nightmare

#989:
Date: May 18th, 2011
Length: 7 minutes

It's late at night. I'm at my computer, and check some school-related stuff. I see an announcement for a statistics class I'm apparently taking, where they tell us that we were expected to use a certain chemical compound in doing our homework (don't ask me how this is relevant to statistics). I realize that I didn't do this, and the homework is apparently due the next day, so I go outside and rush to a nearby lab.

Once inside, I pull out the necessary chemical from a fridge, and somehow use it to finish my homework (I think I just poured it on the paper?). All is well... for now. Morning comes, and I'm walking around what is supposedly the campus. After a little while, I'm suddenly accosted by a few people, one a police officer, who immediately places me under arrest. I don't resist since I have no idea what I could have done wrong.

I'm taken to a sort of interrogation area (which, strangely, was basically open to outside). I am seated at a table, surrounded by 4 interrogators, and with an attorney to my left. At first I am simply accused of using that chemical last night -- I openly admit to it, saying it was part of my homework. They tell me something really weird like "Just because you were expected to use it, doesn't mean you were authorized to."

Somehow, however, the interrogators quickly change the conversation and accuse me of murdering someone the night before, with some vague relation to the chemical I used. I start to freak out -- I try to explain I have nothing to do with any murder, and that I was just trying to do my homework, but they keep grilling me and trying to pressure me into saying something. My attorney tries wholeheartedly to help me, but he basically is unable to say more than a few sentences.

I get more and more confused, telling them that I was exhausted the night before and don't remember exactly what happened (which is true), but that I'm sure I didn't murder anyone (which is also true -- my recall is a bit fuzzy and I think I may have done something with the person who got murdered, but I definitely didn't kill him). They refuse to believe me, and seem to be ready to put me on trial for murder. I start to completely break down as they continue to pressure me and I feel more and more confused about the entire situation and how little sense it all makes. I end up in tears, fearing for the worst.

They try to get me to reveal as much information about myself as possible. My memory feels more and more blurred, and I start feeling like I'm going insane, but at the same time I realize this might be exactly what they want, and so I try to just hang on. Soon, one of the interrogators (who, it turns out, has the same voice as someone I know irl) poses a devastating question. It was something along the lines of: "Are you enjoying your killing spree?" Not only was he pinning the recent murder on me, but also a string of previous murders -- basically calling me a serial killer. At this point, still crying, I almost lose it completely. I lash out and deny that I'm a murderer, though some doubt is creeping into my own mind.

Finally, they agree to release me for a day so I can talk and be with my family. I arrive some place that looks nothing like my parents' house, or really any place I've seen before. I'm still feeling deeply confused and traumatized at this point. My mom meets me in a sort of dining room, and we talk for a few moments before the rest of the family arrives and we start to eat dinner. As we eat and they try to comfort me, I start to cry again: I do this partly because I am still feeling unstable, like I'm going mad, and unsure of whether or not I am a murderer. A few times I have flashes and feel like I'm back in the interrogation room, fearing what lies in the future. But I'm also crying because of the warmth with which I'm being received -- everyone is here, trying to be supportive and console me. I feel nothing but love and belonging: none of my family seem to have any doubts despite the horrible accusations against me, and I'm incredibly thankful for it.

Eventually, I wake up, in tears. A vivid reminder to appreciate what you have, it seems.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all. Dreams do not stop for holidays, however, so here's my recall from last night:

#974:
Date: December 23rd, 2010
Length: 6 minutes

This dream was quite interesting, unfortunately it was pretty long and complex and much of it has faded from memory. Essentially, I think I was on some kind of alien planet, or maybe it was just Earth, but something was deeply wrong. It seemed that some very serious (ie, humanity-threatening) event was going on, though I'm not quite clear what. I think someone (aliens?) had launched a massive operation, perhaps as a kind of experiment. I vaguely remember running from monsters in the early part of the dream. Not only that, however, I felt like no one could be trusted anymore. Most humans around me had been changed in some way, behaving like zombies in the service of whoever was behind this.

I met up with somebody who was still normal, and we tried to get out of this area, a large place which had some resemblances to my college campus. My familiarity with the campus helped me figure out where we were going. At some point, I think the dream surroundings sort of morph, and I feel like I'm part outside in a city and part in a movie theater. I realize I really, really need to take a leak, even though it may be dangerous to wander off to find a bathroom. I split up from the person with me, and we agree to meet up somewhere. I then follow a Restroom sign into some kind of alley.

I turn left at the end of the alley, almost bumping into a bunch of people who seem somewhat suspicious of me. I take a look around, and see a sort of large lot that is filled with a crowd of people (zombies?), I think listening to some kind of concert. Everyone looks sort of rugged and angry, like a mob. Within the crowd, I see someone I used to know in high school, and he notices me. He invites me over, but I quickly walk away, up some kind of hill.

I now find myself in a pretty open area, kind of like a long valley. After more walking, I reach some kind of building. In front and inside of it are people who all look normal. However, just before I enter the building, I start hearing screaming, and realize that some more freakish creatures have been released. People are panicked and confused, unsure exactly what is happening. More and more, I realize that whoever is behind all this is basically toying with humans and experimenting on them. Despite the panic and the danger, I quickly step into the building, go up one floor, and find a bathroom. I quickly take a leak and walk out, figuring that there is nothing I can do to help at this point.

I eventually reach the point where my companion was to meet me. I don't quite recall if he (or was it she?) was there.


There are some other dream fragments -- I'm not positive if they are part of this dream or not, though they did "feel" quite similar. I guess it doesn't really matter, here they are:

- I was in an old trailer. Outside the world seemed devastated, post-nuclear style. Looking around, I saw some strange writing scrawled on the wall to my left. There were a few words written in one style, and then the word BLOOD written in much larger letters in a blank spot between two of the words. A few moments later, a woman entered the trailer. She was apparently my wife.

- I was in some kind of room in a house or mansion, trying to figure out some sort of mystery (a murder?). Everything felt very eerie and tense as I tried to look for clues, though I don't really remember any details.


Could I get a nice, long lucid dream for Christmas, pretty please?

#967:
Date: (Approx.) October 10th, 2010
Length: 5 minutes

It's another zombie apocalypse. I begin the dream in a large, fortified bus with a bunch of people from my family. We drive down a bunch of roads until we finally reach a coastline. We roll down the beach until we reach a sort of military encampment which is apparently one of the few human settlements remaining. There are many white tents, and as we drive into the camp, people are impressed that we've survived on our own for this long.

We don't stay for more than a few moments though, I think because we realize that whoever is running this camp has some kind of sinister motives. In particular, we notice a sort of symbol on the side of buildings and vehicles that looks like "^^^^", and it makes us very suspicious. We end up in a sort of city, and we stop at what used to be a restaurant, looking for food to scavenge. My recall is a bit blurry at this point. I think we find some guns inside the restaurant, and then someone appears at the door. At first we think it's a zombie, and immediately take aim with our rifles. It turns it's a human though, and we all end up sitting at a table and talking.

Big jump here, I somehow end up in a kind of massive factory, and I am being taken to an audience with the factory's owners (I think the guy from the restaurant told me to go here). After taking an elevator, I enter a large, Japanese-style room, and stand in the middle of the large carpet that spans the room. After a few moments, I am surrounded with a bunch of vaguely human-like cats, who are apparently incredibly wise and think I'm some sort of chosen one. I try to talk with them and explain that I'm nothing special, but they speak a language I don't understand.

For a while I'm really confused, as the cats are all saying many things and I have no idea what is really going on. Eventually, I try to just relax, and I think I slowly start to understand what they are saying, despite not knowing their language. They begin some sort of chanting, and I start floating in the air. I just try to roll with it and wait. Unfortunately, I don't remember much of what happened after that.


#968:
Date: (Approx.) October 8th, 2010
Length: 3 minutes

It's night-time, in some sort of suburban neighborhood. Apparently, I'm "in" a sort of horror movie, and I sort of know it, so while everything feels real, I also have some notion that it isn't, if that makes any sense. Anyways, I'm outside with a group of 4 people, one of whom is Mel Gibson. Armed with a few guns, we're on the hunt for some kind of mysterious animal who has been wreaking havoc (maybe killing people?) in the neighborhood.

After walking around for a while, we spot a dark figure, which we assume is the animal. I think it runs away before we can kill it, and I think to myself that it doesn't look that dangerous. We decide to split up. I end up exploring some sort of log cabin with another person, and it's suddenly morning. The guy with me uses his walkie talkie to contact the others, but eerily, there's no response at all. Everything is suddenly very quiet and tense. There is a knock at the door right in front of us. I feel like something horrific is about to happen, so I get behind the door and try to block my vision, as if trying to ignore the movie I'm in. The guy opens the door, and there is nothing there but books on the floor. If I recall correctly, the books belonged to a little girl who had been killed by the animal, and for some reason it was quite scary that they were suddenly here (who brought them there?).


#968:
Date: (Approx.) October 15th, 2010
Length: 2 minutes

I'm walking around on campus, and I see a girl I haven't seen in years. I follow her, and see her go into a sort of deli I have never been to before. After a few moments I decide to go inside, but go in through the wrong door and end up in a kind of bathroom. There's a bucket with some food in there, so for a moment I wonder if this is the actual deli, but eventually conclude that it isn't. I go in through another door and find myself in a kitchen area, where an employee tells me this isn't the right place to get food. I go back outside and in through another door, which is the right one this time. I ended up admiring some of the delicious things for sale.


A fragment from last night: I was in an elevator with some guy, and suddenly it started shaking fairly violently. It barely reached the floor we were going to, and when it did, the doors opened but the elevator started moving again. We scrambled to get out of the elevator, and did, just in time, before it dropped free-fall to the bottom of the shaft.


Finally, a kind of funny and technically lucid dream from the other day. I woke up in the morning, having overslept already, but fell asleep again. When I did though, I ended up in a dream of getting out of bed, only to see my roommate hiding in a corner getting ready to jump out to scare me or something. I knew my roommate wasn't here IRL though, so I yelled out "NO!!', mad at myself for falling asleep again. I woke myself up and get out of bed, for real this time.