Dream 4

We rowed for three days and three nights. The monster continued to talk the entire time, without ever taking a breath and never tiring.

Twice each day, sunrise and sunset, the drum beater would pound out a clumsy riff and the drumming would stop. At this time he would carefully step around the creature --arching his body away trying not to touch it -- and careful to keep his eyes on his feet would bring a bucket and ladle down through the center of the hull. For a brief period we rowers were allowed to catch our breath, stretch our arms, and take a long drink of lukewarm water.

During this time the monster would take two deep breaths, lick her lips, and set down the megaphone to paw at her 'fro, pulling the sides and smoothing, as if massaging it so could create the miracle of turning her from Jan into Marcia. Over the ladle I saw her lashless pitiless black eyes. She would clear her voice and begin the noise again.

It was the sound of fifty colicky babies fretting and a jet engine chewing a goose.

Once during the first twelve hour shift, a woman I didn't know yelled, "Why are you doing this to us? Why won't you just shut up?"

The monster opened her mouth in a large operatic "O" and held a note the like of which has never been heard before nor since, and the woman who had yelled crumpled to the deck, curled into a fetal position and held her arms over her ears. After an eternity the monster segued directly back into the inane monologue she had been holding forth before the interruption from the rower.

The drum beater helped the woman, who I later learned was Dianna, back into her seat. "Don't try that again," he whispered. And with that he picked up the bucket and ladle, trudged back up the aisle, found his place on the bow deck and began the drumming anew.

 … it's the best bakery in town they have the most delicious frosting however I prefer the cupcakes from another bakery I love cupcakes I like lemon ones, and chocolate ones, and strawberry ones, and marble, and Black Forest, and German chocolate ooh and I like cupcakes with filling crème filling not jelly or fruit filling people who like jelly or fruit filling are not the right sort of people shall we say in fact I'm an excellent judge of the right sort of people shall we say I have friends well actually my husband has friends in another town and they know the best bakery in their town and we were there two weeks ago for a birthday party and they were very busy with the arrangements for the birthday party because they are very fine people and they do everything just so and they just didn't have time to pick up the cake so of course I said I would pick up the cake because I knew it would be a fabulous cake from a fabulous bakery because they are the right sort of people and so when I picked it up I saw that it was $150 I mean they have that kind of money to spend I couldn't spend that much money but they have that kind of money and it was just a ten inch round and $150 but it was from the best bakery in town and they are the right kind of people… 

The galley rocked side to side as if bumped. Looking to the right we saw a large fin slicing through the water. Dianna stood up from her oar and screamed, "silence at last!" and jumped overboard directly into the path of the shark.

The water came violent afroth, splashing pink tinged water into the galley, yet the monster did not slow her speech of death.

Dianna was only the first.