CanisLucidus

This one was my first SSILD-induced dream. It was long (for me), going 10-12 minutes.

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #3: The Forest Compound (July 2, 2012)

I awaken to a strange noise coming from outside of our bedroom. I go into the hallway to investigate but find that this swirling green energy vortex is blocking my path back into the bedroom. I walk forward, pushing my way through it, and it feels like walking through a Chicago windstorm. It slowly dawns on me that I might be dreaming and I push my finger through my palm. I'm instantly lucid and I decide to get out of the room as fast as possible so that I can fly.

I'm feeling unusually bold so I shove myself right through the wall. The scene blanks for a moment before placing me on top of an office building. I run straight for the edge of the building, leap off, and try to fly. I fail, falling several hundred feet to the empty streets. The landing is jarring but painless. This time I try jumping straight up and find that I can jump thousands of feet into the air. The office buildings shrink into the distance below me. I can't soar but I find that I can leap across the city this way, each leap ending in an awkward crash landing. Each time that I jump, the voice of my young son giggles "Again!" even though he is not here.

I do one last clumsy leap and crash into a forested area, knocking over a tree. There's a compound nearby and I run into the first building that I see. It's a long, windowed, sunlit hallway with high ceilings and teeming with dream characters. I stop an Asian lady in her late 30's (a stranger) and tell her that I'm dreaming. She looks a little reluctant to admit this but finally confesses that I'm right. I sense that talking this frankly is an awkward bending of the rules for her. She seems very real and I feel a little bit bad for putting her in this position.

At the end of the hall I find an apartment where two identical twins who are IWL friends of mine live. I barge right in, announcing that this is all taking place in my lucid dream. One of the twins laughs and she becomes very interested in how this all works, peppering me with questions like,

"So, we're both dreaming? No? How's this work then? Will I remember this tomorrow?"
"You mean, I'm not real and you are? This is your dream? That's hilarious."
"What's going to happen to me after you wake up?" I'm caught off-guard by this and left fumbling for an answer.

The three of us chat for a while before I sense that my lucidity is slipping. I bid them goodbye and run back down the hall. On the way, I run into a guy named "Robert Lamb", the host of the "Stuff to Blow Your Mind" podcast (the place where I first heard of lucid dreaming.) I announce to him that we're in my lucid dream and without missing a beat, he says, "I hope they don't have to amputate." "Yeah, lucid dreams that last for too long cause a total loss of circulation in the dreamer's limbs, limb necrosis and eventually require amputation."

"It's really terrible," he adds helpfully.

Even though I don't believe this, I'm a little shaken up at the thought. I run further down the hall, ducking into a dark bar just before I wake up.