Snacks From the Butler's Pantry

I don't remember the first half of the dream, or how I became lucid. The furthest back I can remember is walking on a sidewalk in a residential suburban neighborhood, and coming across a group of people sitting on a low stone wall. As I passed, one of them called my name to get my attention. I stopped to say hi, and recognized him as an old friend from 20 years ago. He was thrilled to see me, and shook my hand vigorously. I then recognized the other people with him. They too were long lost acquaintances.

The house down the street was having a great party, so I walked over to check it out. One of my best friends from high school was on the lawn to greet me. We embraced, and he invited me inside. The whole house was filled with people I haven't even thought about in 10 years, 20 years, or more. There were some friends who I knew are now dead, and some friends whose names I couldn't even remember. It was some sort of surprise party just for me.

I was lucid, and felt very sad that this all was not real. It was so emotional to see all these old people again. All these people that used to be meaningful in my life, but are now lost to me. The feelings of loss and regret made me so depressed, I started to cry. Everyone was having such a good time, and I was having such a terrible time. I didn't want to be at this party. I was in the garage, and everyone was yelling greetings to me, hugging me, patting me on the back, and shaking my hand. All I could do was cry, knowing none of this was real.

I wanted to escape, so I pushed everyone away, and flew up to a large storage shelf hanging from the roof. It was full of all my old toys from when I was a kid. This made me even more sad, and I started to become angry at myself for creating all this. Just as my sadness began to turn to anger, I heard my mother's voice in the crowd below. By now, the garage had grown to the size of an airplane hanger. I was a hundred feet or more above the ground.

My mother's voice floated up to me. She was saying, "He's always been like this. Always over-thinks everything. He can't just have fun. What mother could be proud of a child like that? We've only recently felt any love for him at all. You should have seen him when he was a kid...."

I was really angry now, and decided I was through with this dream. I looked down to see water trickling under the closed door below. Just as the crowd started to notice, the door blew off its hinges in a forceful jet of water. High pressure water began spraying into the room from the doorway. People started screaming and pushing to get away. I heard a horrible moaning coming from the wall, then the entire wall gave away, like a dam, to the flood of water. From my vantage point above, I watched the whole building get washed away in a violent flood with everyone in it.

The water level quickly rose to my height, and I felt the strong current pulling at my feet as I struggled to hold on. I heard a roar, and looked up to see a wall of water a hundred feet high rushing towards me. I only now remembered that this was the task of the month. I laughed at the thrilling feeling, and let go of the platform as the wave approached. I felt the swell as I was pulled up to the crest of the tsunami. It was an incredible rush, but I timed it wrong. The wave curled and crashed down on me. I felt my spine snap, and was whipped around under the water, totally disoriented.

I was not afraid, and I did not wake up right away. I laughed in excitement as I was thrown around like a rag doll.