This morning, between 5:50 AM and 6:15AM, I had the longest and one of the most unsettling lucid dreams of my life. First of all, I wasn't aware that having such a prologned and intricate dream was possible after less than six hours of sleep, as it had never before happened to me on a weekday.

The dream itself became more and more disconcerting as it went on, and I realized I wasn't waking up the way I usually would, the length of it was out of the ordinary, probably lasting at least 20 minutes real time and seeming to last much longer in dream time. For the first half, I was at a party, and apparently not fully lucid as I was concerned with the opinions of dream characters to an extent that was mild but unusual, and I locked myself in the bathroom to consider my options. I thought about going back out and eating a vegemite sandwich, but decided that I didn't really feel like spending my dream doing that, and thought about visiting the lucid crossroads, at which point I realized that I didn't have a strong enough picture of it or ability to transport myself, and attempting to do so would probably end the dream.

After this portion of the dream, I found myself downstairs in my house at night time with the lights off, observing a psychedelic display in the kitchen in a disembodied form. I was able to increase lucidity and regain my body, but the scene itself was very unsettling, standing there in the dark. I felt as if there was somebody outside trying to get in. After a time standing there, I became more and more afraid and "woke up" running down the hall. I thought I'd woken up for real, and went to talk with my parents. I talked with them for a good five minutes in a very vivid and realistic environment, before I decided to do a reality check. When I saw the letter "o" stretching at my command, I became extremely afraid, afraid that I was unable to wake up and stuck in the dream forever. But, through willing it, I managed to wake up in my bed quite uneasy and doubting the reality of where I was.

This was quite a surprising experience, and I suspect the time of day and amount of sleep I'd gotten may have had something to do with it. Has anyone else noticed that dreams occurring in this phase of sleep tend to be darker and more unsettling? Or have I just got a troubled mind recently?