Visions in the Dark

The dream starts off with me in a comfortable cottage on the beach in a small town I do not recognize. The streets and houses around me are empty of people and I somehow know that I am the only human around. There are monsters and dangerous things outside and to remain safe I have to stay inside the cottage.

Though I never consciously recognize that I am in a dream, I know that I can do things that I could not normally, such as defying gravity and floating around and being able to see and walk through walls. For a short time I practice flying around and moving through walls before I risk a peek outside. The windows on one side of the building were boarded up or sealed so I had to stick my head through the wall to see outside.

The sun was beginning to set and darkness was growing, yet through the twilight I could see a large muscular creature that looked like a cross between a bull and a demon walking along the beach before disappearing either into or behind another cottage not far from mine. I become scared and retreat into the cottage, fearing that I would be seen and have an onslaught of monsters attack my hiding place.

There is a bit more to the dream but I cannot remember much other than that I am trapped in the cottage all night and by morning I have achieved the ability to become invisible after practicing all night.

I can't remember much of the beginning of the dream but it included a mixture of characters from Final Fantasy 7 and people I used to know in grade and high school, as well as many random dream characters. The setting takes place on a beach by an ocean and there is a huge temple by the waterfront. The building is open concept because it consists of gigantic stone pillars holding up a triangular roof and most of the floor is just made up of the sand from the beach. At one end of the temple there is a raised circular section which sits in front of a large altar upon which a scupted stone statue of a Goddess stands. The Goddess is attired in a toga and there are rollerblades on her feat. Her arms are outstreached and pours water from her hands onto the circular platform below when she wants to bless someone.

The main dream character is Rosso the Crimson and she comes to the beach with the other FF7 characters. People are rollerblading in the circular altar below the Goddess statue and Rosso really wants to join in but she doesn't have any rollerblades of her own on top of not knowing how to skate. She talks to a few people and finds someone willing to lend her some blades (the person Rosso borrows from looks like my dream character Kalima) and tries to skate at the circular altar. Because she doesn't know how Rosso stumbles about and falls many times and the other people rollerblading get angry and throw her out of the circle, saying that the Goddess will bless only those who know how to skate and to try an enter the circular altar not knowing how is blasphemy.

Rosso is saddened but determined to learn and she goes off to a parking lot outside of the beach to practice. Night falls and the beach and temple empty, but Rosso stays up all night learning how to keep her balance and eventually how to spin on her toes. When the morning comes and the beach and temple again fill with people, Rosso returns to the circular altar and shows off what she has learned. Most people ignore her until Rosso starts spinning around and around on her toe wheel and the Goddess statue starts pouring water from her outstretched hands onto Rosso below.

I cannot remember the first part of the dream but there is an image of being near a water front and my dream character Kalima walking with a group of people (her servants, as she is a princess disguised as a commoner) past a dock where people are fishing off of and swimming around. Kalima and her group crest a sand dune and come across some of Aku's robots about to attack the people at the beach. Kalima's group starts to try and fight the robots but are not doing well when Samurai Jack appears and deftly defeats the attacking machines.

Jack is then invited by members of Kalima's group to join them for dinner and they go to a building that looks like a palace on the outside but looks like a mall on the inside. Kalima walks behind the group and lingers in an area that has books and sofas and children's toys for a momemt. Jack comes back to find her and they follow the group into a room decorated in the traditional Japanese style with three bamboo tables that are easily assembled on the spot. Jack sits down with the men at the middle table while Kalima and the women sit down at the table to the left. The table on the right, which is close to the entrance of the room, has no one seated at it so the food can be placed upon it.

Jack and Kalima catch each other's eyes several times but each looks away shyly. There are presents in one corner of the room as it is one of the servant's birthday. There is a part where the far wall opens to reveal a grocery store or warehouse or something but other than that I cannot remember any more of this dream.

I am on a vast beach of pale yellow sands, under a pale orange sky. There are some dunes in front of me and the eerily calm ocean behind me. On the other side of the dunes is a large flat area where I can see several mounds from which smoke is pouring out. Upon closer inspection of these mounds I find that they are actually holes in the ground that are overflowing with smoldering debris. The burnt materials includes large chunks of wood and scraps of metal or plastic, and partial or complete bodies of dead children. The skin of the dead children was a ghastly gray colour where the flesh remained uncharred and completely black where it was. The uncharred, grey flesh was cracked and peeling, like it was made of leather or something. Their eye sockets were all empty and their tiny mouths agape as if in a perpetual silent scream. I suspect that these smoldering mounds were someone's attempt to cover up some horrific crime and I quickly retreat from there, feeling ill, angry and downright disturbed.

I see a gathering of people in the dirtance and walk towards them. When I am close enough I can see that it is a large group of men, of varying ethnicities, wearing white robes and sitting in four large groups. The groups are arranged in four sqaure patterns and every man is sitting facing due wast. There are several men in black robes walking in slow circles around the large group. I am approached by one of these men and I notice as he gets closer that he is leading a child by the hand. The child looks exactly the same as the dead children in the smoldering mounds - gray, cracked skin, empty eye sockets, etc. except that this child is very much alive. The child's head turns in my direction, lips moving as if to say something, but the man in the black robe interupts and tells me that I am not welcome there, because I am a woman, before continuing on his way with the child in tow.

I see that all of the men in black robes are leading living dead children around, and all of them divert from their circular march around the large group, at least once, to tell me to that I am not welcome there because women are not allowed. I ignore all of them and go where I damn well please. I try to get information about the dead children, and the condition of the living children, but no one will answer me, but neither does anyone try to force me to leave: they just express their disapproval of a woman being there, then go about their way.

The sun begins to set and the large group of men in white robes begin to chant in a monotonous, unfarmiliar language. I skip through the gaps in their group and revel in the fact that I am someplace where I am not welcome, especially because of a trivial social construct such as gender. While I get a few angry or condescending looks, none of the men stop chanting or try to force me out. Since I cannot get any answers from anyone about the children, I eventually wander elsewhere.

This dream starts off on some sort of island. There is one small town near the north side of the island, but it is a very poor slum. Most of the houses are small trailers or huts that are dirty and barely standing. The town is surrounded by a temperate forest and the entire island is elevated several meters above the sea level. Because there are only steep cliffs along the sea sides, crudely constructed wooden piers and ladders have been built to allow access to the water. It is never explained why or by who, in the dream, but the little island is subject to frequent air raids.


I am standing outside of my hut/trailer and I am looking at the clear blue sky. I can hear an air raid siren blaring through the town, and even though I can not see where the sound is coming from, I know what it means. I can see black dots in the distance and they are rapidly approaching the island. Everyone in the town is scrambling to find shelter, most heading for the forest because they know that the slum town is the target of the on coming attack. I run into the forest also, but still feel exposed being so close to the town and head for the closest pier on the seafront. I am hoping to escape the attack by boat.

When I am at the outside edge of the forest (at a cliff that overlooks the sea) and I can see the on coming attack planes. There are about 12 of them and they are flying in a diamond formation. Most of the planes look like WW2 bombers, while two or three look like sea planes. All of them are painted entirely black except for the wing tips which are painted bright red.

I am afraid that I will be seen and scramble down the cliff side and underneath the long wooden pier. I remember that the wood of the pier was dark brown and smelled like it was rotting. The planes suddenly decend rapidly, break formation and start bombing everything in sight that is moving. My plans of escape by boat are thwarted when several people attempting a similar escape in their watercraft are obliterated by the attack planes before they can get very far. The very end of the long pier I am hidding under is blown apart by a bomb and I am too afraid to move from my spot.

I cannot see what is happening to the town but I can hear a constant barage of bombs, planes wizzing close by and screams from people in the forest behind me. To my right I suddenly see one of the sea planes land in the water and come towards the pier that I am hiding under. I panic and try to climb up the cliff but it is suddenly muddy and I slip down and into a large cravat. There is an outcropping of the cliff that I can hide under and I do so.

While still aware of the sea plane coming towards me, I feel something hard in the mud below me and thinking it is a rock, I dig it out. It turns out to be translucent yellow stone about the size of my fist. It's not shiny and cut but I think it is jewel and I put it in the pocket of my tattered pants. I try to adjust my weight in the mud underneath the outcropping but doing so causes me to slip out from my hiding place. I grab onto something that I think is a stick to steady myself and discover that is a cylindrical, translucent red stone. There are actually three of them sticking out of the mud but I only grab one and stick it in my other pocket.

The sounds of the air raid have stopped, though I can still hear several bombers flying overhead. The sea plane reaches the wooded pier and because I think I can be seen I make another attempt to climb up the muddy cliff. I am successful this time and dash into the forest. I do not look back and see the face of the enemy. The forest is thick with smoke from things burning and I am quickly lost. I run towards where I think the town is and trip on several bodies or body parts. I do not see anyone alive along the way.

I do eventually find the town but the damage doesn't seem to be as bad as I thought it would. My home has been destroyed and I scurry between burning ruins and debris until I find a trailer that is elevated off the ground with cinder blocks. I crawl underneath the trailer and dig a small hole. I rip off a peice of my shirt and wrap the yellow and red stones in it, which I then bury, believing that they are valuable or will be useful to me later. I remain hidden under the trailer, even after I can no longer hear any bombers flying overhead.

People start emerging from the forest and return to the town. I don't know any of them nor do I feel anything for them. Even at the beginning of the dream I felt very detatched from the other people in the town. I watch from my hiding place as people try to find anything valuable to salvage or their loved ones. I am chased from my hiding spot when the owner of the trailer returns and yells at me to get lost, probably thinking that I was going to try and move into his place or something. I make a mental note to retrieve the stones later.

I don't know if it is the next day or later in the week but the dream skips ahead a bit and I am talking with someone in the middle of the slum, most of which is still smoldering ruins. There are a few people trying to rebuild but many people don't see the point since they know the island will probably be bombed again in the near future. The young man I am talking to says that there is a man who lives in a cave on the other side of the island who grants wishes or something to anyone who brings him rare or precious items. I remember my yellow and red stones (having forgotten them until now, apparently) and wait until night to try and dig them up.

Thankfully the stones are still there and I make my way along the island's outer edge to try and find the cave. The full moon is large and supplies ample lumination for me to find my way. The muddy cliffs give way to icy formations that are just as difficult to traverse. I slip several times and almost drop my stones in the sea, which seems to have gone calm to violent and frothing the farther I get from the slum town. The sea is also freezing and I assume that is why the cliff face is covered in ice.

I feel like I have been walking forever, and indeed the sun starts to rise before I see the cave in the distance. The icy cliff gives way to sand, but not before I pluck a peculiar looking stone from the frigid ice. It is similar to my yellow and red stones, being translucent and about fist size, but is a bright blue. I put it in with the others and continue on my way. I am happy to reach the sand because it is warm and soft, though I have to avoid being sweapt away by large waves that are crashing onto the beach. The tide must be coming in or something because even when I walk directly away from the sea, the waves still reach my feet no matter how far inshore I go.

What looked like a cave from a distance now looks like a large door made of gold and encrusted with shining jems. There are gold and silver gears and chains surrounding it and there does not seem to be a door handle. I think at first that it is some sort of puzzle but before I can get much further in my thoughts, the gears start turning, the chains squeak and the door swings open. It is all dark inside and I cannot see anything at first, but with the sea level rapidly rising behind me, I do not hesitate to go inside.

I am exhausted and cold and am hoping that this journey has not been in vain. I feel my way through the dark until I find a wooden door. I open it and am stunned by what I see behind it. It looks like a standard, modern day home (kitchen to my right, living room dead ahead, bedroom to my left), but everything is made of precious material and jewels. The walls are solid gold, the light fixtures are made of crystal, the carpet under my feet is soft and luxuriant. I am appauled by the excess of the place, thinking of the utter poverty and slum conditions in which my town on the other side of the island exists.

As I walk towards the large high ceiling living room. A tall, handsome, muscular man (in his late 20s/early 30s) comes out of no where and greats me. A woman appears by his side and offers to make me some tea. She seems kind of "empty," and does not even look directly at me. She is forcing a smile. I can not see them, but I can hear children playing somewhere. Still overwhelmed by the opulance of the place I forgot what I had come for, even thought I still clutched the stones closely to my chest. Despite their apparently welcoming demenor, I do not feel safe because everything feels "fake."


The dream ends there.

Dream takes place on a long stretch of beach at night. There are sticks and logs and seaweed all over the place that was probably brought in with the tide. I am walking with someone and even though I cannot see his face and he does not remind me of anyone I know in waking life, we are friends in the dream. He is wearing a grey, hooded sweater, dark knee-lenth shorts. I cannot remember what I was wearing. We seem to be the only people on the beach and there is no other illumination except for that of the moon.


My companion and I are walking barefoot through the soft, cool sand. We carry our sandals and try to avoid stepping on beach debris. After a while of walking and talking (I cannot remember our conversation) my companion points out an orange light in the distance. We walk to it and find an old man has build a little fire amidst some piled up logs. I want to sit by the fire but my friend wants to keep walking. He seems upset that I want to stay with the the old man, and he slowly walks off into the darkness.

I have a long and interesting conversation with the old man about various topics but I have all but forgotten our conversation. When I became bored of talking to the old man I walked off in the direction that my companion had gone. I did not notice until I was some ways away, but I had forgotten to pick up my sandals when I walked away from the fire. I searched the beach for what seemed like forever, but I could not find my friend in the dark. The old man's fire was a speck in the distance and it was becoming very cold, so I decided to head back.

When I got there I found that the old man was gone and my sandals were missing. I was upset about several things so I sat by the fire until it almost burned itself out, waiting for someone to come along. No one does though, and the dream eventually ends.

Many people are gathered on the beach when a challenge is presented to see who can swim all the way around the cove. The starting point is the beach and the finish line is the docks. All of the swimmers stop for a rest at the sand bar and some of them try to dive down to an old boat that has sunk in the deepest part of the cove. No one can seem to hold there breath long enough, though. The challenge to swim to the docks is all but forgotten as everyone is more interested in reaching the small shipwreck.

When it is my turn I am successful in reaching the sunken boat. It looks like a small wooden fishing boat and it is laying upside down in the sand. I see a small gap between the cove bottom and boat that I can slip through. I do not have any scuba gear or a flashlight but I want to get underneath the boat. The sunken boat settles into the sand as I go underneath and I become trapped just as I am starting to run out of air.

I almost panic, but quickly find that I can lift the boat through the water if I kick my legs hard enough. I push the boat up onto the sand bar for everyone to see, but the other swimmers get angry at me for disturbing a shipwreck. I am not really fazed by their attitudes because I am just happy that I did not drown. The dream ends there.

It starts off on an island beach resort where many people are enjoying the fine weather and warm water. I am relaxing on a beach towel not far from the water and I can see a family of four in front of me. There is the father and son, who are caucasian, and the mother and daughter, who are oriental. The father is playing with the children at the water's edge and the mother is watching from their beach towel not far away.

Seaweed started drifting to shore in vast amounts and many people start rushing out of the water. Some of the seaweed has jellyfish hidden inside and they are stinging whoever happens to touch them. The father ignores the seaweed and continues to allow his son to play while the daughter responds to the mother's call to get out of the water. Eventually, the frustrated mother gets up and rushes over to her son and pulls him to shore, where she cradles him in her lap and fawns over him for a bit. The father and mother begin to argue. For some reasons the father has not seen the jellyfish and has not acknowledged all the people rushing out of the water. He is angry because he thinks that the children should be allowed to continue to play in the water.

Just then there is a voice over a loudspeaker telling everone in the army to gather in a nearby parking lot. Just after that sirens start going off all over the resort. Apparently I am a soldier, even though I am on vacation, I am being enlisted to fight. At the parking lot all of the soldiers who have gathered are told that we are under attack - but the sky is clear and there are no signs of "enemy" activity anywhere, (unless you count the mass amounts of seaweed and jellyfish washing upon the shoreline). The soldiers are given weapons and ammunition, split into groups, and most are sent into the forests to "hunt down the enemy."

My group consists of 16 men and I (the only woman) and there is a wide variety of nationalities represented. Our orders are to secure the area as the civilians are escorted to safety. Chaos ensues when smoke bombs and gunfire errupt from an unseen source. There are people running everywhere and some of the commanders from the soldier's units are either killed or run away. Some of the members from my group (including the commander) get seperated from us in the smokey chaos. The rest of us commandeer a school bus and directs civilians to get on. It takes a few trips but we seem to get all of the civilians in the area to a nearby airport where an airbus is waiting to take them to saftey.

Before the last airbus leaves I hear something odd and run off on my own into a nearby forest. There is a helicopter trying to take off from an akward angle on a hill and I cannot figure out it managed to land without hitting any of the surrounding trees. There are two men in the cockpit and they look like they start to panic when they see me. The copter begins to lift into the air and I duck because I am afraid of being hit by the blades as the craft straightens out. When it is off the ground and starts to ascend gunfire errutps from a nearby bush and damages the underside of the helicopter, but does not stop it. When the copter is gone, a muscular black man steps out from behind the bush. It is the commander of my unit and he asks me to come along with him. I agree and report that all of the civilians have been evacuated and the vacation resort has been secured. He gives me a strange look but says nothing.

We walk down the hill, through some thick bushes and straight into what looks like a zen garden. The men from my unit are all sitting on benches that encircle the rock garden and seem happy to see me. The commander asks me if I remember everyones name and to point them out if I do so. I think it is a weird request but I comply and am able to name every single member of my group except one, a black man with long dreadlocks. The man with the dreadlocks laughs at me and says in a thick jamacian accent: "My name would be "Johney Oh" in english and it rhymes with cloud". I still cannot remember his name and the whole unit finds it very funny.

I am told that when I dissapeared into the forest that I had dissapeared for several months. The "enemy" could still not be found and everyone wanted to know where I had been. I tried to tell them that almost no time elapsed between running from the airport to coming across the helicopter in the forest, but no one believes me. The is a bit more with my unit on an aircraft but I cannot rememeber most of it. The dream ends soon after anyways.