Lighthouses and Monsters

Yesterday, I dreamt I was away by the sea. The world was gray and beautiful and sometimes dark. I was with a friend, but this is not someone I know in my waking life. She was with me. I was with Mark. There was a family living in a white house by the cliffs and the white house had a lighthouse attached to it. The family was leaving that night. The lighthouse had been their daughter's room. I was going to have to sleep there that night, after they had gone.

I went back to the house we were staying at. I told my friend there was something wrong with the lighthouse and she pulled out a baby monitor - the family had left it behind. She said we could use it to track the ghost's progress. I heard the clanking of the chains on the ghost and she looked like that dripping woman in Alvin Schwartz' book, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I put my fingers to my lips to hush my friend and she and I parted ways upstairs, walking tentatively down the dark, wooden hallways to separate rooms. Mark had looked nervous when I told him about my dilemma when we were both at the foot of the stairs, before hearing that dreaded clanking, that I had to go sleep in the lighthouse when it was haunted. I finally realized why.

I heard the ghost muttering "Obama, Obama, Obama" over and over as she climbed the stairs slowly. I realized why Mark had looked so nervous. I somehow surmised she was looking to claim a man's soul, to eat it up alive. It was never me or my friend she was after. I settled back into the chair in a wonderful room upstairs and waited. I could hear the static from the baby monitor and it was comforting, in a strange way. I did wonder idly if she would come for me afterward, but I believed she would be too full.

My friend had beautiful curly blonde hair, full cheeks, and was beautifully plump. She was more a large child than a young woman. I couldn't see myself, but I think I looked much as I do in waking life.

I woke up to the sound of rain and then it was time to go. That is all I remember.