building. When I came home last night there had been a murder two floors above me. I assume there was a murder in this building as well. My dreams were too similar not to have a reason behind them. I can give you his description.”

“Is that the information you had for us? Two dreams of a man and one encounter with someone you thought looked like him?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you very much for your time but that is not helpful. There could be many men closely matching the one in your dreams so his description would not be useful to us. I’ll show you out now.”

“But, you didn’t even take his description so how do you know whether it would be useful?”

“A description from a dream is never helpful. It is usually someone having nothing to do with a crime. Just a man the woman would like to meet. Here is the door. Good day Miss Myers.”

Sylvia went back across the street in a daze. Why did the police not even take her description of the man? She saw him go into the two buildings having murders a day apart. At least they would have someone to look for. It was still early so she decided to go to work after all. She would rather be working than sitting at home worrying.

Losing the morning gave her more work to do so she didn’t think about the two murders. She went to the break room for a cup of coffee but suddenly stopped when a strange feeling came over her. She felt danger all around her then it went away as suddenly as it started so she got her coffee and returned to her desk. Before she could take a drink of her coffee a vision flashed before her that she was going to be murdered. The face of her murderer was the same as in her dreams. 

As soon as she left work she stopped at the nearest police station to her apartment and told them of her premonition. Again they ignored her warning and took no information. She met a friend in their favorite restaurant. Over dinner she told her friend about her dreams and premonition and the two murders but her friend did not seem to believe her either. Her friend sensed her fear though so invited Sylvia to stay at her apartment that night. 

Sylvia thanked her friend and accepted the invitation so they stopped by Sylvia’s apartment to get a few things for the sleepover and for the next day. Sylvia’s key did not work but when she turned the knob the door opened. As soon as they looked in the door, they saw the apartment was a mess. Things were thrown all over the living room and the TV was lying on the floor with a broken screen. Clothes had been ripped out of the closet and randomly thrown all over the room. Dishes and food had been taken from cupboards and lay broken on the kitchen sink and floor. Even her shower curtain lay on the floor and cosmetics had been thrown against the wall. Now her friend believed her. Sylvia called the police and told them about the break in then the two women waited for them to arrive.

“Sylvia, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. Someone did break into your apartment and I think your premonition may have been right. If you had been home the rage would have probably been directed at you. I hope the police get here soon before he comes back. We can’t even lock the door because he broke the lock.”

The police finally arrived and took a report of the break in but Sylvia said nothing about her dreams or premonition. Another officer arrived and it was the same detective she had talked with that morning. “Miss Myers, we meet again. Under the circumstances, I think I would like to take that description now.”

“Thank you Detective Gavin. This is my friend Janice Smythe who I will be staying with for a couple of days until a locksmith can change my lock. The man I saw in my dreams and coming into my building was about your height and was slender. He had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He was dressed in khaki pants with a plain tan sweatshirt and brown and tan running shoes.”

“Miss Myers, that man was not the one who broke into your apartment. He was the one found dead across the street this morning.. His girlfriend lives in your building and was the one who found him. He was coming to see her yesterday.”

“Then why was I dreaming about him? And who broke into my apartment? Why did I have a premonition I would be killed tonight? I don’t understand.”

“The rage displayed here says this was done by someone you know. Do you have any enemies you know of?”

“No, no one. I haven’t dated in several months because I have concentrated on my work and didn’t have time to date. Janice can tell you I haven’t made any enemies in the years we have know each other.”

“Were there any problems at work?”

“None that I can think of...wait. Last week, I had a disagreement with a co-worker but he didn’t seem very upset by it. I had asked him to get some information for me but I didn’t get it. It turned out he gave it to my supervisor so I chastised him for it and told him the next time he went over my head he would loose his job. He apologized and it seemed to be forgotten”

“What is his name and description. Does he know where Janice lives?”

“No, he doesn’t even know Janice. His name is Stanley Marsh. He is about your height, slender with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He is in his late twenties. He favors khaki pants with plain sweaters and tan running shoes. Oh! That is almost the same description as the man in my dreams and I didn’t realize it!”

“Thank you, Miss Myers. We can get his address from your company files in the morning. Miss Smythe, would you keep Miss Myers with you until we can assure her safety?”

“Of course. She can stay as long as she needs to.”

“Good, just give us your address and phone number so we can station an officer to watch over both of you. If this man follows her home from work he might try to harm both of you.”

Janice gave him the information and he took Sylvia’s cell number and work number as well. Then they left for Janice’s apartment. The rest of the night was uninterrupted and Sylvia had no more dreams. The next morning both left for work. Sylvia did not see Stanley all day and wondered whether the police had arrested him. She met Janice at their restaurant then they went to her apartment. The phone was ringing as they came in the door and Janice ran to answer it. It was Detective Gavin with the news Stanley had been arrested after confessing to breaking in to her apartment but he knew nothing about the murders. The man she described had been apprehended trying to break into another apartment in another apartment building but he committed suicide by cop. Case closed on all three tall, slender men with light brown hair and dark brown eyes in their late twenties or early thirties, dressed in khaki pants with a plain tan sweatshirt or sweater and brown running shoes. Sylvia never had anymore dreams or premonitions so she wasn’t psychic after all.