I was at work and the preschool was in this big skyscraper building with lots of windows. We were having some kind of special day. There was a big festival for the older kids. I was in an upstairs room with my little kids and also the school administrator, and we were watching the festivities through the window. The school had a view of an Interstate, and because of the government shutdown, the Interstate was empty. So everyone was out walking around on it.

My dad showed up and wanted to drive around while the Interstate was void of traffic so I went with him. There were these huge mountains like the Rockies. We were driving around looking at them. All of a sudden, there was an enormous blue shadow in the sky. It was a Russian bomber plane that was unrealistically large. My dad yelled, "The Blue Army!" (Yes the Russians were the Blue Army in this dream.)

It was total pandemonium. I got a text from the administrator saying she didn't expect anyone to come back to work. Somehow I ended up with my mom and we were still in the Rocky Mountains hiding in these snowy areas as America was slowly sacked by the Russians. No one could access Twitter or Instagram because the Russians had hacked it. I told my mom this was never going to work and we needed to leave the country.

So we drove back to wherever we lived, to find the rest of the family. Airports were still operational and there were hordes of people leaving the country to neutral areas. I wanted to go to Switzerland. There were stories of families trying to get on a plane, but the Russians would stop them, shoot the father/husband, and then let the rest of the family on. However, I read on Facebook (Facebook still worked) that my cousin's wife and daughter were shot at the airport but they let my cousin through. Then it was announced that all visas to Switzerland were blocked unless you could prove you had friends or relations there. We were able to get some fake documentation but could only pray it would work.

We went back to our house in what was now a war zone and hurried to pack our belongings. I was filling my backpack and duffle bag but couldn't decide what to bring, because I was in such a hurry to leave the country nothing else seemed important. Also, I was fully expecting my dad to get shot at the airport. We had to leave Bitsy, because only dogs between the ages of 7-10 were allowed to leave the country. I also didn't know what had become of my preschool kids. When Russia invaded, they were all still at the school and we didn't know if their parents were able to get there or not. I hadn't heard from anyone because most of the communication means had been cut off.

We headed out for the airport in our car and heard bombs falling. Many shops and homes were smashed and pillaged. There was a mattress store with all the windows busted, and a woman was standing outside it because her elderly mom needed a warm blanket. I was mad that I only brought one blanket off of my bed, because if I had brought both, I would be able to give one to this lady.

Against all odds, the Russians let my entire family through at the airport. They checked our bags and took a few things from them, but then let us through and we safely flew to Switzerland. Once we landed, we took up shelter in a huge indoor refugee camp.

We all had to find jobs and for some reason most of Switzerland's career field was made up of cake shops. I thought I could work in the kitchen of a cake shop because then it wouldn't matter that I only spoke English. There was a preschool nearby and it had an INDOOR playground (this is something I wish mine had in real life because the days we can't go outside are rough). The teachers were called guides, which I think leaked into my head from a documentary on Scandinavian schools I watched recently. The head guide spoke English and said she would teach me Swiss (Swiss is not a real language by the way) so that I could get a job here at the school, which was what I really wanted.

Just as we were settling in, however, there was starting to be trouble in Switzerland. It was overrun with American refugees and the government was driving them all out. My family had our eyes on Sweden as the next place to try, in case we were forced out of Switzerland.

We also saw images of America on TV and it was a crumbled, smoking, ruined mess. Birmingham was destroyed but even through the destruction you could tell the dream version had been much bigger and fancier than the real one. Sorry, Birmingham. It was such ruin and we knew we would never be able to go back because it was now part of Russia.

At this point my mom woke me up and it took me a second but then I was like wait this isn't real.

Not gonna lie, it took me awhile to shake this one off.

—@nightwraith17