A Long Strange Trip... into Ashraen's Twisted Psyche

dream
lucid

I am in a classroom with a few people and the instructor, who looks like the 'Horn-rimmed Glasses' character in the TV show Heroes. I have a strong impression of memory, as if I have been in this dream for along time, perhaps many times before, although I can't say for sure now if it is a recurring dream, or if I simply had that impression at the time. I seem to have many memories of this place in the dream. I also have a slight sense of panic that I am enrolled in other classes than this, but have not attended them all semester (this is a recurring theme in my dreams because I have had a similar problem in real life). Additionally, I have a strong feeling that I am in this place as a part of a secret mission, and that I had been secreted away from my home to this exotic location, far away from my family.

Suddenly, I am teaching the class. I am speaking about responsibility, lecturing the students that as the teacher, I am responsible for what happens even when I am not there. If I go to the bathroom and leave a student in charge, I say, and something happens, who is to blame? The students answer that it is the student in charge who is at fault, but I respond- "No, it is still my fault. I am responsible, and putting someone else in a position of temporary authority does not absolve me from blame."

As a lady enters (an obvious authority figure) and begins speaking quietly with HRG (horn-rimmed glasses), I realize that I have been chatting with friends and family on the internet for much of my stay at this place, and they always seemed to be on the same time zone as me, which didn't make sense considering I was supposed to be far away. I take HRG and the lady aside into a hallway and come up with a quick plan. I ask the lady "where are we?" with some gravity, making sure she knew that I was serious about getting the truth. She responds with the name of the location. I can't remember it, and I didn't really pay attention at the time, I was simply making sure we were indeed NOT in America.

I immediately followed with the question "when I have spoken with people online, there seemed to be no time difference. why?" She looks stricken and turns to HRG and says "except the time zone!" The sense I got was that they had realized a mistake- they hadn't completed the illusion fully. She turns to me and says, with similar gravity to my first question- "All I can tell you is, be patient."

Even in the dream, this response gave me chills. I felt like I was under some illusion, perhaps being hidden somewhere while tests were done, or while I was being used for some devious purpose. Regardless, I didn't immediately realize it was a dream, but felt more like I must be in a "dream-like" world.

At this time I stepped outside and marveled at the vividness of the world. I could see people moving about, and an old friend came gliding by- through the air- telling me this was not completely real. I become partially lucid. I still don't realize it is a dream, but I recognize it is NOT the real world, and test this with my usual lucid-test.. I attempt to levitate. I am able to do so, but in fits and starts, as if I am simply not fully lucid.

As I have trouble "flying" around, my friend tells me "but you can RUN anywhere." This prompts me to pump my legs furiously in a running motion through the air, and I do start to "fly" around, but only while pretending to run. Further realizing that this is not real, I kickbox a few people that come near me, but I still apologize profusely to them, afraid that this might be real and not wanting to hurt anyone. This is common for me in lucid dreams. I tend to doubt my lucidity and constantly do things to prove to myself that this is a dream and not real, because of the extreme vividness.

But every apology is met with the response that "that is ok, you can do whatever you want here."

I fly around a courtyard area (same area I entered after speaking with HRG and the lady) and lose lucidity after a short time. I don't remember the rest of the dream. I may have awakened from sleep at this time. Even after waking up, I have a strong sense that what I experienced was REAL and not a dream. I am almost convinced something happened to me, and feel like the tv show LOST, where it is suggested that the island was a place the characters created with their own minds for each other- as a meeting place. It still seems VERY real to me.

It takes me about 20 minutes in the waking world to get over the sensation and realize that it was all- in fact- just a dream, albeit a particularly impactful one. I will pay close attention to my dream log in the future for recurrences, because as I mentioned, I seemed to have deep memories of being in this place. I felt like i had been there for months before I realized I was not in a different time zone from family as I should have been. I continue to get chills when I remember the lady saying to me "All I can tell you is, be patient."

I have had many lucid dreams over the last 10-15 years, but this one was so jarring that it prompted me to seek out a lucid dreaming forum, which led me to this website.