Dream: After World's End

I dreamed that natural disasters had devastated the world. I survived along with about fifty others. It was a mix of people who had previously been strangers to me, and people I had known -friends, a couple acquaintances. For all we knew, we were the only survivors in the world. We had not seen anyone outside our group in over a year, and it was too dangerous to venture outside. There were horrible blizzards and volcanic eruptions -sometimes at the same time.

There were some disagreements in the group about the best place to live and the best ways to survive. We eventually split into two groups. The group I stayed with lived in a small settlement we built ourselves in a a narrow ravine out of wood and shale rock. The others lived in a series of caves about two miles away. There were people in each group that had been rivals even before the trouble started.

Eventually competition for resources coupled with old rivalries and the insanity of isolation created violence between the two groups. It escalated when a fight ended in one of ours killing one of theirs. Full war broke out between us, manifesting in secret raids and lethal sabotage. The leaders of each group grew insane in their obsession with destroying each other.

At one point, what we thought were zeppelins appeared above us, and rescue workers came down to take a few of us at a time. to where they said other humans had built a society, safe from the natural hazards. We wept in relief. WE sent first a few people that needed to reach civilization first: a pregnant woman, three young teenagers and and old man. When they reached the zeppelin, the latter was suddenly drawn up and all five of our group members were flung overboard. They fell to their deaths right in front of us. The "rescue" workers were the other group. They had somehow constructed a small zeppelin-like flying device to search for signs of civilization.

Apart from our leader, of whom we were all terrified and to whom we were all in debt for our survival, our group tried to live in peace. I lived slightly apart, not knowing everyone as well as they knew each other.

A terrible winter came. The other group was becoming more efficient at finding food than we were. Our group would not survive the winter unless something changed. These problems caused so much fighting and stress among us that I took to being by myself more and more. I was walking outside on a milder day, just along the outside of a cave nearby our settlement. I sang a song I had learned from my mother before she died in the collapse of a building. It was a beautiful lamenting art song. I heard something on the opposite ledge and stopped singing. I turned to find three other-group members watching me. One of them was their leader. I froze, terrified, knowing it was too late. But they did nothing. They watched me with expressions I couldn't read,. Eventually they simply turned and left.

Later, we were visited by a messenger from the other group. He offered enough food to last our group through the winter. The only thing they wanted in return was me. The group raged at the messenger, who just stood there watching me calmly. I thought about it. What could they want me for? If they wanted to kill me, they would have done it near the cave. Either I go with them, or my people die.

I agreed. Food was left for my protesting, crying group. I went with the messenger.
I was led down into the caves. It was cold and the hallways were lit with torches. I entered a room deep below the mountain. This room was lined with fabric and was lit by oil lamps. The Leader sat at an old piano. I marveled at it, wondering where they salvaged it from.

"You are not a guest here." he told me with unblinking eyes. "I have brought you here for one reason and one reason only."
I was terrified. My mind raced with ways I could possibly escape.
"I have brought you here," he continued. "to teach you music."
I didn't move. "...what?"
"I heard you in the cave mouth. It was the first time in years I have heard a singing voice. You see, I play," he gestured to the old piano. "But I cannot sing. Everyone else in this society is about as musical as a pile of shit."
I just gaped at him.

He explained that he had been a conductor before the world's end. He had been driven slightly mad from lack of music ever since. He told me he would teach me what he knew. I was a musical slave. I was to learn opera. He would keep me alive so long as I continued to learn and perform music.