Timothy Paradox

I was with my mother, visiting my grandfather in a large retirement home. The place was massive and remind me more of a shopping mall than a retirement home. Grandfather couldn't talk. The dead can't speak because they are possessed (or their souls held hostage) by some kind of spirit/demon. This demon revealed itself to us in the form of three snakes that came out of his mouth and attacked us. They were slimy like eels. We fought these snakes and killed them. I recall crushing one under my shoe. The snakes dead, my grandfather became himself again, taking control of his body. We were done, and got ready to leave. My grandfather, disappointed, asked if we were leaving already. I realized that from his perspective, we'd only just arrived, and he was probably lonely in the retirement home. I felt guilty. I told my mom we could afford to stay, and have another coffee.

Fun fact: my mom is also dead. I didn't seem to know this.

It was about 200 years in the future. We had made it. We'd survived every obstacle in our way. We'd survived the wars, the societal collapse and everything else. The world was a sunny and beautiful place. Cities were full of greenery and people were happy. But I wasn't. Sitting on a grassy hill overlooking a shining utopian city, I felt a mix of hope for our future, and utter misery. Everyone I'd ever known was dead, and I was completely, totally alone.

I remember walking a wide, open street on a dark and rainy night, having just collected my takeout. There were a fair few people around. I considered getting on the bus to do some other chore I had to do, but changed my mind when I realized my food would get cold. I felt a tinge of despair as I'm always postponing things.

In the next scene, I'm walking through a suspiciously clean and dry-looking back alley behind a local Burger King. I enter the place, only to find it's an absolute maze of weird-looking, narrow corridors. I somehow know there are multiple women in here, all of them vampires. Suddenly, I'm confronted by one of them. A nice-looking brunette, about my height. I had a false memory of having met her before, a week or so prior. We talked as if we were already acquainted. The conversation went well. She told me she'd always been in love with me, which surprised me. I was feeling a noticeably low amount of social anxiety. Anyway... before you know it, we were kissing. She told me she worked two jobs and this was her day/night off. Then we had sex, which was nice (despite my inexperience). I was having conflicting thoughts. She was nice and reasonably attractive, but I wasn't fully "feeling it" yet.

I woke up with a new understanding of how new relationships work for "normal people". Love often doesn't just appear fully-formed, you have to give things a chance and hope it grows from there.