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*

Dreams 034 & 035 - a race, online shopping, rain gear

I need to cover two nights of dreams with one post. I can best describe my dream from Saturday night as a scene from a narrative. On occasion, I have these dreams that form the perfect set-up for a story. I am viewing events from someone's perspective but the person or character is not me. The difference between this type of dream and any other where I am "not myself" is that I wake up feeling some form a regret that I couldn't find out what happened. I had been given the set-up, the tone, the character, the world, but the full plot is missing. The very strange thing about Saturday was that I also woke up with two story titles in my head. Both capture it exactly and I'm not sharing. Sorry.

I have made the decision not to share too much about Saturday night's dream. I want to let it simmer and see if more plot can emerge. I'll add it to the list of others that are still simmering. My dream stove is filling up! The last one like this occurred almost exactly one year ago when I was staying at a family member's cottage over a long weekend. That one is still simmering, taking form and maybe I'll write it all down one day...

What I can say about Saturday's dream is that I was participating in a race, which was also an entrance exam for a school. That's all I'll say. Again, sorry.

Okay, so on to last night!

*start of dream*

I'm sitting in a kitchen when my sister and a couple of friends come over. We're making plans for the upcoming long weekend. We decide to go online to check out special events in the area. We pull down a large display screen and conduct our group browsing with an overhead projector. We come across an events listings site and my sister starts scrolling through the listings way too quickly. She tries to slow down, but she's a demon with her scrolling skills. I end up stealing the mouse away from her to scroll at a normal pace.

Our searches bring us to appropriate attire for the weekend and we start browsing through rain clothing and gear. Most of the attire is appropriately decorated with tons of red maple leaves. We start asking each other if we think the seller will have enough.

*end of dream*

Now, I don't really pay too much attention to the weather forecasts because I'm equally content whether its sunny or raining. But for kicks I did look at the extended forecast this morning and it is saying 5 to 10 mm for July 1. I know the forecast can change, but part of me wants to take this dream as a warning that it's going to rain a lot that day and I should check if I have appropriate rain gear for the weekend.

Dream 033 - Father's Day dream

This one was short, but special.

*start of dream*

I was standing in the dining room at camp. My dad was there. We are talking about fresh vegetables. In particular, he was telling me how much he likes fresh corn. (Completely the truth! My dad LOVED corn on the cob! No one could clean off that cob better than him!)

We hug. I notice he's wearing his blue terry cloth "camp" housecoat. I look at the housecoat and think to myself that I should be doing something with that, like turning it into pillows or something, now that he's gone. Even in my dream I recognize the duality that my dad is standing in front of me, but cannot really be there.

*end of dream*

When I wake up, I realize how young my dad looked in the dream. I also was asking myself if he still used that housecoat at camp. Maybe it was a dream from the past?

Dream 032 - tv, rain, radio, train accident

This one was incredibly clear (and disturbing). I'm posting right away to not miss any details.

*start of dream*

I'm sitting in the living room at the cottage. I'm watching a tv show. In the show, the main characters are attending a country music concert. They each experience a pivotal moment in their development while standing in the audience. Two of the characters even decide to sneak backstage and to impersonate back-up singers in order to dance on stage.

I'm not able to finish watching because I hear a noise at the back door. I go to investigate. My sister has just arrived. I look outside and can see that it is raining. I tell her that I'll be "inside person." She can pass her stuff to me at the door because I'm not wanting to go out into the rain.

My sister ends up not bringing stuff inside and just comes in out of the rain. We go to the dining room and turn in the CB radio, which is also working like a normal radio and playback machine.

We are listening to news items when my sister asks if I had heard the news??!! I don't know what she's talking about. She fast forwards through the newscast, but goes too far. We've arrived to the commentary and reaction part. I don't understand why people are so shaken. My sister informs me that the there was a train accident involving a New York-bound train. 10 people lost their lives, including a well-known personality who was said to have been pinned to her seat in the wreckage. Everyone was shaken by her loss.

*end of dream*

Dream 031 – a motorcycle, a freeway, a 1.6 km run

Last night’s dream was fairly lively, but lacking substantial plot.

*start of dream*

I was riding with a friend on a motorcycle. The strange thing was that this motorcycle was constructed more like a bicycle. Even more strangely, passengers would ride in a very large basket across the handle bars.

We started off at a leisurely pace, but we started going faster and faster. Soon, I realize that we’re on a freeway. I look back at the speedometer and we’re sailing through at 130 km/h. I yell (to be heard over the highway noise) and ask if we can take the city streets so we can go slower. My friend refuses. It’s not that far, he insists.

We end up taking some interchanges and transfer to another bigger freeway. We get stuck behind a truck pulling a large white cube-shaped trailer. We almost get crushed when the truck changes lanes.

Eventually my friend pulls over on the side of the road and gets off the motorcycle. He informs me that he needs to go for his daily run and proceeds off to the right of the freeway. It’s only 1.6 km and I need to join him, he says.

We leave the motorcycle and go for a run. The path is a mix of flat and very steep sections. At one point he brings me up a steep section and I look down. If I lost my footing, I would fall quite far and certainly be injured. He persists and I push through after a taking a few seconds to psych myself up for the big climb ahead.

*end of dream*