I don't often remember my dreams, but occasionally one will stick with me. Last night I had one of those dreams. Much of the detail is fuzzy, but the part that has stayed with me all day is this:
A man was alert for only 30 seconds every few days. The rest of the time he was, I guess, in a coma, certainly non-responsive.
All day I've been thinking, what if I was that man, what if I could get information only for 30 seconds. What would I want to know? Would I want to hear news? Would I want to look at pictures? What would be the most important information to convey to someone in that situation? What really matters to me?
It wasn't until I sat down to write that I started to think about what the man might have wanted to convey in those 30 seconds. Would I ask for the room to be colder or warmer? For something special to eat or drink? Would I ask questions?
In the dream, this state of affairs went on for some time, so there was a sense that the 30 second blocks would continue. Presumably you could establish a routine, 15 seconds for you, 15 seconds for me. Thirty seconds seems like a short time, but you could fit a lot into that time frame. Maybe over the course of many weeks or months, certain story arcs could be followed.
I think this is a great short story idea.
