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    CanisLucidus

    Afraid of the Dark

    by , 04-01-2013 at 03:07 PM (904 Views)
    I was really going for the "sand" trick that I used in The Sands of the Colosseum but I never could figure out how to capitalize on it. I need to learn to be a bit more flexible and much less fearful of the dark. Given what I've learned, all of that concern about the dark is nothing but a bad habit. This was a good learning experience though!

    Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

    Lucid #82: Afraid of the Dark

    I believe that this was a DILD, but my first memory is of being lucid in a huge, empty office space with plain white walls, harsh fluorescent lighting, and blue-gray industrial carpet. It looks like a place where there'd normally be a cubicle farm, but the floor is totally clear.

    I'm happy to be lucid, but I want a new location. I want to perform the "sand trick", which involves focusing on the floor and rubbing it until I'm convinced that my hands are digging through sand. I start crawling around on the floor, find myself a spot, and start rubbing.

    Nothing happens at first, so I focus harder on the thought that this is sand. Unfortunately, I'm looking right at industrial carpet and the thought won't go away. Finally a bunch of disgusting dust and dirt puffs up from the carpet and blows around, but it's not what I'm looking for. I try for a while longer but I feel myself becoming obsessed.

    I get up and notice a set of doors in a far-off wall. I run over to it, place my hand on the doorknob, and imagine that the Colosseum is on the other side. I throw the doors open and instead of the Colosseum I see a darkened warehouse. I can't see in too far but I do make out a few scattered cardboard boxes.

    "Too dark", I think. "Not going in there." I close the door, think about the Colosseum, and open it again. This time the boxes are gone and the room looks even darker.

    I give up, close the door, and follow the wall to a closet-like cubby hole. I crawl around in here and again try to produce sand from the carpet. Even though this cubby is set off to the side, the lighting is unbearably harsh and I just produce more puffs of dust, like the carpet needs a good vacuuming. I try to close my eyes but they won't comply. It seems like this office scene is burned into my brain.

    I jump to my feet and run around a bit, doing a quick dive-roll just for kicks. I round a corner and find one of my Siberian Huskies locked in a big cage. He whimpers and paws at the door. I fumble around for a latch but don't see anything.



    I'm preparing to open the crate via telekenesis when Wife appears from behind me and says, "Oh here, let me take care of that!" I almost tell her that I'm having a lucid dream but I figure that she already knows. She crouches down and starts working the lock. I make the mistake of waiting around and
    lose lucidity.

    The lock pops open and our dog comes bounding out. He runs past us and buries his face into a used-up paint can that's nearby. I look to see what he's doing and am horrified to see that he's happily chowing down on a couple of dead roaches. I'm about to tell him to stop but Wife hugs him around the neck and says, "Oh, such a good boy!!" I feel ill. Still, I decide to let it go because he's probably hungry.

    Wife wanders over to a nearby window and I follow her. There are a pair of laser gun emplacements on the window sill. We each take one and she points across the dark city to a tall office building. Wooden boxes float silently out of the office building, flying off to destinations unknown. Wife explains: "Those boxes have dangerous cell phones in them that will give people cancer." We start firing our laser cannons at the evil cell phones, destroying as many boxes as we can. We get most of them but, I'm sorry to say, many get through.
    The dream ends...
    NewArtemis, Bubble and Xanous like this.

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    Comments

    1. Iokheira's Avatar
      No! The world is doomed! D:

      Congrats on another lucid Do you think that if you had gone into the dark warehouse you could have done the void teleport? Or maybe if that happens you could pretend like it's part of the place you want to go, like "Oh! Here's where they store all those extra weapons for the gladiators. The Colosseum must be nearby."
      CanisLucidus likes this.
    2. CanisLucidus's Avatar
      I'm so, so sorry. I've let the entire planet down. It's not often that I get to start my day quite so full of fail. Hmm... you know, reading that bit with the cell phones slipping past me, it seems pretty OMD-influenced. (Like orcs into the rift.) Good grief. Like I wasn't getting enough OMD dream content lately!

      And thank you! And I think that you are bang-on with your observations about the dark warehouse. I have lots of leftover fear of wandering into dark areas in dreams, but I need to get over that. The darkness isn't anything I should be scared of. The coolest things that have happened to me in the last few dreams (void rescue a la Art, Colosseum teleport) both happened while I was in the void. When I think it through while awake, I see it like you -- as opportunity. But in the LD I had this leftover feeling like the dark was a dangerous place to take a dream.

      Great idea on the weapon storage! Really good. I think that this is exactly the way to think in LDs... when you can go with the flow of what the dream offers you and co-opt it for your own purposes, you generally get great results without having to make extraordinary efforts "fighting" with the natural tendencies of the dream plot. I hope that I have that kind of flexibility of mind in the next one.

      Edit: I should mention -- pre-bed supps were 200mg B6, 1 cup apple juice. Familiar?
      NewArtemis likes this.
    3. Iokheira's Avatar
      You know, I just realized more OMD content in a dream today when you mentioned that! Wow. I didn't even play yesterday.

      I feel the need to remind you that you are a very dangerous force in your dreams. You're creator of the world, master of fate, and a badass ninja taught by a mysterious old man who can beat anything to a pulp and was born in shadow himself.

      It does sound familiar! Nice too, but right now I need to catch up on sleep. When i do it I will have a lucid like you!
      CanisLucidus likes this.
    4. CanisLucidus's Avatar
      Heh heh, cool. I kind of like the feeling of a video game drilling its way into my skull again. I always enjoy video game dream content, so no complaints here. Plus, gives me something I won't feel bad killing in the Colosseum once I find my way back there.

      Why thank you! With that kind of build-up, I'd better have the guts to walk into a dark room the next time I come across one in an LD. Fortune favors the bold, particularly in LDs! I'm going to try to make sure I'm nice and psyched up for the next one.

      Sorry that you've fallen behind on sleep! That can be a rough way to start the week but you are gonna feel goooood once you catch back up. Hopefully tonight, and hopefully you'll get the REM rebound you've got coming to you! Whether it be lucid dreaming, scout spamming, or orc killing, all of the best things in life are better with more sleep.

      Get some good rest!
      NewArtemis likes this.
    5. Bubble's Avatar
      If you look through my old posts on here from maybe 2 years ago, I had a LOT of trouble with dark rooms and creepy/dimly lit areas before. One of the tricks I found that works well with it is to try your hardest NOT to imagine it as anything else, and it will become exactly that. It's like when someone tells you "Whatever you do, don't think about a polar bear" and then all you can do is think about that stupid bear.

      Hopefully that doesn't just lead to a warehouse full of polar bears.
      CanisLucidus likes this.
    6. CanisLucidus's Avatar
      Hey, you know what? That's a great idea. "Uh oh, not that. Anything but the Colosseum." Thanks, Bubble!

      If I end up in a warehouse full of polar bears, we are still looking at a great LD regardless.
      Bubble likes this.