I dreamt last night that I was in a hostage situation. Some lunatic had taken my parents, brother, and myself, along with several other people I didn't know, hostage in my dad's office building.

The man in charge terrorized us by choosing one person to ask a question, and if the person didn't answer correctly, he would say, "Okay..." and shoot them on the spot. He was indiscrimate in his murder - a child, a mother, an elderly person. It was horrific.

It was one of those dreams where you aren't sure if you're sobbing in real life or just in the dream. But I was so scared for myself and my family. He almost killed my dad, but didn't, for some unknown reason.

I can't remember the middle part of the dream, but at the end, we were leaving the office, my dad had the gun tucked in his belt and was carrying something out to the street, and the lunatic was following us, still picking on people but he had no gun and therefore no power.

In my soul, I still thought he could somehow regain control and kill more people. I wanted to stop him, but I didn't know how. Until I saw the gun.

I grabbed it, and before my dad could say anything, I rounded the front counter in his office and screamed out the lunatic's name (though I don't remember it now). When he looked at me, the hatred and fear overwhelmed me and I shot him twice in the chest.

I can't express the relief I felt. Not remorse. I was glad I didn't have to fear him anymore, fear the situation happening again. There was no chance that he could terrorize us again.

It's a disturbing dream, and I wonder if it plagued my sleep because of a conversation I had this past week about the death penalty. No one has a right to take a life, we were saying, and People need to find closure elsewhere.

In my dream, I would not have ever found closure had I not known this man was dead, perhaps it was sweeter because I killed him, too.

A strange perspective, a strange dream.