Re-Writes..."Die Hardest"

"i remember this dream i had one night after watching some action movies. it was wild. maybe it represents some kind of hidden aggression i have. anyway, it began like this. 'it was nighttime, sometime after ten, probably midnight. everybody in the house was asleep. my mom, sister and i lived in a place that at a previous time had been converted into several apartments, with each of us taking our own sections. my mom's section was the third floor, the attic of the house. my sister and i had sections on the second floor that were adjacent to each other. both my mom's room and mine had sides that formed the front of the house and had balconies. anyway, like i said, everybody was asleep in the house, unaware that outside a team of six terrorists were going over their mission objectives one final time before they were to make their assault on my house. they split into three pairs, each armed with an assortment of weapons and a target to eliminate. two pairs burst in the front door while the others circled to the back door. the first pair cautiously climbed the stairs to the second floor towards my sister's room, while the second team went past my room and up the stairs to my mom's room. the third team then made its way towards my room. as the two armed gunmen burst into my room, i was startled from a sound sleep. one of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at my head. i didn't know why they were there but i knew they weren't playing around. he was just about to pull the trigger when his partner stopped him. he said he had thought of something more fun than a bullet to the brain. he instructed his partner to open the french doors leading to the balcony. once the doors were open, he dragged me to the edge and threw me over the balcony. i fell from the second floor balcony and hit my arm and back hard against the ground. my right arm was broken and the rest of my body was extremely sore. i could hear the gunmen laughing loudly, making jokes about they were going to do to me and the rest of my family, from deep within my room. i knew in order to save my family i had to get up while no one was looking down at me. i struggled to my feet and made my way around the house towards the back door. just then, the two terrorists that were after me noticed that i wasn't lying lifeless on the grass. they rushed down the stairs, waving their guns around, ready to shoot anything suspicious. they split up so they could more effectively search the downstairs. i clutched the stick i kept by the door tight to my body, as the red beam of a laser scope appeared on the wall next to me. yet somehow, i managed to remain hidden in the shadows. i knew i only had one chance if my family and i were going to survive. as the gunman walked past my hiding place, i leaped from the shadows and swung my stick as hard as i could across his wrists. the blow caused the gunman to drop to his knees as his gun spilled across the floor. i continued to beat him until he was unconscious. the stick in my hand was an effective weapon but the gun on the floor made the better choice for eliminating all the bad men in my house. i picked up the gun and put a single shot into the beaten gunman's forehead. suddenly, two shots lodged into the wall behind me. i fell back unleashing two shots, both to the heart of the other gunman. he fell to the floor with a thunderous sound. i picked up his gun and went upstairs to check on my family. the door to my sister's room was wide open and i could hear men laughing, talking about the fun they were going to have with my sister. one of them said he had to take a whizz and he was going to the bathroom. i could hear the bathroom door close as i entered my sister's room. her bathroom was separate from her bedroom. there was a room between them that was connected to the main hall. i slowly made my way towards the bathroom. the familiar sound of a man using the toilet filled the air. i kicked the door in and unloaded two slugs into the startled gunman's head. his body slumped down on the toilet. i then made my way to my sister's bedroom. slowly, i peeked around the corner to see another gunman standing over my sister, who was tied up in a chair. he was telling her all the awful things he was going to do to her. i moved closer to get a better shot at the gunman, but when he put his hand on her shirt, i became so enraged i shot the gunman until the clip in my gun was empty. the gunman's body fell over on my sister. she was about to scream, but i covered her mouth until she looked up. i untied her and told her to go next door and call the police and paramedics. she told me to be careful and ran down the stairs and out the front door. i exchanged guns with the dead gunman and made my way towards my mom's room. cautiously, i eased up the stairs until i could see the gunmen and my mom in view. one of the gunmen was sitting on the bed with my mom while the other one stood over her, waving his gun in her face. i continued to ease up the stairs until i reached the top and hid in the bathroom to the right. my view of the room was unobstructed. i could see the gunman standing over my mom start to get angry with her and raise his hand at her. she began to cry but he still slapped her. i'd seen enough. i stepped from the bathroom and fired two shots into his head, sending pieces of his brain splattering on the wall. the other gunman quickly grabbed his gun and pointed it at my mom's head, telling me to drop my gun or he would kill my mom. i did as i was told and released my grip on my weapon, letting it fall to the floor. he told me to stand on the balcony, facing away from him. i knew i was going to die as i felt the barrel of the gun press against the back of my head. he turned me around to face him as he put his gun back into its holster. he grabbed me by my arms and i yelled out. my arm throbbed in pain. he carried me to the edge of the balcony and began to toss me off. i grabbed his gun as he threw me over. and as i fell i began to fire bullet after bullet into the gunman until my gun was empty and i hit the grass below. the gunman's body fell off the balcony and into the neighbor's driveway. i couldn't move and the last thing i saw before i blacked out was the paramedics load me into the ambulance while the neighbors watched. it was very bright, the lights were blinding me. my mom said i'd be alright. my sister cried. the ambulance drove away." my dream didn't end right there but i don't want to continue right now.

8-20-99