Mir klingelten die Ohren und ich konnte kaum verstehen, was die Kollegin neben mir schrie. Ich sah nur wie sich ihre Lippen scheinbar lautlos bewegten. Wir waren in einem Albtraum gelandet, so schnell, rücksichtslos und ohne Vorbereitung, dass eine Lähmung den Fluchtimpuls stoppte. Ich versuchte mich zu bewegen und hörte Laute aus meinem Mund ohne zu verstehen. Die Zeit schien stillzustehen. Panik packte mich und ich versuchte verzweifelt, mich zu bewegen. Da wachte ich auf. Schweißgebadet und in meine Decke verwickelt, so dass ich mich zunächst nicht rühren konnte. Mühsam befreite ich mich aus der Umklammerung, so dass ich die Decke von mir strampeln konnte. Was war das denn? Was für ein Traum und wo kam der plötzlich her? Keine Ahnung. Eine Weile blieb ich so liegen und starrte in die Dunkelheit des Raumes, die langsam der ersten Dämmerung des neuen Tages wich. Ich knipste die Nachttischlampe an und schnappte mein Heft, um den Traum aufzuschreiben. At first, I thought it was all a misunderstanding . But then it turned out that all the participants really did have to leave. "Grab your things, but quickly," the course instructor had said, and I had grabbed my bag and hastily thrown in my writing materials, notebook, and glasses. In my haste, I had left behind the half-empty water bottle, which I was particularly sorry about, because it was a souvenir from my last vacation on Fanø. The alarm blared unabated through the sprawling building and we hurriedly ran down the many steps and out into the open air. The sky had clouded over since noon and dark storm clouds were gathering over the city. The rumbling of the thunderstorm was more noticeable than audible, because the alarm was deafeningly loud even outside. The first flashes of lightning flickered across the black horizon and we fled from the beginning downpour under the trees that had provided us with shade during our lunch break. A discussion about where we could flee to ended when a deafening bang silenced us all. In disbelief, we stared at the formerly bright building, from which flames and black smoke were suddenly rising. My ears were ringing and I could hardly understand what my colleague next to me was shouting. I could only see her lips moving, seemingly without sound. We had landed in a nightmare so quickly, so ruthlessly and without warning that paralysis stopped our impulse to flee.
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