melanieb

It's not every day that someone from DreamViews appears in my dream, but this isn't the first time OpheliaBlue has shown up.


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[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]I’m on a backroad in California, somewhere not too far fromthe Sierras. Trees and bright green meadows line the road, a perfect place fora drive in the country. I encounter very few people.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]Up ahead is a driveway that I suspect is an H.E.B., an oddthing to find in California. I pull off the road into the dirt parking lot andwork to fit my vehicle in behind some other SUV. The rear end of the vehiclesticks out onto the road a little but not as far as other nearby vehicles so Iassume it’s okay.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]The store seems less like a supermarket and more like an oldcountry store that has fallen to disrepair. There are no bright overhead lightsand the floor seems dirty. Condensation water drips from various chilleddisplays and pools on the floor, a clear slip hazard. The shelves are filledwith items but the selection is slim with little to no product competition. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]Wandering through the store and carrying a hand basket Iselect a loaf of bread and a cucumber, something in a jar and some off-brandtype of soda I’ve never heard of. I seem to not be shopping for a meal butrather just picking up items as I go along and see things I am familiar with. Iremember that I need some water bottles and grab a case of Ozarka, noting thatI still have one at home under the table.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]A cashier is standing by an old-fashioned manual cashregister, his hands on the counter while he waits expectantly for someone tobuy some groceries but I just walk on past him. My belongings seem to disappearas I walk back outside. The parking lot has puddles in it and I have tojump-step to avoid them. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]The sky is a dark grey and as I look up at it snow begins tofall, light at first but quickly turning heavier. I become lucid as the snowand ice falls onto my skin, the chill of the ice almost painful as it lands onme. I just stop and stand there for a minute, looking at the ice melt, feelingthe cold penetrate into me. It’s a really neat sensation for a dream. As theice crystals hit they change from white to blue, then back to white beforemelting and dripping down the side of my arm. The blue is intriguing, and Irecognize it as a dream sign. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]Wiping the water from my arm I continue on my way throughthe parking lot. My car is still sticking out onto the road and I no longerfeel so comfortable with it there. It seems too exposed to traffic, so the bestsolution is to move it further into the parking lot. I hop in and start mycar/SUV by pressing on the gas pedal, my keys seemingly forgotten, or lost.Ahead of me is a zigzag path around a red El Camino that will allow me to parkin a safer area. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]I’m surprised so many cars are here; there doesn’t seem tobe many people around the grocery store or even the property. I pull into theclearing but if I stay in the position I could get blocked in a manner thatwould make it impossible to get out. I back up into a carport that I thinkbelongs to the property owner. It slopes uphill and has wooden planks set onthe ground to enable traction. A flimsy green roof covers it. It would be agreat place to park but I don’t want to make the guy mad by parking in hisspot.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]From the slight hill I’m on I can see another spot thatwould be perfect, and I pull forward into the circular drive in front of thestore. In the middle of this circle is a bar-style table, and OpheliaBlue isleaning on it and doing her homework. A pencil is held lazily in her right handwith the eraser stuck gently between her teeth. I recognize that I know herfrom DreamViews and this reinforces the lucidity from earlier.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]“You’ll never get out that way.” She says this nonchalantly.“You need to go through IRC.”[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]“Are you sure?” I want to believe her but sometimes it’shard to take the word of a teenager who is clearly rebellious.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]“Yeah. It’s the only way to get past the snake in the mud.”She lays her pencil down on her book and straightens up, her hair falling offher shoulders as she does. Her clothing suggests punk but her homework, sometype of higher mathematics, suggests nerd. The glasses just make her lookyounger. As for her words, I know that she is telling me a code to get past thestoreowner’s evil brother.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]“Well, then, thank you!” I don’t know what else to say. Iwasn’t expecting such kindness out here in the middle of nowhere. I alreadyfelt like everyone I encountered wanted me to leave, like a stranger who doesn’tbelong to the local clubhouse. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]Dangling from Ophelia’s neck is a small pendant, a whiteoval surrounded by ribbed gold. In the center is a black circle, like the pupilin the eye, and in my mind it clearly belongs in a museum, which must mean shestole it. I’m about to ask when she takes it off and hands it to me, placing itin my hand and folding my fingers over it.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]“This will get you through. Don’t leave it here.” Her facelooks serious, and her tone suggests urgency.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]I look down at it and I have no idea what to do with it. Iwant to ask but she walks away to go wash her hands in the fish sink becauseher pencil made marks on her skin. For me it seems like a good time to leave soI walk up the hill to the road, cross into the woods, and head off looking fora pine tree with an oval carved into it. Somehow this feels right.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]The center of the forest is hard to find, and the ferns seemto be sticky. I can feel something clinging to my skin, making the tiny hairs onmy arm feel weird. They make progress slow as I step over the plants and fallenlimbs, and the odd smell of feet seems to be coming from somewhere off to myright.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]A voice inside my mind tells me to throw the pendant to findthe tree and I yank on the string to break it. The pull fails to snap the cordso I pull it over my head instead, taking one last look at it before I throwit. The black circle has hints of blue in it like speckles of fire, presumablyparticles of the sky, another recognizable sign of the dream. It’s hard to take my eyes off it but I have tolet it go.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]I throw it and a whistling noise fills the air as it arcsinto the distance, landing behind a large bush. I go looking for it, diggingthrough branches and leaves and getting poked in the face.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]And then I wake up.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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