Snacks From the Butler's Pantry

Unleash the Beast

I was waking down a busy street in San Francisco, packed shoulder to shoulder with people. I knew I was supposed to be meeting friends for dinner, but I also knew it was a dream. I was having a hard time moving through the crowd, and was worried I would be late or wake up before I could get to the restaurant. I laid my hands on shoulders of the stranger in front of me, and vaulted over him while pushing down on his shoulders. It was like leap-frog superhero style. I went flying over the crowd, higher than I expected. As soon as I landed, I bounced back up into the air with another leap. My jumps were probably 30-50 feet high, and I remember grabbing onto a building's roof at one point, and then swinging off like spiderman. It was a real thrill.

I reached the restaurant, and found a long banquet table surrounded by dozens of my friends. I took a minute to greet everyone, and tell them how exciting this was to have them in my dream. Food started arriving right away, and people started digging in. I ate a crab cake that tasted like cream cheese, and a giant coconut shrimp the size of an apple. There was not enough food, and people were complaining. I was trying to convince people it was a dream. I took the plate of crab cakes, held my hand over it palm down, and made the food multiply. I did this to all the dishes, until the table was covered in food.

People still did not believe me that it was a dream. They thought it was some sort of magic trick. To show off even more, I made a fist with my hand, with my index finger extended. I laid my index finger on the edge of the table, and then slammed my other hand down on my closed fist. The leverage made my index finger snap off like it was made of plastic. There was not blood or pain. It was like I was made of rubber. People still did not believe me. They thought it was some sort of sleight of hand. I picked up my severed finger, and flipped it across the room. In mid air, it turned into some sort of toy. My finger grew back like a plastic doll. I plucked it off my hand again, and threw it into the air. It too, turned into a a toy. I started plucking off my fingers, one by one, and flipping them into the air rapid fire. They all turned into video games, toys, and other fun stuff.

I was having fun putting on the magic show for all my friends. "Watch This!" I rolled up my sleeve, and my hand started growing and pulsing. My fingernails grew into long claws, and my skin sprouted dark fur. The wave of fur moved up my forearm, and my muscles twisted and grew. I pulled my shirt off, and looked down to see my chest muscles swell and sprout dense dark fur. I was werewolfing out pretty hard. I felt my chin extend into a snout, and my teeth grow into long fangs. I fell down on all fours, and could feel incredible strength and power. I knew I was a terrible beast.

Strangely, I stayed in this werewolf form, and finished dinner with my friends. They believed it was a dream, and were throwing me food to catch in my wolf's mouth. It was a great party. Towards the end, we were packing up the leftover food to take home. I grabbed a whole uneaten pizza to take home to my girlfriend. I thought she would love it when she woke up in the morning. I also gathered up all the toys to give to my little brother at his birthday party the next day.

Halfway out the door, I remembered that I could not take anything with me to the waking world. This frustrated me. I took the bag of toys, and tossed it out into the landscaping. All the toys scattered in the bushes, and I saw a bunch of little kids run over to pick them up. I was still holding the pizza box. I used my werewolf strength to throw it out like a frisbee. As soon as it left my hand, I felt myself rip apart physically and mentally. A fearsome looking black wolf leaped out of my body, chasing the frisbee-pizza across the lawn. I remained standing, with my arm outstretched from the throw, but I was now completely human. My consciousness was in both places at once. I was watching the frisbee fly away, and the powerful wolf chasing it. I also felt myself in the wolf's body. I could feel all four of my legs pounding on the wet grass, and could see the frisbee flying just out of my reach. I leaped in the air, and sunk my fangs into the cardboard box. I also watched from my human body, as the wolf jumped to catch the pizza box. It was very strange.

Just then, a group of kids brought me back the toys I had scattered in the bushes. I explained why I had thrown them away, and told them to keep them. When I turned back around to look for my wolf, it had vanished in the darkness.

Pause and Fastforward

I was playing a game with two of my friends from my childhood. It was a hide and seek type of game, but much more serious. There were some sort of life and death consequences to the game. I was stalking these two friends as they ran around an outdoor cityscape of ramps and stairways. If they caught me following them, I would lose the game. If I could follow them successfully to their destination, and arrive there before them, I would win.

I was sneaking around close behind them, but they were getting further and further away. I asked myself in a loud psychic voice, "How can I catch these guys? They are so fast." I answered myself from a separate level of consciousness, "Slow time until you catch them. This is a dream." I now had two levels of awareness. There was a 'first person' and a 'third person omniscient'. It was like I was on the phone with my consciousness.

I snuck around a corner, and time slowed to a crawl. Everything was moving super slow. I asked my omniscient self, "Is there a way I can move faster?" I answered myself, "Yes. Fast forward yourself, while you keep the world slowed." I started moving with crazy super speed. I moved so fast, it felt like I was teleporting. I stopped right behind the kids I was chasing. I was less than a foot behind them. They were moving in slow motion, but I could see one of them turning around to look at me.

"Help!" I asked myself. "They are going to see me." Omniscient answered back, "Pause time. Now, remove yourself from time. Now hide behind the stairs, and resume time normally." I followed the instructions, and was now behind a staircase, watching my prey as they looked around, confused. I know they had heard me behind them, and were baffled by how I could disappear so fast.

I had a level of lucidity above the dream. When I was 'first person' in the dream, I had only a low level of lucidity. I was fooled by my surroundings. The 'omniscient' level of consciousness was totally lucid, and aware it was a dream. It was strange, because all of the communication between the two levels of consciousness was completely verbal. It was like a telephone conversation between my lucid self, and my dream self.