Recent DJ Posts

I visited a house of purgatory early in the night. It was a building the size of a city, containing a railroad that connected its halls. The halls were made of stone and lined with open arced passageways each leading into separate rooms. Inside many of the rooms were portals leading to different places in the universe. Other rooms contained souls in suspension waiting to be born (or going somewhere else).

The ceiling was supported by over 20 ft high pillars and embellished with with gold and green paint, but I couldn't see the ceiling well because my light didn't reach that far. There were no lights in the building. it was designed for visitors who didn't need external lighting.

The place almost felt empty, but I saw a few others wandering around.
Normally when I travel to any given location, there's a lot of people who aren't aware that dreamers exist. They don't know what I am and they assume that everything they see is mundane.
Not here. Everyone was aware. There were a lot of travelers like me, some of them had destinations, and others (like me) were just exploring the ancient building.

There were no entrances or exits to this building and not a single window or door.

There was a kiosk by the railroad where a seemingly empty shuttle would stop every so often.
There was nobody manning the kiosk, but I took the stack of forms that was left out for me and filled them out.
I was applying for the ability to pause my life and visit this place. I din't know whether that's was any different from what I was currently doing (lucid dreaming), but applied anyway because I figured time might not be linear (abilities I've had in the past could result from the application I'd fill out in the future).

I manifested a dream character who accompanied me for a while as I explored further and met people. I didn't speak directly to others (aside from my dream character), but we were able to communicate through shared consciousness. It was well understood amongst the visitors that separation is illusory, and this was the place where we separated ourselves.

I eventually saw everything I wanted to see and left through one of the portals, going to one of my favorite places (a beach!). I stole a cute little sailboat and pulled the boat into a private cove that I claimed as my own.

non-dream dream semi-lucid lucid FA / AP

At some hotel with friends on holidays. We meet Keanu Reeves, who's there too. Me and some other girl decide to come talk to him and flirt a little, but the other girl ain't so bright and she had written notes of what she wanted to say to him. With the nerves she messes the whole thing up and instead of me trying to take over the conversation, I kind of help her out reminding what she had to say and give her space to recover and get his attention. Keanu is quite impressed with my attitude, but still goes on laughing with her, showing more interest for her, which annoys me.
I leave them and go to a garage where we left a van to be repaired or something and I stay around for a bit. Then I go back to the pension and see some lady I know passing by the reception with her two kids, a teenager and a younger one. She is asking for some nearby restaurant she heard about and then sees the business card of a vegetarian restaurant owned by a friend of mine. She picks it up and she is considering going there instead, but her teen kid says "no way", as she hates vegetarian. I ask her why and tell her I can change her mind.
Later on in the evening I am outside with my friends and see the two kids alone inside a car. I go ask if everything is fine. They say their mom went looking for something and they are waiting for her to come back. Then the oldest says she is not feeling very well and that she feels that something terrible is going to happen. I find it weird as I too recall a strange premonition I had some days ago. So I go look for their mother, terribly worried. I see her jumping from a viewpoint and being run over by a car on the street below. She dies. Then the kids get stuck for hours in the car when the police arrives, because they don't know what to do with them and don't want them to get out and see what happened to their mom.

Visiting my (deceased) grandparents. They now live in a new house in a small suburban village. The house is in a poor neighborhood, the decoration is very simple, kitsch and old fashioned. I really wonder why they "moved" here and cut bonds with all family members. But they are clearly happy, completely disconnected from all their previous life and family. I feel they are at peace, so I am happy for them.

I am in the car with my family. We are talking about death and the afterlife. At some point, I mention not being afraid of death. This leads into someone handing me a bomb, the rest of my family disappearing, and the bomb going off.

The pain is momentarily unbearable, a searing white-hot burn coursing through every bit of my body. Even worse is the immense, crushing pressure. Once the burn ebbs away, the pressure increases, and a loud silence pulses. It feels like I'm breaking apart.

Suddenly I am somewhere else, and someone is asking for my information at a desk. I ignore her and look arond. It looks like an old house converted into a wellness center. There are a lot of confused poeple of all ages shuffling around. Someone yells out, "Come this way if you want answers," so I decide to follow the voice and check it out. I go where the man directs. The room I walk into next looks like an old classroom with wooden desks; there are already many people seated, waiting expectantly.

As I sit, I realize something isn't right and try to push my fingers through my palm. It doesn't work the first time, but my fingers push through the second time. I quickly pull them out and stare in wonder. The mistake I make here is instead of realizing I'm dreaming, I believe I am dead.

The instructor is going on about something irrelevant until I interrupt him and say, "I'm dead, right?" He stares at me and slowly says "yes" in a quiet voice. Instead of being upset, I become curious and start asking questions regarding afterlife and the astral planes. People look at me, confused, and whispering amongst each other. I'm eventually ushered out of the room (I did do a demonstration of how I pushed my fingers through my palm, maybe that's what did me in) and the instructor tells me to keep quiet. I ignore him and move on to explore.

I find the basement of the house, and thus find something strange. There are hundereds of "cores", strange bowl-like crystalline structures that change colors constantly. They appear in sets of five, the middle corse containing a black orb. I know these are the people's life cores, and my own.

Sometime later on, a creature smashes through the wall. It's huge and looks reptilian, and causes immense chaos. It smashes many of the cores, including some of mine, and I hunch over in pain. I run back up the stairs, yelling and warning people about the creature. Seems like the excitement wakes me up.

The dream started with being at work...again. But! This time, it went beyond work, and what happened after work was much more interesting.

I've just gotten off of work, and pick up Owl and a couple other friends to go to the Pride festival (I was talking with a friend about this yesterday, so it makes sense how this showed up in my dream). We have a great time, and I wander off...

And end up in a strange place with a series of staircases. The staircases are going up and down, full of people. I think they are waiting for a bathroom. I ignore these staircases and go outside.

Outside is a more Western-style scene, with log cabins and the like. I'm waiting on someone to come out of this building when a man approaches, flirting with me. He says something extremely rude and I knock him to the ground, impaling him with an umbrella I suddenly have. The person I'm waiting on finally comes outside, a shocked, but mildly impressed, expression on her face.

Then I don't remember if this is a different dream or if the same dream just changed again, but somehow, I die. I'm shot and I exit my body, I am formless, I am free. It feels so nice, I am at peace.

I'm in the same spot, still, it's just that no one can see my formless self. Someone starts speaking with me about this afterlife, but I cannot see them either.

After a time, I look for someone in particular. I find my grandmother (she passed away last February. Also, I still can't see her, but it's her voice and I sense her presence) and she's really happy to hear from me. She seems to understand I'm not actually dead (something I didn't understand while in the dream) and we have along conversation. I ask her what her afterlife has been like. She says she's the most relaxed and at peace she has ever been in her life. She says she's traveled everywhere, residing at lakes and other bodies of water as much as she can. She asks me how my family is doing, and that she misses us, and she loves us.

That's when I wake up.

I got the results of my recent blood test, and a tumor was detected. The doctor told me that it was cancerous, and that there was nothing they could do. There were two doctors in the room with me and my mom. The female said I had no time left, that I was going to die right away. The male doctor said he thought I had three days. Three days. After the appointment, me and my mom broke down and started crying. I couldn't stop. I spent the three days with family and friends and then just let go. Then, I was observing the aftermath of my death. People were crying. I tried to log onto facebook to see if people were posting about me, but I couldn't get on. I started dancing gracefully, as a ghost wandering my hometown. I thought, is this how I want to spend eternity? Wandering around the place I used to call home, observing the people and places? I awoke with this song(Hometown Glory - Adele) in my head...

"I've been walking in the same way as I did
Missing out the cracks in the pavement
And turning my heel and strutting my feet
'Is there anything I can do for you dear?
Is there anyone I could call?'
'No and thank you, please Madam.
I ain't lost, just wandering'
Round my hometown
Memories are fresh
Round my hometown
Ooh the people I've met
Are the wonders of my world"

The Asian Restaurant
I approach a Chinese restaurant in a town where I spent my childhood, I look at the towns distinctive white architecture. It is in a weird place, by a forested park by the edge of the old shopping center. The day is a clinical grey one. I look at it, it looks interesting and unfamiliar, I see a blue neon sign. I enter it and meet a friend of mine and his girlfriend. I haven't seen them in a long time. The restaurant is small and has a long table in the center of it made of wood.

My friend hands me a passport he said he found on the ground, saying there's something creepy about it. I open it and see that there is only a picture of our mutual friend in it with his name next to it and the issuing date that it Feb 1900. the rest of the pages are blank. How can that be? I look through the rest of the pages, they are blank until I begin to notice other pictures in it, other people. How odd it is.

We order some sushi and eat it. I remember having some cash with me for a change and remember I have at least 17 bucks on me, it can't go over that I think to myself. The friend who was in the passport picture is also there now. We eat and I go outside as everyone went out to talk. I ask my friend how much the bill came out to and he says 90. I'm shocked, how could it be that expensive? That would mean I'd have to give him like almost 40 (in my dream calculation of it). I don't have that much, I wasn't ready to even give him all of the money I had. I give all of the 17 bucks to him and say shamefully that I'll have to owe him. He seems cool with it and to my relief says that the money I gave him covers my portion. I talk to his girlfriend, she smiles and is very nice.

The Wrestling Match
I'm at a show wrestling match. By the entrance where the wrestlers come in I hear someone call to me, I look up and see an opening over the entrance, an older man tells me to climb up to him. I climb a rope up to the opening in the wall that leads inside to another room. I look down and see how high up I am. I get scared and try to swing into the room. I succeed and feel relief. I follow the older man down the hallways backstage. He tells me it is obvious I just got lucky and had sex. I smile awkwardly and tell him "why hide being happy?". I feel confident and relaxed.

We enter a cafeteria, it is well lit and looks like a school. It gets blurry, do I sit down with him? I think I see a Tunisian girl I knew in upper secondary. In an unclear transition I'm sitting in a machine shop. I'm surrounded by people who work there. Some of them are being pretty rude, laughing and not listening to anyone. They leave and someone in charge asks what can be done to improve conditions around the shop. I speak up, saying respect for others has to start improving. I also want to mention problems I have with another machinist. I then notice he's there right in front of me. I feel tense but continue, saying that he has to stop being so hard to work with.

In The Afterlife
Somehow the scene transforms. Everything looks similar but we are all now in an auditorium with a blackboard in front. A person in front says we are all in the afterlife now, we are all dead. We are going to be sent to the past/future to help save the world? The person writes down 4291.6 on the blackboard. This is the year we are going to. The person asks if there are any questions. A murmur springs up in the crowd and I raise my hand. I try to get my voice heard, I find an opportunity and say I have a lot of metaphysical questions I'd like to ask.

As people file out of the auditorium I go next to the person who was holding the briefing, she is a pastor. My mind is racing with questions, there is so much to ask? How will we interact in the world of the living? What happens now? I start by asking who goes to the afterlife, adding that it probably Christians since she is a pastor but when I see the Tunisian girl there passing us in the hall I correct myself by saying it must be people from the Abrahamic religions? She says everyone goes to the afterlife when they die, there is now division. She mentions that she saw the Buddha in a park some time before. I say that it's great that everyone gets to come here. I make a mental note to look for the Buddha in the park after the mission.

I enter a room that looks like a dining hall in a cruise ship. There is a stage in the front, far off to the right I see windows that give a little light to the otherwise shadowy room. I see people in military outfits, does this have something to do with what is going to happen, the mission? I see a stern older man in a military dress uniform, he looks almost like a fascist. People begin singing a song that is very traditional and nationalistic. I sing along, I see a woman is making sure everyone sings along. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't sing at all, not good at it.

Driving down the highway with my mom in the driver's seat, we're talking about things. You know, the usual update stuff that doesn't change much from week to week. My girlfriend comes up in the conversation at some point and my mom get's really jealous. I can tell she's really upset over something. She stops talking and just steps on the gas. Okay, so she's upset, that's fine I think as I watch the scenery whip by faster and faster.

I look over at her and she's practically in tears now as we pass 100 mph. I start to feel uncomfortable as she drives faster and faster. She and I are pretty well connected, and without saying a word, I just know that she's thinking, "If I can't have him, no one will" and that she's going to crash the car and kill us both. At this point we're going over 120 mph and I don't know what to do about this situation. I consider taking the wheel and spinning the car out of control to a stop, but since we're going so fast, that could be just as deadly as whatever she has planned. That's actually the only thing I think to do other than ride it out.

Maybe if I just sit here peacefully she'll have a change of heart before it's too late... I quietly hope as the situation gets super tense for me. I see a turn in the road with no guard rail, and a huge cliff over the edge. This must be where she's headed. That's okay though, we still have a few seconds for her to change her mind. No sooner do I think that than the car careens off the road and over the cliff. My stomach sinks, my hair stands on end, and I look out the window. Several hundred feet below I can hardly see the ground it's so far away. This is it, this is how my end finally comes I think as it dawns on me that there's no way out of this one.

Despite the distance, in a matter of seconds the car smashes into rocks below. The dash smashes my head and everything goes black after a brief white flash.

Gradually, some color starts to fade into my awareness and I find myself standing amidst massive crystals of every color, all arranged immaculately and beautifully. The most amazing sight I've ever seen! It all feels so peaceful as well.

I walk through the crystals as I sense some purpose for me. I don't know precisely what I am supposed to do, but I do know that I can't just stay put and kick off my shoes just yet. So I walk through a breathtaking crystal maze with glowing lights coming from just about every crystal. I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'm looking for something.

I reach a huge palace and dozens of really nice people greet me. They're all strangely familiar, yet I can't quite place how I know them. Also, they all seem so peaceful and happy, like everything is perfect, and they have no worries. They call out to me and we exchange small talk for a bit. It comes up that I can really do anything I want now. I think about this for a second and decide that the best thing I can do is show the example of someone attaining enlightenment, and refocus my mind on the spiritual path.

Everything starts to blur for a bit, and I reappear clearly firing a rocket at someone who is trying to steal a huge diamond from a bank. As I fire the rocket, I realize it's my mom! Somehow I manage to stop it from killing her and run over. She looks at me hesitantly, as I do the same to her. I don't know if I can let my guard down around her anymore after she just killed me. She apologizes for killing me and we talk about what happened after I died. She tells me that she survived the crash, but I didn't. It was deemed an accident, but she was really distraught over it for a long time. I tell her that it's okay, I forgive her. But it still might take me some time before I get in the car with her again.

She's okay with that.

Getting ready to embark upon a lengthy trip with no apparent limit on the duration, my mom asks me, "Did you pack the camera?"
"No, I ran out of time... I didn't even have a chance to look at my list of things I wanted to pack. But I did pack the essentials." I think about if I had more time, I would have been able to pack much better for this trip. Too late now, I'll just have to make do with what I've got.

/// I interpret this dream to be referring to my preparations for what comes after this life. When that time comes, will I be happy with what I have prepared? Or will I wish I had made more time to really prepare well... Right now, I feel I've prepared enough, but still lacking in a lot of areas. Maybe non-essential, but nevertheless very helpful and nice. Well, me, get down to business!

Not sure if the camera is just a general symbol for having more potential preparedness, or if it is a specific symbol relating to the ability to share experiences with others.

I am by the side of a highway with a group of people my family knows. Everyone here is getting ready to leave to somewhere else. I learn that I might ride with the H___ family but instead I ride with "S" in a blue 2002 Jeep Wrangler.("S" is a friend from High School who is charismatic, and usually the center of attention always making fun of anyone and anything.) "S" drives down a winding road through mountains. The road now traverses along a rocky coast similar to the coastal highway in Southern California. I look at some mansions on the cliffs. "S" looks at the mansions too even though he is driving. "S" drives fast around a curve and almost drives into the ocean. We drive by another curve and this time, "S" drives over the cliff and the Jeep plunges into the ocean. The Jeep slides very fast along the water until we reach San Diego Bay. At this point, the Jeep stops sliding and starts sinking into the water. I kick out the passenger window of the Jeep and try to swim to the surface but the water is impossible to swim through and I sink to the bottom and drown. "S" also drowns.

After I have died, I wash up on a beach in the afterlife. I am also somewhat aware that I am dreaming but I forget I'm dreaming soon.

Here in the Afterlife, there is a 3 story Victorian-style building up several steps from the beach. Me and "S" walk into the building. The building is dark inside. There are lots of symbols on the walls in various places. Everything has some sort of spiritual significance. I become seperated from "S" and I continue walking. I run into my father who tells me that my grandfather (his father) wants me to know not to get into an SUV with "S" (grandfather and "S" don't know each other in RL). I continue walking and run into my ex-girlfriend "A". I learn that "A" died around the same time I did. We both walk together through the building and walk into a room where we find "S" lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding. Me and "A" carry "S" out of the room and ask each other what we thought happened. We carry him down some stairs to the first level of the building. I see a placque on a wall that says "***** *** for OCD --> COD *** ***** **" (**** means I don't remember what word was). It also says that the location were in is Heaven for people with OCD (I have OCD). It also says that people who die and end up in this world who don't have OCD go to Hell.

Around this point, I feel the dream starting to end and remember that I am dreaming. I mentally force the dream to be stronger so I don't wake up.

Me and "A" leave the building and are now at a beach in San Diego, CA, still in the afterlife though. I mentally learn that I will soon be transferred to another world in the Afterlife. I get the feeling that the Afterlife is very chaotic. I see the beach a couple blocks away so me and "A" fly to the beach. I see some hot women on the beach and think about having sex with them, but since having sex usually ends the lucid dream, I decide not to. Me and "A" land on the beach. I leave "A" behind here and fly over the ocean by myself.

While flying over the ocean, the lifeguards (ironic that lifeguards exist in the [I]after[I]life.) tell me to stop flying since there is rule at this beach against flying. A female lifeguard flies after me and catches me. We both land on the beach. This lifeguard is 5"4', skinny, has blonde hair, and is age 19.I am now in trouble and have to stay with the female lifeguard until further notice. At first, I don't like her, but as I stay with her, I find her more attractive and strike up conversation with her. I ask her how she died but she doesn't respond. We both keep walking and meet up with her parents. The 3 of them have to go somewhere so I say goodbye and hug the lifeguard. Her father tells me that if I pursue his daughter, I must love her always. He says their family has gone through a great tragedy. All 3 of them died together a little over a year ago. The 3 of them walk off and I think about whether I should dedicate myself to the lifeguard or find another girl with less baggage. I decide to meet the lifeguard tomorrow to continue our conversation.

For the most part, the dream is over after this point. I get transported to a mall, then to my house where I watch TV. I am watching the news. I turn the TV off and at the exact moment the TV goes off, I wake up.

I was in a large church walking around with my ex-girlfriend. We made our way around the hallways, catching up with some people I know. We tried to keep up with them but they just made their way further and further in front of us, I didn't really feel like catching-up with them and turned to my ex and said, "You know, I don't really like most of the people I know." She said sweetly, "I know." Continued through a doorway, and made our way down another hall when I said to her, "The biggest trick the devil came up with is to convince people he doesn't exist." She winked at me and pointed her finger at me in confirmation. She replied, "You know, I want to get baptized again." To which I responded, "No, I'm talking about an absolute total change in living life."

We ended up at the end of the hallway, and up some stairs to a pavilion above the track that encircled the massive gym we were in. On the bottom level to the right of the basketball court, was a buffet serving many varieties of foods. Ashley was smoking a cigarette, and I asked her to lay beside me. She ashed her cigeratte above our heads and the ashes fell on me. I said sarcastically, "Right on my face?" I began wondering how much longer our trip would be, and when my brother would be ready to go. I then started thinking about when we left, and how long we had been there. I thought to myself, "Trip? Where am I going? I'm not on a trip right now." I became lucid.

I ran to the left and jumped over a balcony, purposefully choosing to climb over it as apposed to flying over it because I wanted to enjoy feeling the ledge and the act of climbing over it. I glided down to the ground and made my out of the sliding doors. I saw a building by a lake with the sun above it, and light was coming out of the building. I ran along the roadway, noticing distinctly how the cars were passing by me and how crisp their tires on the pavement sounded. As I was making my way up to the building, and the opening in the front was coming into viewpoint, the vision started skipping and wouldn't let me get into viewing range. When it finally did it opened up to a building with no front wall, it was totally exposed. There was a large wooden carving of some sort of flower. There were wind chimes attached to string making their sounds in the wind. On the right wall were a bunch of glass plagues that had different things written on them. I looked over each one and picked one off of the wall and said aloud "I can't read these" because they were written in English, but didn't form actual words. Then I saw on a red plague "Psalms 13: 3". After walking around the lake in the back and began being chased by a log monster I woke myself up.

I walked over to my computer and looked up Psalms 13: 3 "Look and answer me, Lord Jehovah, my God, and enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep unto death." While as a child I am certain I read through the Psalms, but I haven't made a point of doing so as an adult. I was struck when I read that verse. There were many implications to that verse. The whole of Psalms 13 is absolutely relevant to my state.

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.

Old Lucid Dream from 1991 (yeah I still remember it)

My grandfather died IRL in 1991, suddenly. About a month later, I had this dream:
-----------------------------------------

I was in my grandfather's attic, but it didn't 'look' like his attic. There were boxes everywhere and it looked like someone was moving out. The attic was fairly dark and no light was on - only a bit of natural sunlight from a small, square window. In front of me was an oval standing mirror. You know, those antique looking ones? I faced the mirror and noticed some hats. These were wide brimmed hats with feathers in them. They reminded me of the hats ladies during Victorian times might have worn. I placed one of the hats on my head and as I took it off I saw my grandfather standing behind me on my left. I was startled and turned around, but he was not there.

In a flash, I was outside my grandfather's house now. It was a red brick house with a red cement porch. A sidewalk was in front of his lawn and then a small strip of grass was near the curb. Hunched over, near the curb, with one foot in the street and one foot on the curb, was my grandfather, edging the grass...just like he always did. He looked much younger than when he died but I would recognize him anywhere. My grandfather was always doing yard work. He kept a pristine lawn in real life and apparently in the afterlife too! And here I became somewhat lucid. I realized he was dead and it confused me because he looked so real, and I believe I smelled him too. He straightened at that point, stopped edging with his clippers, and looked at me.

Clear as day he said, "I'm all right. Everything is all right." Then, he hugged me and I woke up.

Okay then, this one is a bit of a journey. From the start, this dream was what I refer to as a MAD, or Mild Awareness dream. Basically, I am aware that I am dreaming, so I am lucid, however I would rather be along for the ride and see what my mind produces for a journey, so don't expect me to play maker and take control... I find it more fun this way... Although I will occasionally skip an event to progress the story quicker (an example being at the start of the dream I summon a drink rather than ask for one so that I can get to what someone has to say to progress the dream) As a disclaimer, I am personally an agnostic atheist, and I hope no theists find the content in this dream offensive. It was nothing but a journey, don't take it as me trying to change your views That said, how about we get into it?

Our dream begins, as many do, in a room filled with people. I am aware that we are here for some major purpose, and take in my surroundings. The atmosphere is tense. Some people are chanting in a corner. Another corner sees people praying. A family huddles together. I realise that I am in what was a bar, but is clearly a more important place than just that for tonight. I approach the barkeep, and materialise a drink in my hand. We exchange niceties, and I get an urge to ask him how much I owe him for the drink.

"Money won't be a problem now, will it?" he replies, chuckling and adding "It's on the house mate."

He pours himself a drink and I follow along, not wanting to seem like I don't know what is going on.

"Everything is set to change, aye?"
"Aye."
"What do you think will happen?"
"No clue. It will be an adventure, that's for sure. I might not be religious, but I am holding out for an afterlife."

This piques my interest. Afterlife? I am starting to understand why we are here. Something is going to cause our deaths, I am now certain of it. I continue to play along, I don't want this DC to die thinking his last discussion was with a fool, and a lot can be gleaned from how people reply.

"Still, do you think we might have it quick at least?" I ask him.
"Aye. Guess it was a great idea setting up my pub in the city, it should explode right above us."

I now know there is conflict of some sort, but I am interested in finding out more.

"I'm generally out bush, so I guess I picked the right time to come to town!"
"Aye, I feel for your mates still out there. The fallout would be a worse way to go, I reckon."
"You think?"
"Yeah, at least we will most likely be vaporised. A nuke will do that for you."

I'm growing to like this publican DC. From him I know we are about to be nuked, and will no doubt die quickly. I don't know what part of my psyche he represents, but his words were soothing. I was going to continue talking, when suddenly there was a hush. I turned to the corner where the TV had been, something I hadn't noticed until now. It was now showing the old snowstorm ants, and this clearly worried some. A child cried. I turn to the publican.

"It's begun."
"Aye. That would be Sydney being hit, signal was from their studios."
"What now?"
"Should happen any moment now. Not going to hide from the bastards though. Have at me!"

The publican downs his drink and sprints out the glass doors of the pub, laughing like a madman. I guess the whole world was mad at that point. I took a peek through the door and noticed something that stood out. The streets were... quiet. Films make you think there would either be anarchy or panic... But there wasn't... People seemed resigned to their fate, only tense over when it would come. This touched me, as I was lucid enough to know that my mind sees humanity as having potential to mature in time... Then things changed.

The next set of events happened over a few seconds. The air was filled with a light, a light like one has never seen. I knew this would be the beginning of something immense, I only didn't know what form it would take. Death is something I have experienced in dreams and waking hallucinations, many times, and it is always a different feeling. This one fascinated me... The light didn't surround me like in films, there was no tunnel so to speak. It was to be very different from most dream deaths I have felt.

Things around me disintegrated... At first I thought it was the bomb tearing apart the world around me, that I had erected a dream shield. But then I knew my dream survival instinct hadn't kicked in, and it was a death I was experiencing. Items vanished around me, being replaced by a simple whiteness... It felt like hours but I knew it was only seconds, even in the dream. I decided to stop fighting the sensation, and absorbed myself into the form.

I then felt a tug, a gravitational pull... The only thing I can compare it to is when I threw myself out of a 30ft tall tree (I was young and foolish, don't judge. I landed safely too, only minor bruising )... I gave into this pull, and knew that this death would not see ressurection, reversal, non existance or awakening from the dream. I was on my way to an afterlife

I found myself in a cavern, with no notable features, no high or low temperature, no wind, no moisture but not dry, just an eerily still cavern. I looked around and saw people, although I didn't see them. I saw beings, if I focused on them I could see them, but they were people I didn't know and quickly faded out of my memory. I knew for certain that I was not in any of the traditional afterlife locations, but the closest one I could think of comparing this to would be one of the outer circles of hell, or perhaps purgatory in Abrahamic religions, or an Asphodel Meadows where I retained individual thought. I felt that I may wander in this cavern until I awake from my dream, and I wanted to progress it, so I willed an event, a meeting. I willed a discussion with whatever power controlled the region.

Oddly enough, my opinion of a realistic Satan answered my call. He appeared before me, a being without form or manner, merely existence. I was interested in knowing why my view of Satan was to appear in this version of the afterlife, and willed a responce (sorry, I don't like starting discussions with gods or demons in dreams, I feel a bit awkward about talking without being spoken to ).

"You hadn't finished your work," was the simple response. "Here you may complete your tasks."
"And what were my tasks?"
"Fulfillment of your goals. Attaining peace. Finding an understanding, finding a reality to adopt."
"And how will I find it here?"
"You will exist. You will feel an urge to complete tasks, quests, from the supernatural to the real, comedic, realistic and tragic. You will experience reality and unreality and continue doing things until you finish your work."
"How will I know when I have finished?"
"You will know."
"And what do I do until then? Just, what, stuff?"
"Pretty much."
"Why would I do this?"
"What alternative do you have?"

I couldn't deny the logic in that, and so I dismissed the presence. I wandered for a few hours around the cavern, until I stumbled on a familiar face. It was Catherine, a friend of mine I talk to almost daily in spite of having not seen her for 3 or so years. Unlike the beings I saw before, she was perfectly defined, not like a DC but like a real human. I sat down next to her and put my head in her lap. She started stroking my hair and we just had a peaceful moment. I finally chose to talk.

"Here too are we?"
"Seems that way... Hey, at least we get to catch up again."
"Makes for a pretty sucky date though, I woulda given you better if I could. Hell, you woulda gotten all the Mi Goreng in the world" (there is a running joke that we have that we are so perfectly suited to the other that if we were to have a relationship it would be the greatest the world would ever know. Yes, we are that deep in the friendzone, but back to the dream. The Mi Goreng is also a running joke, suppoesdly the only condition for me to marry her would to be able to keep a pantry stocked with it... We are both students that blow what money we have on flying, me as a hobby and she as setting up her future career - Ed)
"Could be worse. At least we have all the time in the world."
"That we do Cat."

We stay there a few more hours, and somehow end up in each others arms. Nothing romantic, we just... We are. We coexist. We share each other's existance. I finally ask her how she died.

"You weren't caught up in the bombing were you?"
"No, I've been here a few more hours in living time than you, I guess... It's felt like weeks though... My father and I were out driving, just killing time before our time was killed, and we ran off the road. Tree. Quick. Painless. I arrived here, I guess that we young ones have been left here to mature... Bloody oldies, they had the better music, the better laws, and now they get the better afterlife!"
"Hey, am I all that bad?"
"Well, I guess there are plus sides of being left here."
"So what do we do here? Any ideas?"
"Just chill I guess. At least we have our memories. We aren't in pain. No torture like the crazies say. Nothing like that... I've had urges to recover things from other caverns, but I've resisted, I felt like waiting here I might meet someone I wanted to... And those caves looked like they might lead to injury... I think that we can still feel pain here, even if we don't die again."
"Did you though?"
"What?"
"Find someone you wanted to?"
"You're a cheeky bugger, you know that right? Yeah, I found someone"
...
"I'm glad you are here, you've made me a lot happier since you arrived."
"Thanks Cat."

We just went back to holding each other in quiet contemplation. Later on we got up and wandered around for a while, wandered through the caverns, but there was no one who we recognised, so we went back to lying together. We simply held each other until the dream faded out, and that was that.

Throughout this whole thing I was struck by the detail in Catherine's appearance, DCs generally aren't that defined, even DCs that I know real world versions of... I guess that people can theorise why this was as they wish. I was also interested by this form of afterlife, often death leads to me being in a dream state, but experiencing nothing, like I had left existence and could ponder the dream. Other times I am reincarnated in some form, this has led to interesting events (like walking through my grandparents house 5 years before it was even built in reality, with their car that was yet to even be designed in reality in the driveway). This one was odd, in that it seemed that the afterlife was more a side life, a message of some sort, not the traditional symbolism thing, but more a problem solving excercise... Any input is appreciated.

sinemac

DELETED

I woke up and I was on a bus. I wasn't too freaked out because I've nodded off on buses before. I was sitting near the front and there were two old ladies near the back. I could just make out what they were saying.

"Well, I'm somewhat glad we're finally on our way."
"I don't really regret anything."

I didn't think anything of it. I looked out the window and noticed this wasn't any usual bus route I remember. Instead of driving around town, we were driving across some kind of desert on a worn trail. The bus left a big cloud of dust behind it as it drove. I walked up to the bus driver.

"Hello, sir?" I asked.
He turned to look at me. "Yes?" he asked.
"I'm just wondering... where are we going?"
He looked solemn. He just turned away and said out of the side of his mouth, "Just... please, take your seat."

I was beginning to worry. I walked back to where the two women were so I could ask them.

"Um... pardon me a moment. Where is this bus going?" I asked.
They looked uneasy. "You don't know?" one of them asked. I shook my head.
The other just mumbled, "Oh dear..."
After a pause, the first woman said, "Sweetie... you're dead."
"...what?" I finally managed.
"Why didn't you tell him?" the second woman yelled to the bus driver.
"I didn't want to tell a kid the bad news!" he answered.

I wandered back to my seat in shock. After a while, I looked up to the driver again and said, "I can't be dead!"
"No?" he asked.
"No!" I said. "I was just napping in my bed!" This was true, I was napping around two in the afternoon when this dream happened.
"Really, now. Then why don't you just wake up?" he asked.
And I tried. I tried to wake up. I tried to open what was my physical eyes beyond what I could currently see and feel. After a while, I could not wake up. Panic began to build in me.

As time passed, some more people started to just appear on the bus. Some people in army uniform, more older women and gentlemen, but I just sat there not knowing what to think. There was so much I wanted to do. So much I didn't get to experience.

At some point, there was a bright light building on the horizon. We started to drive into it and it got brighter and brighter. When everything was perfectly white, I felt myself floating. Then I was on my feet and when the brightness went away, I was in my house.

"So... that's it?" I thought to myself. I wandered into the kitchen. I opened up the refrigerator looking to see if anything had changed. As far as I remember, everything was the same, which meant the fridge was not that full. "I'll have to go to the store later," I said out loud.

"The store?" someone asked behind me. It was followed with a disapproving sigh. I looked behind me to see who said that. Of all the people I hoped it wasn't, who I saw was at the top of the list.

It was the bus driver.

"I can't be dead!" I yelled. "This is my house! This is where I live! This is my neighborhood! Look!" I ran to the front door and opened it. I could look down the street both ways and it was exactly how I remembered it. "See!? I can see down both directions!"

He just shook his head at me.

"I-I can't be dead!" I pleaded. "There are so many stories I haven't written! So many comics I haven't drawn!"

"I'm sorry," he said. "We can't let anyone go back except for special cases."

"What about stories?" I asked. I knew it sounded ridiculous, but I had to try. "What if I wrote a story so good that they had no choice but to send me back to share it?" He shrugged. I didn't know what he meant, but anything that wasn't a flat out rejection gave me hope. I thought for a while. "I'll have to do it within a certain someone's lifetime..." I said to myself.

After that, I woke up. I laid there staring at the ceiling not knowing if I was really alive or not.

Last night I did a very long deep meditation until I fell asleep. I must have been having a bad dream or something because I tried to force-awake but it wasn't working. I tried several times and normally I can do this first time without fail. I couldn't even sense my body, it was like I had died so there was no body to go back to. I kept thinking "omg how can this be? am i really dead? how can this be?". I was fully lucid by this point, was able to transform the dream however i wanted, I could go completely inwardly too so there was no dream, just dream fabric. Similar to empty dreamspace but without any form, it was like moving through space. It became clear to me that i was in fact dead, so i came to terms with it "ok, i'm dead... theres nothing i can do about it, may as well go towards the light..." I went inwardly so that everything went black and the dream became formless - like moving through aether - looking for a source of light. I found a source of light and began moving towards it... i got very close but then something started pulling me back.. it was my body! I could sense my body again so I forced-awake and did a RC finding myself back in my room.