On Shakespearean Dreams

My dream began in a school auditorium.

Seats were the hard wooden pull-down type. Nothing special.

The auditorium was packed.

My former boss was there. So, too, was Arrested Development star Jason Bateman.

The speaker took the stage. The audience stood.

We began to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag…”

And so this went.

Until we got to the final words of the Pledge.

Where, instead of reciting, “With liberty and justice for all,” I recited:

“Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and St. George!'”

Henry V. Act 3, scene 1.

It’s the speech where Sherlock Holmes’ famous, “The game’s afoot,” comes from.

But I didn’t just recite it.

I shouted it. In my dream.

The dream ends there. I have no reaction shots from the audience. I have no idea why the Pledge of Allegiance should have ended with King Henry’s rally to his troops.

And it’s not even the famous speech from Henry V. No St. Crispin’s Day speech in my dream. No “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

Nothing.

Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George.’

It’s not even St. George’s feast day. The patron saint of England — his feast day is in April, I think. This is still March.

I have weird dreams.

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

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