Stranded

I just don't get it. Nothing about these dreams make sense.

When I go to sleep, sometimes I dream of me, standing on some lone platform in the middle of an ocean. There's no sign of anything but these hands that just float in the water. As the platform bobs up and down, I look to the distance and see millions of these same hands. They look like regular peoples' hands, but some try to desperately stay above water, others look as though they are dead and just float while another group tries to pull me in, down to my death. I'm pretty sure I've seen what must have been children or even infants' hands in there... Almost all the hands even tend to lack a finger or more, as though someone had hacked them off. And in the middle of all of this, I'm still standing alone, staring down at the mass of hands in front of me.

The feeling of being met with a sea of these mutilated hands... could I ever really describe that sensation, that moment? I don't know how long these dreams actually last, but I'm telling you, it always feels like an eternity. I'm always left wondering about it, why are they there? Did I do something in a past life and these dreams are reminding me?

I've tried everything, from having doctors review me and determine that I'm not going crazy or being stressed and mediums come to my house, only to have them find nothing at all related to paranormal stuff. What the hell am I supposed to do? I think I'm getting the dreams more often, especially on days when I smoke cigars. If I can't get this shit to stop, I'm leaving the town and not returning.

But I wonder, is the smoke from the cigars disturbing the creatures, if they might be ghosts or something? The local store sold me them, could they have something to do with the dreams? Perhaps they put hallucinogens in them... No, they would never think of it. They'd be out of business real fast if they pulled a stunt like that, hell, what would be the point of it? Well, may as well smoke and see what happens. It's not like I've got much to do anyway.

Shit, it fell out. Lousy brand name.

Wait, that's not tobacco that fell out. That's...

...a baby's finger.