I used to have a recurring dream in which I would be standing in the middle of a wide street in the middle of a city. The sky was very dark and deep blue, and it was windy, like a storm was rolling in. There was no traffic, but there were people running all over the place, like they didn't know what to do with themselves. Sometimes there would be an air raid siren going off, sometimes not. I would walk along the street until I would come to an overpass, where there would always be one of two people: Either a woman with long blonde hair that I didn't know but who felt very familiar who wouldn't say anything, but would approach and hug me closely until I would see the mushroom go up in the distance and the firestorm hit us, or a boy about the same age as me (this was when I was 11 through when I was 16) who would be sitting under the underpass flipping a coin. I would ask him what was going on, and he'd tell me, "the end of the world, I guess." I'd ask him what he meant, but he wouldn't say anything else, until finally I'd get disgusted and snatch the coin out of the air. It was always a Lincoln penny, dated 1997. Then the mushroom would go up, the firestorm would hit, and I'd wake up, occasionally screaming, and always shaking. The last time I had the dream was in '92, and while it still kinda bothers me ('cause it will be a long time before there aren't ANY 1997 pennies around), I was, needless to say, pretty happy to see '97 go on by.
One of the last times I had it was most disturbing. It was not long after I got married, and the dream went along as normal - it was the boy. I woke up suddenly, sitting straight up in bed, and it was early morning, around 6 am. I sat there for a moment, with my wife asking me what was wrong and reassuring me everything was okay. The dog was on the porch, barking at something, and I got up to check on him. I stepped out on the porch, and reached down and petted him a little. Then, off in the distance in front of the house, the mushroom went up, the firestorm hit, and I woke up screaming, louder and more disoriented than any other time I had had the dream.