The Demon (The Coronavirus Series)

“The Demon”

The “Coronavirus Series”

Watercolor

12”x 9”

(Finished on August 4, 2020)

(Based on a nightmare I had on the morning of July 20, 2020)

This is that dream:

I was standing in front of a building on a hot summer day. It was noon. The sun was bright. The front door had an awning. I was under its shade, watching. That was my assignment at the moment: to watch the parking lot.

My co-workers were having lunch. They were out of sight, on the East side of the building, sitting at a very long picnic table, eating and talking in the hot sun. I remained at my post on the North side of the building, keeping watch.

The parking lot I was assigned to watch was empty except for one object that stood in the middle of the lot. It was a large pedestal that looked something like the back of a pickup truck with its tailgate down.

Suddenly, I saw movement coming from the East. I looked to my right and saw a large grey squirrel the size of a bear, walking slowly, head down, battle worn, and vicious. It was oblivious to its surroundings. It had only one assignment to complete; to get to the pedestal.

I watched as it slowly climbed up the pedestal, then struggled to stand on its hind legs like a man, with its back straight and its head forward.

As the creature stood there, facing east, large wings began to emerge from its back. Huge wings that were ragged, beaten and broken. While the wings were emerging from its back, the entire creature began to change color, from a sickly grey to a bright scarlet red.

Once the wings were fully outstretched and the creature had finished changing color, a horn began to come forth from its chest. It emerged very slow, and it was very painful. I could see that it was causing excruciating pain, but the creature was forbidden to cry out, and it was forced to endure the pain caused by the horn.

As soon as the horn finished growing, the entire creature froze in place, and instantly solidified into a bright red statue.

At that moment I ran into the building, down the hallway, towards my co-workers, and yelled, “The demon has set up his throne! I just saw it happen!”

This was the event everyone had been waiting for. They jumped from their seats and ran into the building, down the hallway, towards the front door, and then...

I woke up. Tears were in my eyes. The dream was so vivid I thought it was real. I turned my head to the left to look at my digital clock. It was 4:07am.

I grabbed my rosary beads, kneeled at the side of the bed and prayed a rosary for all those who have been appointed to die in the upcoming months.

For three days I was on an emotional roller coaster. Every time I thought about the dream I felt like breaking into tears. That’s when I decided that I had to paint the dream out of my system. This is that painting.