A dream
Last night I had a strange but surprisingly serious dream. It came back to me as I was walking into church this morning.
***
I don't remember the beginning very well-- only that I was chasing something, or following something. I ran through a forested area filled with thick vines and low-hanging branches until I came upon what appeared to be a large pond. In the middle of the pond was a fountain spraying water skyward, and upon a small hill not far to one side there stood a luxurious home. The house was two stories high, built mostly of brick a pale red in color, nearly pink. The entire side of the house facing the water was covered in floor-to-ceiling glass windows. There were trees all around... tall, dark, sheltering. There grew one solitary tree between the house and the shoreline of the pond.
Suddenly, in the water before me was a boat, a small one with two oars. I climbed in and sailed across the pond, only to discover that it wasn't just a pond-- it led out to a lake. I took off across the lake, first crossing its open waters, then making my way toward a smaller, shadowed inlet, where I passed many oddly colored, somewhat shabby looking houses built along the shore on either side. I paddled on, and the farther I went, the more the quality of the homes deteriorated.
Then I came upon a small "village" of sorts on the water. Somehow, people lived over the water in what looked like trailer homes on stilts! But the homes all looked perilously close to collapsing into the lake, and it was clear to me that these families were living in poverty. Still, I paddled on.
Finally, nearing a dead end, I spotted a small island-- if you can even call it that. It was really just a glorified clump of sand surrounded by lake water. I anchored my boat alongside the "island" and then-- I don't know?-- it was like I submerged myself. I wasn't underwater, really... I was under the water and the soil and... then I was in another world. Or another reality. It was like being inside a large house, though underground, with rooms and hallways all interconnected and devoid of windows. It was dim and a bit quiet. Everything had an unattractive muddy color to it.
And there were people. They were all dressed in dark clothes, some revealing, but everyone's appearance had a sort of Gothic flair to it-- dresses, corsets, fishnet, boots, trenchcoats, dark makeup, and so on. Their skin was pale and sickly looking, splotchy and bruised in areas... Many of them were losing the skin on their extremities and arms. It looked like they were very slowly decaying.
While I was there with them, I took on their appearance, to an extent. Unlike the dark colors they all wore, I was dressed in a short, tight, simple, beige dress. I was covered in dirt and soot, and the dress was tattered and torn in places. Up and down my arms were the same reddish patches of peeling skin that everyone else was afflicted with.
I was there to visit someone, a friend of mine who I hadn't seen in a while. As I walked along, searching for my friend, I could feel that everyone was watching me, though they tried to hide it. They whispered among themselves and moved away when I approached them. I was like them, but I wasn't. I may have looked enough like them, but I had what they did not: the ability to "go back," to return to the surface. Those people resided in that place and couldn't leave. They simple didn't have the ability... or the desire, as they seemed strangely content where they were.
I did finally find my friend who was fine and enjoying all the new friends that had been made... though withering away like all the rest. And I did eventually return to the surface, back to my little boat parked by the little sandy island, and everything was as it had been. I picked up my oar and paddled back past the "trailer park on the water," past the colorful but aging and unstable houses built along the shore, across the lake's open waters, and back to the big, beautiful mansion on the hilltop.
***
...Then Remi jumped on my bed and woke me up, argh. When I went back to sleep, the dream turned really wacky, and although it involved me going back to that place, I won't even try to tell it. Let's just say it featured a cute little animal that looked like it belonged in an anime, a $5 bill, some plastic Pokemon figurines, and... tripods?
Edit: Oh yeah, duh, I meant to post a picture with this entry. It was rushed and didn't turn out very well, but I wanted to at least try drawing something looking like the people I saw in the dream. (The faces are blanked out only because I was too lazy to draw them.)
***
I don't remember the beginning very well-- only that I was chasing something, or following something. I ran through a forested area filled with thick vines and low-hanging branches until I came upon what appeared to be a large pond. In the middle of the pond was a fountain spraying water skyward, and upon a small hill not far to one side there stood a luxurious home. The house was two stories high, built mostly of brick a pale red in color, nearly pink. The entire side of the house facing the water was covered in floor-to-ceiling glass windows. There were trees all around... tall, dark, sheltering. There grew one solitary tree between the house and the shoreline of the pond.
Suddenly, in the water before me was a boat, a small one with two oars. I climbed in and sailed across the pond, only to discover that it wasn't just a pond-- it led out to a lake. I took off across the lake, first crossing its open waters, then making my way toward a smaller, shadowed inlet, where I passed many oddly colored, somewhat shabby looking houses built along the shore on either side. I paddled on, and the farther I went, the more the quality of the homes deteriorated.
Then I came upon a small "village" of sorts on the water. Somehow, people lived over the water in what looked like trailer homes on stilts! But the homes all looked perilously close to collapsing into the lake, and it was clear to me that these families were living in poverty. Still, I paddled on.
Finally, nearing a dead end, I spotted a small island-- if you can even call it that. It was really just a glorified clump of sand surrounded by lake water. I anchored my boat alongside the "island" and then-- I don't know?-- it was like I submerged myself. I wasn't underwater, really... I was under the water and the soil and... then I was in another world. Or another reality. It was like being inside a large house, though underground, with rooms and hallways all interconnected and devoid of windows. It was dim and a bit quiet. Everything had an unattractive muddy color to it.
And there were people. They were all dressed in dark clothes, some revealing, but everyone's appearance had a sort of Gothic flair to it-- dresses, corsets, fishnet, boots, trenchcoats, dark makeup, and so on. Their skin was pale and sickly looking, splotchy and bruised in areas... Many of them were losing the skin on their extremities and arms. It looked like they were very slowly decaying.
While I was there with them, I took on their appearance, to an extent. Unlike the dark colors they all wore, I was dressed in a short, tight, simple, beige dress. I was covered in dirt and soot, and the dress was tattered and torn in places. Up and down my arms were the same reddish patches of peeling skin that everyone else was afflicted with.
I was there to visit someone, a friend of mine who I hadn't seen in a while. As I walked along, searching for my friend, I could feel that everyone was watching me, though they tried to hide it. They whispered among themselves and moved away when I approached them. I was like them, but I wasn't. I may have looked enough like them, but I had what they did not: the ability to "go back," to return to the surface. Those people resided in that place and couldn't leave. They simple didn't have the ability... or the desire, as they seemed strangely content where they were.
I did finally find my friend who was fine and enjoying all the new friends that had been made... though withering away like all the rest. And I did eventually return to the surface, back to my little boat parked by the little sandy island, and everything was as it had been. I picked up my oar and paddled back past the "trailer park on the water," past the colorful but aging and unstable houses built along the shore, across the lake's open waters, and back to the big, beautiful mansion on the hilltop.
***
...Then Remi jumped on my bed and woke me up, argh. When I went back to sleep, the dream turned really wacky, and although it involved me going back to that place, I won't even try to tell it. Let's just say it featured a cute little animal that looked like it belonged in an anime, a $5 bill, some plastic Pokemon figurines, and... tripods?
Edit: Oh yeah, duh, I meant to post a picture with this entry. It was rushed and didn't turn out very well, but I wanted to at least try drawing something looking like the people I saw in the dream. (The faces are blanked out only because I was too lazy to draw them.)
