Waking Dreams

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had a strange uptick in waking dreams, or at least dreams that seem to center on me in my actual room or in my actual bed.

- In a portion of one such dream, a giant dragonfly/wasp creature was flying towards me. It wasn't going particularly fast, but I smothered it in my comforter. Then I woke up, and rushed over to the light switch so I could get a better look at it. It was about 2:30am. I realized that it was dark in my room at night, so how could I have seen the bug flying towards me so clearly? I went back to sleep.


- In the second dream a couple of days later, I dreamed a sprite was peeking at me around my curtain above my bed. I am not sure if I fully awoke for this to check, or if I dreamed that I checked. Because the dream was contained over my pillow, it's possible that dream-me checked or awake-me checked and I would not have been able to tell the difference.


- In the third dream, last night, I woke up believing that someone had magicked my pants to the ceiling above my fan. I stared hard at the fan, in complete disbelief. I decided I should take a picture since no one would ever believe me. Then I turned on my light, and saw that it was, in fact, just my fan. It was only 11:45 pm - I had barely been asleep for half an hour.


I haven't been making any grand changes in my life style lately. I haven't switched coffee, or started drinking wine at night. My sleep times have not altered. According to my sleep cycle app, my sleep patterns are a little erratic. I wonder what has been causing all this.

It would make a good short story, now that I see all three dreams written down. A progressively invasive sprite making mischief in an honest sleeper's mind...

Harbormaster

I was in a harbor, but the harbor looked like a set piece - fake and glassy.  There were boats docked around, and everything was pretty calm. I had to look over the ship manifests. There were a few cats around, big fluffy cats. I found one under the water, and pulled it out. It was waterlogged. I pressed on its stomach, and some water spouted out of its mouth. I pressed again, and worried that I would have to give the cat MMR. The cat coughed, and came back to life. I was relieved.

All around the harbor were steps floating on the water, like bridges. Walking on them was tricky.

There was a dispute between two families. A young couple wanted to be married. She was poor and the boy was noble. The father of the noble son said something disparaging about the girl's wealth, and the girl's father was insulted. They started shouting at each other, but the girl's family was near the dock and the boy's family was at the top of a tall staircase. I had to run back and forth to keep them appeased. I remember feeling overworked and slightly helpless, because while both families did as I told them, they were also not really listening to me.

I was frantically flipping pages on a clipboard, when S arrived. He said that he had spoken with the families, that they weren't angry anymore, and that everything was going to be alright. Then he held me for five full minutes, and I felt incredibly at peace.

---

I woke up feeling calm for a little while, before the worries of the day set in.

Having reflected on it, I think my dream setting was a muted version of that harbor city in The Neverending Story 2 - wow I haven't seen that movie in perhaps fifteen years.

Armor, War, and Whales

I was lounging on a riverbank (?) - I feel like there was a body of water around anyway. And scattered trees. It was sunny, around noon, and there was a picnic. I was eating and walking with a group of friends - I think there were two women and two men. There was another man, and I liked him very much.

There was a television or a computer - we were watching movies? There was something technological around us.

Then there was a pastel painting which was alive - or one of those painted decorative plates. It described the kingdom in which I lived, about how we had magic goats or the goats were symbols of our country. On the plate there was a king, and goats, and a rather pretty little forest and pasture scene.  The plate started to change, as did the scene. The goats started to die - it was an attack by a neighboring kingdom. The king would go to war.

There was a box I had to find, sent to me. It was my uniform - I had duties I needed to do. It was like waking up reluctantly. I opened the box, and pulled out a pair of harem pants, purple, and a burgundy overskirt. There was armor - dusty scale mail inlaid with red (or blue - I think it sort of changed to blue bubble shapes). I donned my armor, and my fancy hat, and the scene changed and I was in a sort of cathedral. The other people in my group were there, and we were presenting ourselves to the king. First the oldest two children - the high prince and high princess. I remember she had beautiful brown hair and a regal top hat offset on her hair. Then me - I was not a princess, but I had a title - I was a war commander, or a horse commander, but my title did not include commander. After me came the younger children - the other prince and princess. We bowed and vowed to fight.

There were horses and knights, moving through the cathedral which was also a castle now. It was maze-like, and I moved with authority.

Meanwhile (? - I'm not sure if this was still me, or another part of the dream sequence) someone destroyed the great aquarium. The great aquarium was a colossal structure of blue glass and blue water, stretching along the horizon line and hundreds of feet high. A woman stood on a cliff face and watched as the glass shattered. The great whale which lived in the giant tubular structure got stuck, and would surely die.The water cascaded out into the desert landscape. The woman turned to a man at her side, and they would go to war as well. There was chaos below.

I think I might have been below while things were breaking. I can't recall, but I feel like there was great shock and despair, and people were running around trying to figure out what to do. The man I liked was there? and we were trying to do...something...maybe were were looking at the fish and the whale...yes, I think we were enjoying the aquarium when it started to break.

Now, I had to fight. Armies were running around, but I got lost. The plates, which told the story I needed to follow, were difficult to understand. I had to find someone - RIGHT I remember now! I had to choose to fight the armies, or go after the wicked sprite queen who killed the goats. She was the mastermind, sort of. I chose to find her, but the plates didn't tell me how. They suggested I needed to run along the wall of plates, back to the start, to figure out where I was supposed to go to find her. Meanwhile, armies were moving through the halls of the castle.

I rounded a corner, and found the enemy in blue - or red. I remember feeling confused as to why the colors kept switching. There was a cheer as I found the first of the enemy - a toddler. This little baby boy sat in the middle of the hallway, dressed in little armor, holding a very sharp knife in his hand. He was waving it around like a toy. The other side arrived, and everyone watched and gossiped about what I would do. I approached the baby, and my side cheered that I would kill it, but they were also worried I would kill it. I crouched down by the baby and took a hold of the knife.

"Now then, why don't you give me that?" I cooed. The baby smiled and released the blade. Everyone laughed. I didn't know what I was supposed to do next, so I set the blade down and explained I had to go. I went back to searching for the correct story on the plates.


****

I really enjoyed this dream. There was a lot of movement, and the costumes were great.

There was a transition of sorts, from a technological era to a more primitive one - the exception being the giant aquarium.

I think, now, perhaps, that I was someone on both sides of the fight. My armor was red in the first, but then I didn't attack the blue-armored people when I saw them. I got confused as to who was who.

The plate thing was interesting - it was like knowing ahead of time what the plot was, but having the plot be difficult to locate. I remember reading these decorative plates, which would say "she needed to go to this hallway!" only to go the hallway and not find what I needed. Then I'd find a plate which said "She had to go to the dark woods!" But I didn't know how to get there.

Also, I know I am forgetting something about the people. There was a lot of talking, but I know I'm forgetting an interaction with one of the characters early on which was important. Such is the nature of dreams, of course.

Larvae

Ok, this was just a repeated dream image, manifested different ways.

In essence, I dreamed of larvae. Tiny, maggoty larvae the size of rice on the floor. My hand hung off the bed, just above them. They were crawling on something, but I don't remember what. There weren't many of them, and they were concentrated at a spot near/under my bed. At one point I thought they were inside my pillow.

This might explain why my pillow was in the middle of the floor when I woke up.

End of the World (again)

I had another End of the World dream:

Out in space, there is a floating infinity loop object - spinning. It's white but also a little golden. A man (soldier?) reached out to touch the loop. I did not think this was a good idea, but I did not try to stop him. The loop changed shape, into a sort of D shape, and the star behind the shape started to grow big and glow.  I tried to warn the man not to mess with the object, but he touched it again. This time...I think it turned into a cube or a wooden block of some sort, but it changed again. This started the end of the universe.

The scene changed to a campus. A two or three story school with a science lab and chain link fence all around the outside. It was drizzling. There were soldiers - SWAT team style - in the science lab. Everyone was barking orders and hustling about, but there was an air of confusion. I knew I needed a Kevlar vest, and my kit. Outside, there were schoolkids, but there were zombies as well. Or something like zombies. I had to navigate the school, through hallways and around the fence. I did not want to be seen.

At one point, I distinctly remember getting exasperated by everyone else's fear. I found my cache of stakes - cherry wood. They were beautiful I thought - and I stabbed a bunch of zombies in the head. I was satisfied that I had thought to make the stakes ahead of time.

Then there was a horse and cart on a set of old-fashioned train tracks. The campus changed into a city, and the city was being evacuated because a cataclysm was about to happen. I ran and ran, and then I realized I had left my kit back in the science lab. I was frightened I'd get left behind. There was a lot of yelling, and I think my commander was making fun of me.  I hopped onto a cart and my team made it to the last spaceship. The men where yelling for everyone to hurry up. I begged for them to wait for me, and told them I had to go back. One of the men said ok, and I hugged him and thanked him and took off running. I rode another cart back, and took a car or a bus. I didn't have much time.

----


This time the end of the world was full of cliches. I've dreamt of the apocalypse as coming from Heaven, and of great sheets of fire or water, but this dream was full of military and zombie cliches. Except perhaps for that spinning white gold object from the beginning. That piece set everything in motion.

Also of note: Actor Merle Rooker and Actress Kara Thrace were characters in my dream - the former was at the end of the dream as one of the military leaders, the latter was in the science lab with the SWAT team.

Highland Disappointment

I was in a bucolic landscape which I deemed Scotland. The sun was setting, and the air was clean but slightly hazy, as though everything was just slightly out of focus. There was a large gathering of people, all getting ready to work. There was a man I liked, who liked me in turn.

I ran up a hill, and people laughed and yelled that I would be tired. But I didn't get tired. I charged up the hill in a chubby person's gait, yet I felt exhilarated. I tumbled down the other side of the hill and landed just shy of some mud. The man I liked (I never gave him a name), followed me down the hill, and landed in the mud. I laughed and laughed, and while at first he thought I was being mean, he quickly realized I was just happy, and he started laughing as well.

The group (I guess they'd be a Clan) kept moving, through fields of tall wheat. The sun had set and a bright night followed. I spoke with the Man in gentle conversation, and we were both full of flirty witticisms. Then the work began.

I was standing near some bleachers where two African American women sat. They were commenting on the Man, and how sexy he was. I agreed, and in a third person way I knew I was supposed to be jealous, or protective, but I wasn't. Work continued, and as I walked around I realized I was no longer in the Highlands. I was in a sort of dark warehouse, industrial. There were children's rooms - like a giant, abandoned children's daycare. The group was here too, but they seemed more concerned with moving forward than staying and working.

I found a young girl there - she was grubby looking. I told her we'd get some clothes for her, and started walking.

Not too far in the distance, I saw a lit room filled with a ball pit. In the ball pit were the Man and one of the women from the bleachers. They were having frantic sex with each other, and my stomach dropped down further in my guts. I turned and led the girl away so that she wouldn't see them. But the Man and the bleacher's woman saw me. She was unashamed, but got dressed when the Man did. They both followed after me.

The woman got confrontational, demanding to know if I wanted to fight, how nothing was her fault, taunting me about what she'd done. The Man did not apologize - he didn't want me telling the rest of the group.

I walked on in silence in total melancholy.


----


That's how I woke up - I felt completely defeated. This has got to be one of my least favorite dreams of late. Not a nightmare - no fear, no unease, just a profound sadness. I'm not sure which is worse, having wrote that. Perhaps waking up feeling depressed is worse than waking up scared, because it stays with you in a different part of your brain.

Why did my dream start of so wonderfully? And why did my subconscious betray me like that and leave me to wake up sad at my imaginary boyfriend, at a loss I've never experienced?

Catching Up

I've had dreams. I promise. Here are two dreams I've had. Now that I can get to this website again (internet issue), I can update!

Two Snakes Under a Table

There was a yellow snake on the ground – like an albino anaconda with a cobra’s head. It slithered around and I was frightened of it and tried to get away. There was a table, and I climbed on it. Then there was a small, thin snake. It was bright green, and it fought the large yellow cobra snake. I hid on top of the table. When I looked down, the large yellow snake was dead. The little green snake was raising itself towards me. It looked expectantly at me, and I saw that it was bit on the side. Blood welled from two fang marks on its side.

I understood it was asking for help, since it had helped me.

--------

Immigrants

I was in a place that reminded me of my hometown, but the river was wrong. And my house was along a drainage ditch. The door was unlocked and I was nervous. I went into my house and found an Asian family there. They were illegally there – not just trespassing, but illegal immigrants. I told them I was calling the police. 

“No!” They said. “We have documentation!” I said alright, and asked them to show me their papers. They gave me a bunch of photocopies of my face pasted onto official documents. I was enraged that they had stolen my information, my face, and I called the police. The policeman arrived and arrested the family. They looked at me and were very sad, but I was so angry I did not care.

There was more – families coming out of their houses to watch. More people hiding.

______

I liked that little green snake. I remember how I felt like we were having a conversation, and the expectation in its beady little eyes. Snakes are a species known for emoting anything other than cruelty, but it was nice to have a friendly snake in my dreams again.

As for the immigrant one - that was weird. It didn't start with me feeling anti-immigrant, but I was so angry when they tried to use my own face to get into my house.  I wonder what this signifies, as in the real world I am not aware of my having animosity toward immigrants.

I have more, but I want to spread these out over a couple of days.