Dream

I'm pretty sure that everyone and their mother has seen the movie Inception and its concept of dream "layers." I've always been interested in the subject of dreams and how to achieve certain effects with them, like lucidity. When I saw that movie about five years ago, it kind of reignited that love for dreaming that was dormant inside of me. But it wasn't so much the concept of layers that had me interested as it was the idea of a "long" dream. I've read stories here and there on different forums and in media about people achieving dreams that lasted days or weeks or months yet only being asleep for a few hours. In order to achieve a long dream, all I've really done in the past is just focus intensely on it while I fell asleep. It worked (rarely) for lucid dreaming for me, so I figured it would work for trapping myself in a dream world. I was never keen on the idea of putting foreign substances in my body to gain it. At 8:30PM last night (which is really damn early for me), I fell asleep and entered what I believed was a regular dream.


The sky was a mix of its usual powdery blue and lavender, reminiscent of dusk after snow had fallen. But it was light and breezy outside, and as far as I could tell it felt like the tail end of spring. I was on a grassy hill in front of something that looked like a marble courthouse, and on the flat field at the bottom there were rows of tables with presents and food and a grill set up. I forget exactly what was being celebrated, but I know it wasn't for me. There were a lot of people out there; friends, family, and people I hadn't seen in a long time. We spent hours out there talking and eating. There was one friend I spent a lot of time with, named Tim. In real life, I haven't seen this guy in about two years, and in the dream he remembered that. So we caught up, he told me about his job, his guitars and playing, etc, but there was also a person he mentioned. Around the party there was this man skulking around, and he didn't belong there. I knew he was right, because out of everyone there he was the only person I had never seen before. As far as I can remember about the dream, it was an old man, but I'm not sure. At the end, we said our peace and left with hugs and goodbyes. I rode off in this old mustang that my family hasn't owned since about 2003. I got home, showered, brushed up, and went to bed in the exact same bedroom.


And then I woke up to my grandma and mom standing around in my room in the dark. While this would be strange enough on its own, they had tables set up on the side of my bed, all with food from the party earlier. My mom said something like "Come on, you gotta eat and get your strength up!" For some reason, I didn't find this strange at all and was immensely hungry. So I dug in on a few things and they just kept piling it on. At a point I was basically done and told them to stop but then they pulled on some switch from the ceiling and turned on these bright oriental looking lanterns they had strung all over the room. So I ate a little more to appease them and then told them it was enough and I walked out of my bedroom. Right out there, I saw my aunt standing in the dark, and as I walked by she kinda just stared right at me until she noticed I could see her, at which point she smiled. It unnerved me and I scooted off to the bathroom and washed my face. When I made my way back, everyone was gone, and all the tables and lanterns in my room were gone too. I went back to bed and fell asleep again. At this point I may have woken up in the "actual" world, but I didn't check the time, and the dreams were so real I'm afraid it might not have been my actual bed and room.


The next day I woke up, did my routine, and realized it was my day off. Woo! I was a little pissed I hadn't slept in, but then I remembered I had made plans with Tim from the day before. I went out (in the same damn blue mustang) and met him at a store nearby. Apparently there was some Call of Duty tournament they were hosting for the latest one and he wanted to check it out (Little backstory: used to play in a clan with friends, haven't touched any of the recent games). So we got in, started playing, and it felt really damn real. I can usually tell when dreams are dreams and reality is reality, but it felt like I was playing the game. So we're going around shooting everything while these announcers comment, and he whispers to me if one of the guys up there seems "off." That's when I noticed the guy was predicting all my movements like a split-second right before I did them. When I looked over at him, I got this feeling that he was the same person from the day before. We spent the rest of the day out there finishing up the tournament and talking with people there, but I stayed away from that old man. I drove back home in the night on these lonely roads I've never really seen before. A few times, I could've sworn I saw that same man on the side just looking at me, but each time I just shook my head and thought "It's not real." I got back home, did my thing, and went to bed again.


This is where it starts getting strange. I think I actually woke up again right after that part, fully expecting it to be morning. Each of these segments of dreams felt at least twice as long as an entire night of dreams usually feels for me. I remember thinking at that point that maybe I was really sick and had spent an extra day in bed just sleeping.


I "woke up," and it was the middle of the night again, and it was darker than usual. I tossed and turned, but I couldn't go back to sleep no matter what I did. It felt like hours and hours, and it felt completely real. The only reason I know it was a dream was because no matter what happened the sun wasn't coming up. I drifted to sleep eventually, but whenever I did, I would open my eyes again and be in the same place. This happened around ten times, or at least that's about as many as I can remember. I think it was getting colder each time, and I "knew" that there was no one around but me. The only difference was the first time. There was a knock on my bedroom door, and someone came in. The voice was my aunt's, and she asked if I was feeling okay. I said yes, and I felt her stand there a while, watching as I tried to fall asleep.


This particular part, I don't remember much. I had finally fallen asleep in the dark place, and I was flying through the sky and the clouds. I wasn't on earth. The place was the "universe," except the black of space was replaced with the blue of the sky, and the stars were these golden and silver points of light shining far away. I flew on my own for a while, until I was joined by another. I don't remember what he looked like, but I believe it was the same old man from earlier. His presence wasn't "off" like it had been before, but it was more "wise," if that makes any sense outside of dream logic. He told me to follow him, and I did. We flew to each of the stars and he told me their names, though I've forgotten all of them and most of what he told me. I don't know how much time I spent with him, but if everything else I'd dreamt felt like twice as long as regular dreams, this part was like five times as long.


At the end, we flew towards this strange star. It wasn't bright like the others; it was a floating sphere of water, and in its clear center was a dark core that reminded me of a black hole. The man told me something like "There are things down there, good and bad." A picture formed in my head. I saw things that shone like the gold and silver stars deep in there, but there were twisted things as well. The closer we got to the watery star, the more I felt this wave of pressure emanating from it. He warned me not to get too close "or it will take you." I didn't heed him. I got this idea in my head that if I got close enough to the water to touch it, I would be able to see the things within the core. As soon as I skimmed the water, I felt a force pulling me down into the depths. It was colder than anything I'd ever felt. It was almost like every part of my body had gone dead.


I woke up in my bed, and this time it felt normal. I got up, went to my bathroom, washed up, and headed back. I figured it was about midnight or later and that I could probably get some more sleep before the morning. When I got back to me bedroom, I saw someone standing there. I think it was my aunt, but I'm not sure. I asked what she was doing there and she stayed silent. I decided to look around at the clock, but it was too dark to see. I asked her, "What time is it?" She replied, "11:30 PM, 5 layers down."


As she said the second part, I could feel her words slow down and almost rip apart, like I was hearing each syllable sound out over minutes. I felt an intense fear burning in the pit of my stomach, to the point that I just wanted to curl up and cry. Her figure changed. From what little I could make out in the dark, her eyes disappeared entirely, becoming these two lightless pits surrounded by this oily swirl of color. The shadow around her grew, and I saw these smoky tendrils with hands at their ends coming out of her back and reaching out to me. I couldn't move. There was a force coming from her that was keeping frozen in place, and it felt like it was pulling my body apart at the same time. I remember being pulled downward until I couldn't see anything anymore.


There was no light when I woke up. I knew I was standing, but I couldn't see anything. I was in my bedroom, that much I was sure of, but I also knew there was no one around at all. I cried out for help, but no one came. It was freezing, so cold that my skin felt like it was being torn. I think I was down there for hours, holding myself and rubbing my arms in a shitty attempt to keep warm, calling out every few minutes for anyone at all. It was a long while before I felt a presence near me. A warmth came near me from behind, and I saw a light that cut through the black. I didn't turn toward it, scared of what I might see. Two arms hugged around me warmly, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes.


It was my grandpa. He shone like his body was giving off light. I spoke with him, and he told me "I've been here a long time, but you shouldn't be here. Go up." I stayed there hugging him a while and crying, and as I did I felt another presence near me, to my right. It was weak, like a wisp or a shade, and it was golden. I knew this one was my father, and when I thought about it I heard a voice whispering "down." When I looked to my grandpa, he shook his head and told me to go up. I don't remember leaving there, but I remember waking up in my bed.


I thought I was finally awake, considering how fucking exact everything looked. My eyes were still tearing up thinking of my grandpa. When I walked into the hallway, I saw my aunt standing at the end. Her face looked like it was lit up by a light, and she had tears streaming from her eyes. I asked what was wrong and she just locked herself in the bathroom. No matter how much I knocked, she wouldn't open the door. I could only hear her squeaking out to me not to go.




And then I actually 100% woke up! It was about 5:30AM and I stayed in my bed for a bit. At about 6 I got up and decided to type this up because I really really didn't want to fall asleep again. Just a little more background knowledge about this: my grandpa and dad are both dead, and have been since 2004 and 1998 respectively. I don't really think about them that much, which is why I'm kinda surprised at this dream. I do live with my family (but I pay rent), including my mom, grandma, and aunt. There is no sort of trauma I can think of that would induce this, as my family has been relatively stable and very loving/supportive over the years. I don't know who the old man was. I don't think it was my grandpa though. And that friend I mentioned, I'm actually going to see him for the first time in two years tomorrow on saturday, so that's a bit funny.


Nevertheless, everything I wrote about this dream is true, nothing was embellished. I know that sounds a little far-fetched with how detailed it is, but I changed nothing about it. I'm honestly scared to go back to sleep right now. I never have nightmares, and definitely never have anything so insanely vivid. If I had to guess, in dream time I spent about 15-20 days combined. I think I'll probably spend the next week awake to compensate.