I have vivid and unusual dreams, when I remember them. Often, they play out like movies. If dreams can tell us anything about ourselves, then this dream journal should tell a lot about me! (Let's hope it doesn't just say I'm a crazy lady.)

Sunday 21 March 2010

Danger On The Ice

Last night, I dreamed that I was ice skating on a lake. My kids and husband were ice skating too. There were a lot of other families ice skating on the lake.

In the middle of the ice, there was some loose snow which made it difficult for anyone to skate through the middle. I used the edge of the blades on my ice skates and started to scrape away the snow to make the ice smoother for skating on.

Others noticed what I was doing and came to do the same. I told them to do it gently so that they didn't damage the ice. When it was fairly smooth, the people who'd been helping went back to skating, except for one little girl and her dad who were still standing near me in the middle. Isabella, my 4 year old, was beside me as well.

At about this time, I noticed a bubble of water come up from the center of the ice right beside where we were standing, and I heard a loud creaking noise. With dawning horror, I realized what was happening.

"Get away from the center!" I shouted, "The ice is breaking!" and I grabbed Isabella and pulled her away towards the edge of the iced over lake where it was safer. The man who'd been out there with me with his little girl turned up right beside me again, but his little girl wasn't with him. She was about Isabella's age.

I looked to the center of the lake with horror. The little girl was standing there, looking down at the spreading water as the ice broke and sank and the water came ever closer to her. I knew I'd never be able to get to her in time, and her dad was looking her way as well. He looked distraut and he was shouting to her to run to him, but he hadn't moved towards her. I couldn't figure out why he was just standing there. Was he worried about breaking the ice with his weight? It didn't matter because the ice was breaking all around her anyway.

There were some trees beside the lake that were sick and had been slated for destruction. They had a rope barrier put up around them. I loosened the rope and tied it around myself, leaving an extra length on the opposite side for tying around the little girl. I yelled at her dad to grab the long end of it to pull us out if needed. If I fell in, I knew hypothermia would set in fast.

I looked up to where the little girl stood. I blinked and she disappeared. No one else had yet seen that she had fallen in. As long as she didn't drift from where she'd fallen, I knew where I'd find her, but she didn't have much time, even less because I couldn't even see any struggle. Just one minute she was there, and the next she was gone.

I ran out to where I'd last seen her, heedless of the creaks and cracking of the ice that I could hear and feel under my feet. I got to the edge of the ice and I could see her floating face down, lifeless. I didn't think she been under long enough for permanent damage, but I needed to get her out right away.

She was too far from the edge for me to reach her. I knew I was going to have to go into the water. I couldnt' be sure that her dad would pull us out. Although he still held the end of the rope, he just stood where he was, looking stunned and useless. But I couldn't leave her to die. Maybe I could be quick enough that the hypothermia wouldn't get to me before I had pulled her out.

I jumped into the water and instantly felt the cold seeping into every pore, wrapping my bones in it's icy coldness. I swam towards the little girl. Her hair was fanned out around her in the water. Her little pink coat was soggy and dragging her down. I wrapped my arms around her. I wanted to tie the loose bit of rope around her, but I couldn't get my chilled fingers to work properly, so I just wrapped my arms around her, lifting her head above the water and hoped that my strength would hold long enough.

I felt the rope pulling us faster towards the edge of the ice, and looked to see Robert helping the father pull the rope in. He'd been at the other end of the lake with our other kids, but must have seen what was happening and come to help. When I felt the edge of the ice, I wearily pushed her little body up onto it and pulled myself up after her.

Robert was now walking carefully (so as not to break any more of the ice) over to us, but I knew she didn't have time. Despite my exhaustion, I stood up on wobbly legs and gently lifted her limp body into my arms. With each step, I seemed to feel the strength returning to my legs and soon I was walking at a very quick pace towards the paramedics and the ambulance that were parked near the lake.

The paramedics rushed over to take her from me, and I felt that she would be okay, but I never found out because, as Robert approached me and wrapped his arms around me in a great big hug, that is when I woke up.

Saturday 13 March 2010

Volunteering & Ghosts

I had another strange dream last night involving a house. In this dream , Robert and I were living in a house that was very old. It was huge and very drab in color.

The house was not familiar to me; it was as if we had just moved in. I wasn't familiar with the area either. I have no idea where we were supposed to be, but it had the feel of some of the towns I've been to in Mexico.

Robert and I were volunteering at a local hospital, and we walked there each day across a field and down a town road about a block. There were usually kids playing soccer in the field when we walked by, and every day they would kick their soccer ball across the field to me, and every day I would kick it perfectly back to them.

One day, they kicked the ball a little high. I almost headed it back to them, but I had waited too late to try and it missed me. Robert told me not to worry; I'd be ready for it and head it next time.

We had to deal with a lot of wounds and injuries at the hospital where we were volunteering.

On the way home one day, Robert and I were discussing the house. Robert was telling me that it needed a lot of work to make it more livable. He told me that there was an electrician at the house at that time trying to fix the wiring since the lights were always turning on and off at random moments. I told him that I thought the house was haunted. I always had a bad feeling when we were in it.

When we got back to the house, we found the electrician on the floor. His breathing was very shallow and he had burns on his hands. We managed to wake him, and he started talking very rapidly in Spanish. I don't remember much Spanish anymore, but I understood the words "malo" and "casa." He was telling us that the house was bad.

I don't know what happened after that because I woke up.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Doors & Possiblities

Last night, I dreamed we were in a house. It wasn't one I recognized, but it was really big. It was kind of old and run-down looking on the outside, but the inside was more varied. Parts of it were very old and worn and parts of it were very elegant and opulent.

There was a large winding staircase and at the top of the staircase there was a long hallway full of doors. I walked down the hallway and opened the first door I came to. Inside was bright and colorful compared to the drab and grey hallway. It was as if it was a little girl's room and had been decorated to suit a fairy princess, full of pinks and greens and with walls painted with bright and colorful flowers. I closed the door and moved on.

I opened the next door, and inside was a beautiful garden. There were butterflies flitting about and birds chirping. It was sunny inside and I felt the urge to go inside and lay on the grass for a while, but instead I closed the door and moved on.

I opened the next door, and inside I found a sky. There were clouds floating across the room like giant balls of cotton candy, and I knew I could step onto one of them and float peacefully in the air, but instead, I moved on.

I opened the next door and inside was library full of books. There were books of all kinds; some were colorful children's books and some were mysteries. There were text books and horrors. There were romance novels and "how to" books. Every genre was there. There was a soft, comfortable chair for sitting in with a light beside it.

One of the shelves looked different from the rest; it had a pattern of leaves across it. I walked over to it and picked up one of the books. It was authored by me. That's when I noticed that all of the books on this bookshelf were authored by me. And some of the titles were about me too.

I left the room and moved on to the next room. In this room, I found nothing but empty, white space. I stepped inside and thought that the room really needed some color. Immediately splashes of colorful paint showed up all around me. I was surprised, but then I had another thought that the room needed somewhere to sit. A chair showed up beside me.

That's when I realized that this was a room of possibilities, and that's why it had been blank. Because anything was possible; all I had to do was think of it.

That's when I woke up.