Dream 041 – Dodge Shadow, no brakes, hoarding

I'm not sure where this one came from. I was as puzzled when I woke up as I was during the dream

*start of dream*

I’m standing just outside of a building near my mom’s house. I’m waiting for a ride. My sister and her husband pull up in my Mom’s old white Dodge Shadow. I immediately ask her where she got the car and she tells me that she kept it after Mom got rid of it. But then I asked her whether she was supposed to use it as a trade-in. Yes, she responds, but she couldn’t bear getting rid of it so she’s been parking it in a lane way a couple of blocks away from her house so Mom wouldn’t know.

Next she informs me that I’ll need to drive, but I should be warned that the brakes are really bad (or non-existent). I’m really not comfortable with this plan and tell her that the car shouldn’t be on the road. She agrees with me and says that’s why she left her kids at home.

My brother-in-law starts giving me a hard time about me not wanting to drive and he goes off on a rant about world politics and history. I start ranting back at him that it’s insane that not only is this the same car I used to do my driving tests when I was a teenager, but that my sister is a pack-rat and he’s letting her hoarding flow out into the neighborhood.

*end of dream*

Dream 040 – a restaurant, a blue bird, A.F.

This dream didn’t have much plot, but it was vivid for the décor.

*start of dream*

I’m in a fancy restaurant. It’s moderately busy. I’m sitting towards the middle of the restaurant with a man that I don’t know. I look up and notice that the farther you look up, the more the ceiling transitions into a canopy of trees. The trees are decorated with little white lights, and it’s very beautiful.

I notice a large tropical bird sitting in a tree above us. It’s blue in colour and has long feathers extending off its tail. Just by looking at the bird, I know that it’s lost and the bird’s owner goes by the initials “A.F.” It had flown out the window from its owner’s place across the street, and came to make a new home in the trees of the restaurant.

The man reachs up and extends his hand towards the bird. The large bird morphs into a little blue bird about the size of the chickadee, perches itself on the man’s fingers and begins chirping.

*end of dream*

Dream 039 – classroom, presentation, office

This one didn’t make a lot of sense even as I was having it.

*start of dream*

I’m in a high school classroom of about 10 or 15 people. There’s a teacher at the front of the room asking that we turn our attention to a guest lecturer. The guest lecturer then begins to tell us about her business and all the services that it offers. I’m bored. I have no use for these service (don’t remember what they were).

The presenter tries to make her pitch more interactive, so she starts asking the students questions about what she’s saying. I’m not paying attention, so when a question is asked to me, I ask the presenter to repeat the question. The teacher gets mad and yells at me for not listening. I tell the teacher that I have no need in any of these services. I also remind the teacher I’ve already graduated from high school, so there is no reason for me being here. I ask the teacher to be excused, but the teacher refuses. I then tell the teacher that I’ll send myself to the office.

I walk though a series of hallways and eventually find the office. I approach the counter, but the dream ends before I can speak with anyone.

*end of dream*

Follow-up to Dream 037

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke with my mom on the phone. I told her about Wednesday night's dream and she encouraged me to call my brother. I felt like a fool because he's a very practical person and our conversations never veer in the direction of dreams. Anyway, I called and left a message. He returned the call late last night. I didn't want to alarm him because my dream was about his wife, but I felt that I needed to convey as much information as I could. He just listened to me as I told him everything, including the part where my mom and sister were telling me it had something to do with the head or a headache.

And then he asked what night this happened... Okay, I wasn't expecting that question.

I told him it happened Wednesday night and he said that was odd because he woke up with a massive headache on Thursday morning, the biggest he's ever had, he said. This got us on the topic of other recent dreams and we exchanged a few about our dad. It was nice.

So has anyone else ever been spooked by the realism or accuracy of a dream?

Dream 038 (mini-dream) – a secret, a phone call, a play

I had a mini-dream last night. It was quick, tidy and slightly bizarre.

*start of dream*

One of my co-workers tells us that he has a secret. It is written on a small piece of paper that he always keeps with him. Somehow we get the piece of paper away from him and we all huddle around to read it. It’s a phone number. There wasn’t much discussion; we set the nearest phone to speakerphone and dial.

The phone rings once and then a woman answers. “James Joyce’s office,” she clearly states. Looks of confusion are quickly exchanged. Somehow we have called a number for a dead writer.

Not knowing what else to do, I tell the lady that we had misdialed and we were trying to reach Stephen King. (I just blurted it out, believing that I needed to give this woman a cover story.) She was very understanding and then hung up the phone.

Next, another co-worker says that this secret wasn’t nearly as much fun as she had imagined and announces that she’s going to head upstairs to see if she can still catch the stage play. Apparently there’s some sort of production scheduled.

*end of dream*

Dream 037 – family members, a bridge, a message

Last night I had a freaky moment as I was falling asleep. I was in that moment of sleepy transition and I was overcome with the thought/belief that I was choking on a coin. I startled myself awake and had my feet firmly on floor, ready to charge across the room to grab the phone and dial for help. Just as I started to stand up, I realized that I had nothing in my mouth and could breathe normally. There was a big sigh of relief as I lay back down. Still, I found the dream from the night before to be even more alarming.

On Wednesday night I experienced my dream in a way I never imagined possible. It almost felt like a sci-fi story where a character travels into a different dimension and, upon their return, is tasked to deliver a message that will ultimately save the world. Okay, I’m being dramatic, so just read on and you might understand the comparison.

*start of dream*

I’m sitting in the middle row of seats in a van. My mother is driving. My oldest sister is in the back row of seats. I immediately recognize that I’m dreaming and I announce to them both that this is a dream. They look at me strangely and demand proof. I think about it quickly and then pull out my cell phone. I’m looking at the key pad, but I can’t read any of the numbers. This is the proof, I tell them. If this was reality, I would be able to read the numbers, but because I can’t I must be dreaming.

My mom and sister still didn’t believe me. So I tell them that I will just force myself to wake up and then they’ll have to believe me. I try my hardest to wake up, but repeatedly I fail. It has happened before that I can will myself to wake up, but nothing. This is alarming and I start to panic a bit.

My mom starts to drive faster on the bridge. The car veers to the left and we fall into a culvert off to the side. My mom just keeps driving like nothing’s wrong. We make it to the other side and we’re now driving through hallways with doors. Every time I think we’re going to crash, my mom pulls a fast Mario Kart move and we’re launched into a new hallway.

I announce to my mother and sister that I’m convinced more than ever that I’m dreaming. My mom pulls the van over. I tell them that I’m certain. It may be reality for them, but deep down, I know it’s a dream for me.

My mom and sister exchange a really awkward glance and then look at me strangely. Then maybe you can stop it from happening, my mom says. What? What happened? My sister then tells me that my sister-in-law was in a car accident. She ran a red light and crashed her vehicle. It had something to do with a headache or her brain, they were explaining.

I tried to assure my mom and sister that my sister-in-law was okay. This was a dream so in the real world she was okay. But then my mom got really serious and told me that I needed to warn her when I woke up. Drive safely and watch for the red lights. I promised my mom I would tell her.

That’s when I woke up.

*end of dream*

Dream 036 - a mirror, group photo, sponsor a child

Wow! All this heat and humidity certainly did wonders for my dream drought. The dream flowed while it was happening last night, but the two parts are unrelated...

*start of dream*

Part 1 - I am house sitting for a relative. In the basement, there are a series of medicine cabinets with mirrored fronts and they open up to reveal many shelves inside. These cabinets have been decorated with wallpaper over the glass in places (mostly the top edge of the mirror, but all over for some.)

I decide to clean the mirrors, but all I have is a drain cleaning solution (like Drano.) I fill a squirt bottle and spray all the mirrors. I wipe and rinse the first mirror. It's much cleaner. I then move to the second mirror and the wallpaper is peeling off. I had left the solution on too long and it was eating through the rest of the wallpaper. The mirrors, however, are sparkling.

Part 2 - I'm standing with a friend in a large office. She's telling me that she is going to be teaching at the university. She then whispers to me about how she caved to student pressure and organized a group photo for all the students under her faculty. She was feeling really guilty because the school had told professors that it would not pay for the photo.

I then asked her who paid for the photo. She said that she did from her own money and it cost $200. I then asked if it was a professional photographer? Of course, she responds and students can buy copies. And what are you going to do to with any profits after the $200 cost is recouped? She says that she is going to use it to sponsor a child with an overseas agency, probably World Vision. I tell her that she shouldn't feel guilty one bit. The school hadn't said the photo couldn't be taken, only that it would not pay to take it. She had seen this opportunity and turned it into a student community-building fundraiser. Most importantly, once a child was sponsored, the students could take it upon themselves to organize more fundraisers. My friend seemed to be satisfied with my reasoning.

*end of dream*