Death's Other Kingdom

10.01.2017

Time Warp Syndrome (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Notes: Took some galantamine before bed, but I didn't sleep well because I was somewhat dehydrated and had a headache as a result. Still, my dreams were fairly cohesive.

I'm camping out in a large, extravagent log cabin with a guy I'm friends with and an eccentric old man who owns the place. One of the rooms is furnished with equipment that either belongs in a torture chamber or a sex dungeon (or both). O_O

At nightfall, I become suspicious that someone is going to try to break in through one of the screen doors that lead into the deck at the side of the cabin. I walk through the dimly lit cabin, past where my guy friend has already decided to lay down for the night, and suddenly become lucid when I open the inner door that leads out to the deck. I decide I need to float across the deck rather than walk so that whoever is going to break in doesn't hear my footsteps. I float over to the outer door and lock it. I realize how much I've missed floating like this in dreams! It's sort of a casual thing, floating with my feet just barely off the floor (kind of like how Marceline from Adventure Time floats). I wish I could move like this in real life. It's so much easier than walking.

Trying to decide what to do, I'm about to head back into the cabin when I'm suddenly pursued by a man dressed in futuristic attire. I fly outside above the cabin to escape his reach, but he can fly as well! We have an epic swordfight in the air until the eccentric old man from before steps outside and sends the man back where he came from. The man tells me that we must now "timestamp" everything we do--- something about the time-space continuum being broken, so we now have to be constantly vigilant about "when" we are because things can start happening out of order.

09.30.2017

A Hairy Situation (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm in a strange school where some of us are werewolves, though this fact is hidden from the non-werewolf students. One of my male classmates has gone through the Change for the first time, which is never fun. We have him locked in the Isolation Chamber for the time being. He should become rational enough to have a conversation with on the 2nd night of the Full Moon. For now, I go to check on him. He is a large biped type werewolf with dark fur. Completely feral, he smashes himself violently against the walls and doors in an attempt to escape. I'm thankful that the Chamber is reinforced so that he cannot get out and hurt someone. I'm also glad that I'm past being unable to control myself in wolf form...

I end up visiting another school where things are run a bit differently. I don't believe the werewolves are as commonplace here. There is one girl who I can tell is a werewolf, and I know that she suspects me of being one as well. I take great amusement in watching her "secretly" investigate me (she is quite obvious about it). She does not want me there. She doesn't like me at all, but I find myself quite smitten with her.

09.30.2017

Mirroring Innocence (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm in a classroom with my coworkers when we are harassed by a little ghost boy who is an envoy of a much greater, invisible, malignant spirit. He chases us all through the school, and the spirit follows with its mighty wrath. I remember at one point I'm holding the door closed with my body, and the spirit slams it open with a blast of energy, knocking me clear across the room.

09.29.2017

Swamp Witch (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I've retrieved a mushroom-shaped piece of wood from the forgotten portion of my dream directly before this. It must go at the center of the Sleeping Pond. The pond is shallow right now; shallow enough to touch the bottom with my hands even at the deepest part. I sense it is not a good idea to touch the water for too long, however.

I use a log to cross to the center of the pond, where I place the wooden mushroom and then quickly walk back to shore. I'm left feeling accomplished yet drained of energy.

There is a witch/swamp creature here who tries to lure people into the pond to sleep before doing who knows what with them. She is disguised as a beautiful lady. I'm trying to warn people about her, but she convinces everyone that I'm wrong. Either way, I do enjoy talking to her...

My little sister (who does not exist in waking life) walks out onto the log and lays down on it. The Swamp Witch walks on the water toward her. The pond is much deeper now, with large neon-green tentacles writhing up out of the water. The log my sister is on flips over, dumping her into the murky depths. I talk the witch into helping me fish her back out.

I really want to get back into actively practicing lucid dreaming. I miss being on here and discussing dreams with you people! What follows are a few of the most interesting dreams I've had lately.

09.16.2017

Lonliness (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Something has occurred that causes Cheyenne and Jake to forget about me. It's something like a spell or an alternate timeline where we never met and became friends. All I really recall is a rainy night, incomprehensible lonliness, and finally speaking to Cheyenne again even though she does not remember me.

09.16.2017

Foolishness (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Note: This was basically expected. I took one 4mg tablet of Galantamine before bed and another during WBTB at 3 am. That is always a recipe for intense sleep paralysis, which was my goal. I'm trying to use it as a gateway for astral projection, or at least a good lucid.

I'm lucid, walking down the street where I grew up at night. Still affected by my previous dream, I summon Cheyenne to keep me company. I call out her name--- my usual method of summoning. A voice calls back from the darkness, but it's distorted and wrong. "YOU'RE not Cheyenne," I accuse the voice.

"Yes I am." The voice is normal now. Cheyenne approaches me from a dark path out of the trees by the edge of the road. Foolishly, I assume the original distortion must have been an effect of the sound bouncing off the almost tunnel like grove of trees. I am too desperate for companionship after my previous dream to question it further. I figure, this is a dream, so it's not REALLY her anyway.

Cheyenne walks with me back to my childhood home, where I lay down on a hammock around the side of the house. I am laying with my back to her, but it seems for a moment as though she has disappeared, much to my disappointment. If only that were the case...

Because suddenly I hear a demonic voice shriek from behind me, "FOOLED YOU!!!!" as a creature latches onto my back, cackling madly, its arm coming around to dig its long claws painfully into my chest. It falls with me into the dark void of sleep paralysis, mocking me with its shrill, shrieking laughter all the while.

My first thought is that I definitely had this coming to me. Despite my fear and pain, I remember telling myself NOT to try to wake up if I have SP tonight. I hold out for as long as I can, but eventually I give in to the fear and force myself awake.

09.21.2017

Final Destination (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

The early part of the dream is a bit vague. I'm helping someone with computer stuff. There's also a girl I like with pretty blonde hair.

It's as I'm leaving this place that things start to go downhill. My boss has gotten himself mixed up in some Deep Web murder club with an invamous serial killer/hacker named "Sabine." He's going to one of their meetings right now (apparently they meet in a physical place?) and I make the mistake of walking with him to his truck, which is parked outside the convention hall. He asks if I want to come with him and I almost do, but change my mind.

Unfortunately, during this brief span of time, I've drawn the interest of Sabine. I have the option to join or die, and I refuse to do either. But Sabine is seemingly everywhere, with eyes in all forms of technology. I have no idea how to stay constantly vigilant agains a club of murderers who are determined to stalk and kill me. There is also a paranormal aspect to what is happening, but I fear the Murder Club humans much more.

There is a person I'm trying to protect who is also being targeted. I think it's the pretty blonde girl from before. I remember holding her hand, and we might have kissed. Can't really remember this part too clearly. She is involved with the paranormal part of this--- she is a Star who has fallen to earth and needs to find her way home. She is missing a lot of her memory, though. In turn, I have "memories" of these events happening before, in alternate timelines.

I have a conversation with who I think is one of the murderers about what's going on as he mocks me and prepares to kill me. I realize that he's not actually one of the human members of the club; instead, he is a Reaper. I laugh at him, saying I'm not afraid to die at the hands of a Reaper and that he can just go ahead and kill me. He swings his scythe at me mut it hits an invisible barrier. I laugh again. "Looks like you can't do it." I know I am protected against the likes of him, because I know how to use my spiritual energy to defend myself. He wonders out loud what could have caused this. To throw him off his game, I say something about "the Frenchman," apparently referring to the fallen angel Asher. (Asher was a character of mine back in high school. An annoying French angel. In the dream, however, we knew each other from one of the alternate timelines.)

I end up in a bar with my Star friend. Asher bursts in the door, but he looks different than how I remember him. His famous blonde hair is dyed black. He also does not yet remember me from the other timelines, but I know that he will.

I'm now with Asher outside my current residence. Evil vines come from the woods and try to strangle him, but I set them on fire. They scream like banshees as they burn.

I didn't meant to be gone for so long, but life hit me really hard toward the end of last summer and I was therefore already behind when school had started back up. I think things are finally at a point now where I can focus on dreaming again.

06.02.2015

The End Cave (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm in an incredibly large cave, though it does not look like one, camping with my mom, brother, and Cheyenne. There is a wide, rushing river cutting through the middle, with a forest on the side opposite from us. Near the forest is another family of campers. There is something terribly, terribly wrong with this cave.

Cheyenne wakes up frantic in the middle of the night from a bad dream. In the dream, she saw Jesus standing on the other side of the river. He had no eyeballs and he was drowning little children in the river, one by one, like some perverse baptism.

I decide that we need to leave this cave immediately. There is a terrible, heavy feeling in the air, practically suffocating in its intensity. We should not be here. We all run back outside through the small entrance. It feels so good to breathe outside air again! Outside, everything feels normal and calm once more. Unfortunately we've left all our belongings inside and my mom insists that we go back to get them.

The sickening feeling returns at once upon our entrance. I feel physically ill, with an almost unbearable dread of some great unknown. I'm having to support Cheyenne to keep her from falling; she's barely conscious and not responsive. Just as we gather our things, a great howling comes to us from the other side of the river. A pack of coyotes emerge from the forest, though they appear as large as wolves.

Half the pack surrounds the family on the other side of the river, the other half crosses over to us. We run, and despite my assurance that coyotes don't harm people, they begin to attack. I am bitten numerous times as I fight them back from the entrance while the others do everything they can to block it off. The entire time we can hear the other family's screams of agony as they are eaten alive by the pack.

07.16.2014

The Other Realm (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

After a nonsensical soccer fiasco in the back yard of my childhood home, I spontaneously become lucid. My task of visiting Hell is not far from my mind.

I walk over to one of the coaches, a tall man who looks like an older version of The Rock. "Can you help me with something?" I ask politely. I find it much more enjoyable to get DCs to do all my work when possible rather than exerting direct control.

"Sure," he replies. "What do you need.?"

"I'm looking for a girl with purple hair who goes by 'Dreamer.' Can you take me to her?"

This DC is of the non-helpful sort, apparently. "I have no idea who that is," he tells me. Out of nowhere, he holds up a pie as if he's about to throw it at me.

"Please don't throw that in my face!" I cry out, blocking the pie with my hand. As a result, I end up with a fist-full of the filling.

Forgetting the coach, I decide to just find Dreamer the same way I did last time. As I walk across the street, I lick the pie from my hand. It is delicious; a kind of cream cheese pie with chocolate chips. "Hey, eating junk food was one of the tasks of the month!" I exclaim. I'm quite amused that I completed this task before I even consciously remembered it.

Before reaching my neighbor's house, I notice duffle bags and suitcases sitting out on the front porch. Dreamer must be really eager to come with me on an extended trip to Hell, I think to myself jokingly. When I get closer, however, I'm confused to find that the porch and the front door are all that's left of the house. Everything else lies in rubble at my feet. I knock on the door half-heartedly anyway. Nothing happens.

An old man appears. "Dreamer has already crossed to the Other World," he tells me rather cryptically. He points in the direction of my house.

I follow the old man back across the street, where he shows me a charred area of burned grass.

"So... I just touch this and it'll take me to Hell?" I guess. The old man nods.

I touch the ashes and get flashes of a gray Silent Hill type area. Then I'm pulled from the dream into sleep paralysis.

I'm now lying trapped in SP. I'd turn this into a DEILD, but I'm distracted. There is a woman's voice reciting her life story in poem form, accompanied by music. Everything she says is clear and makes perfect sense. I'm trying to lock at least a few lines of her words into memory so I can write it later, but I end up forgetting all of it.

07.16.2014

Minecraft (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

While driving--- and doing a terrible job of it--- I spontaneously become lucid once again. I ditch the car, opting to walk.

I remember something I'd read recently about extending dream time by engaging all five senses. I want to try this out, but I make the mistake of starting with vision. The first thing I notice is that the world looks a little blocky. Because my attention is fixed on the blockiness, that particular quality increases dramatically until the whole world looks like a game of Minecraft. This annoys me immensely.

I decide to start over. I close my eys, focusing on the feeling of my feet hitting the ground as I walk. Closing my eyes proves to be a terrible idea. Predictably, this forces me yet again into sleep paralysis.

Now lying trapped in my bed, I believe I hear my aunt outside my door yelling for me to wake up. Is she really there or am I hallucinating? I manage to shake my foot enough to exit SP--- now awake, my aunt is no longer talking.

I keep still and am pulled right back into SP. My aunt starts talking again. She's rambling on about things that seemed to have happened in the past with her daughter, speaking as if I AM her daughter. I am again amazed by my mind's ability to come up with all of this dialogue.

07.15.2014

We're Apparently NOT Going to Church (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm sitting on the front lawn of someone's house with my dad and a bunch of his friends. They're all drinking and acting stupid. It reminds me of King of the Hill, so to pass the time I assign each of the characters to one of these men based on personality.

Suddenly, an old woman walks up to the very front of the yard near the road. She pulls down her pants and begins to pee. "Oh, no," I exclaim, turning away and shielding my eyes.

"OH NO!" the men echo. They jump up and run away.

Shaking my head, I stand up and walk in the general direction they scurried off to. On the way, I come across my aunt. The tone of the dream completely changes here. Despite the fact that my aunt seems estatic about something, there is an unsettling atmosphere that I can't quite shake. "I just saw your father!" she tells me.

I suddenly remember that my dad is dead. How was I just talking to him? I have vague thoughts about it being a dream, but for some reason I don't seriously question it. My aunt tells me that she believes God has sent him here so that we can see him again. Since I don't believe in God, or at least not the one she believes in, I'm a bit more skeptical. "How do you know it's really him?" I ask. "What if it's the Devil?" I don't believe in the Devil either, but I do believe in dark spirits and I want my aunt to be cautious.

"Pfft! Why would he be the Devil?"

"I don't know. You said yourself that the Devil likes to try to hurt people."

We walk over to where my dad is standing and begin to talk to him. "So," I begin, "What's it really like out in the great unknown?"

He grins. "Oh, it's a real tea-bake," he says with a laugh that makes me think he's referring to something inappropriate to annoy me.

I stare at him blankly. "I have no idea what that is."

He laughs louder. "It's a lesbian joke!"

I have to refrain from face-palming. Is now really the time for this kind of game? "No, for real! What's it like?"

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you." He pauses and tries to look serious. "The Night Team and the Day Team run around shooting each other with Nerf guns!" He laughs at his own joke as I groan in frustration.

"Why can't you just give me a straight answer!" All of this seems exactly like something he would do, but I'm still not 100% convinced that this is really my dad.

We've been walking as we spoke. There are other people walking with us now, people I don't recognize. I assume they are my dad's friends. They're all crying at the sight of him. I haven't been paying attention to where we're going, but now I see we're coming upon a small white church with a long line of people outside the open door. I think I ask where we're going.

My dad says, in a weird run-on sentence that confuses me, "Guess where we're not going to the chur-uurrch!" The last three words he says in a somewhat creepy sing-song voice.

Bewildered, I repeat, "Guess where we're not going---?"

He interrupts, again in his sing-song voice, "to the chur--uurrch!"

The unsettled feeling I've had since coming across my aunt grows even stronger. I can tell that something big is about to happen.

But suddenly my alarm goes off and it's time to wake up.

07.13.2014

Of Sleep Paralysis, Molestation, and Demons (SP)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

This is a jumbled mess in my mind, but I'll try to draw some sense out of it. I normally consider my SP episodes lucid, but I was so confused that I thought all of this was actually happening because of demons instead of SP.

After some kind of parade involving Sam and Dean Winchester, I find myself in sleep paralysis, entirely unable to move. I don't know where I am, but I'm not in bed. There is a sharp pain in my hips as if someone is pushing my legs up towards my chest--- as I am not flexible at all, this is quite painful. Despite the pain, I am inexplicably somewhat aroused. I keep expecting something sexual to happen, but it doesn't.

I open my eyes when I feel someone grab my wrist forcefully. It is my grandfather, who's a preacher, performing an exorcism over me while shaking a bible. I notice that no one is actually moving my legs--- they are flailing around on their own accord. I am quite calm and not freaked out at all. Simply confused.

I manage to break out of whatever spell I'm in and pull away from him. He explains that a demon is after me, but I don't listen. I think that I'm late for a class and have to go get ready.

I end up at my friend Jake's house where I ask to take a shower. For some reason they have this large bathhouse outside that has locker-room style showers. There are other people in here at first, but after I start my shower everyone else leaves. I had been told by my grandfather not to enter here, because this is "where the Fallen Angel landed when he fell."

In the midst of my shower, I somehow end up flat on my back as the water splashes down on my face. I can't get up, or even move. My vision is confused because I'm seeing the dream shower as well as flashes from my actual bedroom (so I assume my eyes were at least partially open during this time). I hear an old-fashioned radio announcer ardently reading some apocalyptic sounding text, though I can make no sense of what he's saying. There is a high pitched screeching in my head.

Now starting to get a little freaked out, I use my normal foot-shaking technique to wake myself up.

I wake up, but don't move and instantly go back into it. I'm now thinking of turning this into a WILD, but I still think I'm lying down in the shower and I'm really concerned about either the demon coming back or someone wondering why I'm just lying here, so I wake myself up again.

By the time I realize I'm not really in the shower, I'm too awake to get back into SP.

07.12.2014

The Scorpoin Still Stings (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Alternate life dream in which I have an older brother.

My memory has been wiped, as has my brother's. He was once overcome by darkness and tried to kidnap me as a baby to drag me along into the shadows. My family was meant to kill him, for the darkness could not be contained forever. Instead, they pulled the memories from both our minds and prayed for the past to remain hidden.

Of course, you cannot bury the past. On my brother's 13th birthday, our memories are restored and with them come the darkness that swallows his soul. I am in danger once again.

While my parents serve as distraction, I am meant to journey out to retrieve an object that will bring my brother to his ultimate demise. I have no idea what the object shall be--- only that it is hidden within an Easter Egg, of which many are scattered throughout the woods for the great hunt that is taking place on this day. I am given only one clue: "When you retrieve the egg, hold on to the sun to preserve your life."

As I run through the woods, cracking open each egg only to find bits of candy, I wonder what this riddle is supposed to mean.

Even more concerning: my parents have failed in their attempt at distracting the boy who was once my brother. He is hunting me through the forest as relentlessly as I hunt the egg. I barely stay out of his reach, using a rather deep bend of the creek to hide. He always was afraid of the water.

Suddenly, the meaning of the riddle becomes clear to me. I am submerged in the creek, reaching up toward the sunlight that sparkles brightly above me. I'm "holding on to the sun." The egg must be hidden deep underwater!

I dive deep below. Sure enough, I see an egg lying in the still water at the bottom of the creek. I grasp the egg just as the urgency for air propels me to the surface to face my brother once more.

I am angry at him now. He has destroyed all sense of peace within me, poisoning me with the paranoia of being ever hunted with not even a moment to spare for rest. I try to push him below the water to drown him. When that doesn't work, I shove him forcefully against a tree, beating his head against the hard trunk over and over again. There is no life in his eyes, as if my abuse means nothing to him. Sickened, I throw him to the side and run with the egg back to my family.

The dream disintegrates to nonsense after this point.

Two more lucids to report! One really short one in which I accomplished nothing, and the WILD from last night that was a failure at my own task, but may at least count toward the TotM.

I didn't post my brief failed attempt yesterday, so...

7/10/14

07.10.2014

Onward to Fail (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm talking to my parents, when I reach up to feel my hair and notice that its longer than it should be. It seems to be as long as it was before I cut it short, which means it's well past my shoulders. How could it possibly have gotten so long again?

It couldn't have. This only happens when I'm dreaming, I remind myself. I instantly recall the task that I've already failed at once. I'm supposed to find Dreamer and then find an elevator to Hell. I walk off, starting to call for her, but quickly feel myself losing the dream.

I try to stabilize it... No luck.

I'm pulled into a false awakening.

My problem seems to be that I'm too worried about stabilization, which causes me to think too much of my physical body. Since my attention is more on worrying about waking up, I lose the scene.

7/11/14

07.11.2014

Critter (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

There are three black widow spiders in front of me, having a conversation. They are neutral to my presence. They also seem to be males, which means they're not venomous. Still, I'm not too keen on being bitten, so I am doing my best to get what I need without coming into contact with them.

I reach around their webs, only to be bitten by a different kind of bug. At first I think it's one of the spiders. I jerk my hand back and the bug comes with me. It's this weird blobby thing; I can't really call it an insect because it doesn't have six legs--- it only has four. Still, it's insect-like. It is white and globular; each part of its body looks squishy and balloon-like except for its legs, which are serrated like a grasshopper's. Its body is clearly intended to try to camouflage it as a rabbit. The bug's hind end is equip with blobby extensions made to look like rabbit ears. It's real, insectoid head protrudes from its back. (Although since it seems more like the bug walks upside down and backwards, like a human trying to do a crab walk, I suppose the head is actually protruding from the creature's stomach). It is the size of a small baby rabbit.

((This is the best I could sketch it with my non-existent art skills.))




I stare in awe at the strange creature for a while before I learn it can talk. This surprises me, despite the fact I found talking spiders perfectly normal. His name is Jack and he becomes my friend.

07.11.2014

Journey Toward Hell (WILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm lying in bed awake with my eyes closed when I feel a slight vibrating feeling that means I'm about to enter sleep. It would be great if I can turn this into a WILD since I wasn't even aiming for that. The vibrations grow stronger, and by the second wave I am fully within sleep paralysis. I figure I can just get up and start the dream. I'm wrong. I open my eyes, but I seem to have opened my physical eyes instead of my dream ones (something that I'm able to do while trapped in SP). When I do, the vibrations feel like they're tearing my head apart. I quickly shut my eyes again.

Surely if I just lie here, it'll HAVE to turn into a dream. I wait, but nothing happens except for more uncomfortable vibrations. I try to move, hoping I can just get up and walk into a dream. I'm completely unable to budge a single muscle, phantom or otherwise. Normally I can imaging rolling out of the bed to get the dream going. This doesn't work either. Maybe WILD isn't the best technique for someone who suffers from chronic sleep paralysis anyway.

Finally, I'm able to lift my dream arm. I grasp around blindly, reaching for something that I can use to pull myself up out of my body. I reach a dresser and finally manage to succeed in untangling myself from the physical world.

I'm standing in my bedroom just in front of the door. I do a quick RC just for good measure, but it's not necessary. I'm already lucid.

I run out the bedroom door, ending up in my childhood home. No way am I going to fail at my task this time! I do my best not to think of the dream ending as I exit my house. It's night time and pitch black outside, unlike in real life where the sun has just barely risen. I sprint across the street toward my neighbor's house. I call out for Dreamer, banging on the door.

The door swings open and a sleepy looking purple-haired girl stands there staring out at me. Finally! Some hint of success! "I found you!" I exclaim in delight. "Now we've got to find an elevator and make it down to Hell!"

I grab her hand and pull her out of the house, trying to convey the necessity for speed. We start to run down the road together, full throttle. "I know where an elevator is," she tells me, seeming to understand what's going on now after her brief confusion. "Follow me!"

As we run down the street, she asks me why I'm asleep at such a strange time. At first I don't understand; then I remember that she lives in Australia. "Oh, right. There's a huge time difference between where you are and where I am," I tell her. "Last time I checked, it was 7:00 in the morning here. That seems like a while ago and my alarm is supposed to go off at 7:30, so we really need to hurry!"

She leads me to a section of the street that never fails to have some kind of evil within my dreams. I hope this time will be different; I don't need any distractions. Dreamer veers to the right toward a farm that used to have donkeys irl. We run through the dark field toward an outhouse-shaped building. Suddenly, an evil looking farmer in a tractor begins riding toward us. I feel a twinge of fear at his appearance, but I ignore it.

We run into the "outhouse" which turns out to be far bigger on the inside than on the outside. I expect there to be an elevator in here. Instead, it's filled with hay and dirt. Dreamer and I climb up and hang from the ceiling like ninja's hoping to hide from the evil farmer. He'll never look up here, I tell myself.

He does. He looks up and sees us as soon as he walks into the building. An evil grin spreads across his face. Once spotted, Dreamer and I drop from the ceiling to face him. The man wordlessly turns and pulls a lever by the door. The floor drops away beneath us--- we're falling into a pit which most likely leads to Hell.

Dreamer gives me a helpful smile. "Does this count as an elevator?" she asks.

I don't think it does. I summon a platform beneath us. It's one of those circular platform elevators that I've only ever seen in video games. There's a vague rumbling noise as the elevator slowly descends deeper and deeper into the ground. It's dark, and there's not much scenery, so I start to become concerned with losing the dream.

"Can't this thing move any faster?" I complain. I run from wall to wall, trying to keep focused on the minimal imagery. It's no use. The dream fades and I have a false awakening.

Well, it's a good start.

07.07.2014

As The Venom Flows Through (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Cheyenne is holding an incredibly beautiful snake, which has coiled itself around her body and is reaching out to regard me at eye level. I've never seen a snake quite like this, but I can tell from its eyes that it is venomous. "Be careful not to let it bite you," I tell Cheyenne. For now, it seems more focused on biting me. I am just within the line of danger, but I manage to dodge its strikes. I decide its best to step back.

When I do, the snake loses its one distraction and notices the warm, living body that it is coiled around. It turns around slowly and deliberately to glare at Cheyenne, before latching on to her neck.

Now I'm practically dragging her through the woods, screaming for help as the venom takes hold of my poor friend. First, she simply begins to act a little loopy. But soon her veins are bulging black from her skin while her lips turn a deathly shade of blue. A green liquid leaks from her temples, running down her face.

I barely get her to help in time to rescue her.

This is hugely symbolic of a situation that occured IRL.

07.07.2014

Onward To Hell (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

College is in session once more, and I'm entering into the cafeteria for the first time since summer break. When I get to the place where I'm supposed to scan my card, I struggle to remove it from my new wallet. I apologize to the cashier for the delay. He hands me some kind of scholarship form from a different college and says I must fill it out before I can eat.

This form is impossible! The directions the man gives me make absolutely no sense, and the sections I'm supposed to fill out keep disappearing and changing order. Plus, some of the answers I've already written are nonsensical when I go back over them. It slowly dawns on me that I have to be dreaming.

"Screw this!" I yell, slamming my pen down before the now bewildered man. I storm off, phasing effortlessly through the glass door and entering a neighborhood similar to my grandmother's.

I suddenly recall my task of going to Hell to find out what the Devil wants with my high school ring.

It is a rather cloudy day; the sky is dark with a reddish, rusty tint. I smile to myself. "What a perfect day to visit Hell," I chuckle.

I remember that first I must summon Dreamer, so I call for her a few times. When that doesn't work, I make the decision that she's going to be in one of the nearby houses. I walk towards one, clapping and rubbing my hands together as I walk because the dream has taken on a surreal, old movie quality and I keep nearly losing my vision altogether.

When I ascend the steps, I lose the dream completely and am pulled into the black void of sleep paralysis.

"No biggy," I think, "I'll just turn this into a DEILD."

I succeed in the dream part, but lose the 'ILD' in the belief that I've actually woken up. I check the time. 8:44. That's well after my alarm should have gone off! I'm going to be late to work!

I run off to get ready, only to wake up for real when my alarm goes off at its normal time.

Interestingly, after I've actually gotten going and mostly ready, I check the time at exactly 8:44. For real this time.

07.06.2014

The Stowaways (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I am in my childhood home, heading toward the back of the house. I see a small person-like figure dart through my brother's old room and hide behind the dresser. I intend to check this out, but something catches my attention and I forget all about it until I witness the same thing later.

I call to my mom for backup as I slowly approach the dresser. What could be back there? Suddenly, a wild toddler springs out. He's screaming madly and trying to bite me. I yell in fright before attempting to restrain the crazy child, hauling him into my mom's room. Suddenly, I "remember" that this is my little brother. Apparently we all forgot that he exists, so he took to hiding in the walls like a rat.

But then--- plot twist! Another little boy shows up. Both boys are naked except for diapers, and I wonder how they've been using the bathroom all this time. This new boy is *actually* my forgotten little brother. The other one had simply found his way into the house somehow. My "actual" brother growls at the imposter and territorily chases him out of the house.

07.06.2014

Lucid Distractions (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I suddenly have a terrible problem where saliva is pouring out from underneath my tongue like a fountain. As I run to the sink, I remember that this only ever happens in dreams. Still, the problem is so uncomfortable that I must find a way to make it stop before I carry on with the dream. I mistakenly believe that I once ended this by playing tennis, so I pretend that I'm playing tennis with my reflection to distract myself.

The distraction is too good. I forget I'm dreaming and lose the scene.

07.06.2014

Suicide Mission (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I am in a group of kids aged 9-14. We are our own little army, equip with all manner of firearms. My particular unit is about to go on a suicide mission to end a rogue band of drug dealers that have been threatening us for far too long. If we don't take them out, the younger ones will suffer for it. We each have a little packet of cyanide in case we get captured.

Our leader walks up to the door and counts to three. I assume that we're firing at whoever comes out the door, so I position myself beside the door and take aim. I assumed wrong.

When our leader knocks on the door, I realize she's setting up a fake drug deal to lure our victims into a false sense of security so that we can infiltrate their base and take them all out. Upon realizing this, I hastily try to put my gun away before I'm noticed. Too late. The drug dealer realizes he's being set up, and all hell breaks loose.

My leader yells at me amidst the fighting for screwing everything up. "I'm sorry!" I yell back. "You didn't explain the operation to me! How was I supposed to know!"

07.06.2014

Demonology (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

After attempting to ride my bike back to campus and getting lost, I somehow end up being forced to help a demon regain power. I learn that new technology will burn the demon out of her host, so I attempt to burn her out with my cell phone. Her croney catches me before I can succeed. When I try the same tactic again later, she merely laughs at me. She had regained her full power by this point, and technology could no longer hurt her.

I'm trying to get into dream yoga. It's hard for me to stay focused that long, but I'm making progress if my recall from last night has anything to say about it.

07.05.2014

Unjustified Anger (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

After helping my co-worker's elderly grandfather move some heavy furniture, then taking an ill-advised trip to the airport on a whim, I somehow manage to make it to work half an hour early. "Well, I guess I'm early today," I say with surprise as I walk in the front door.

Our receptionist, Anita, glares at me. "I guess you are," she mutters, scribbling angrily on a sticky note. I'm surprised by her reaction.

"Wait, don't be mad. If you don't want me here early, I could just wait outside until I'm supposed to be here..."

She glowers at me again. "I'm not mad."

"Um, really? I think you are. You keep scowling at me..."

"Okay, you're right. I AM mad."

I spend the rest of the dream thinking up ways to get back on her good side.

07.05.2014

Footsteps (SP)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

((I consider my SP episodes to be lucid, as long as I realize I'm in SP, because it's somehow a state of dreaming while I'm caught between being asleep and awake. I can see the real world if I open my eyes, but it is intermingled with hallucinations--- like a dual layer of reality.))

I wake up in SP for the second night in a row. Weird how it acts up more when I'm focusing on LDing. I hear my bedroom door open and footsteps on the carpet leading towards my bed. Someone is in here. Then, my mom's voice: "Lola?"

Oh no. My mom and stepdad are home early. WHY are they here? I left a huge mess that I intended to clean up before they returned. Now they'll think I'm a slob.

Wanting to explain myself and question their early arrival, I struggle to move. As usual, only my foot seems operable. I shake it back and forth as quickly as I can manage, but I'm still having problems coming out of it. I struggle to keep my eyes open, which usually helps. I can see the wall and the window whenever I manage to force my eyes open. I feel my mom standing over my bed staring at me. She's probably wondering why I'm shaking my foot like this.

Finally, the motion is enough to jar me awake. I realize that I'm here alone. My mom was never in the room--- once again, just a hallucination.

07.05.2014

Questionable Content (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Much of this is lost, but it was a pretty extensive dream. Mostly I remember the house of a man I had some kind of conflict with. There are several instances where the image of the house is the prominent focus of the dream. The man seems to be Ned Flanders from the Simpsons. Apparently he was never actually a Christian, but was secretly doing neo-Pagan rituals in his house and cursing the Simpsons. This amuses me greatly. However, he seems to be depressed because of something to do with his wife. She died, perhaps. I also believe he may have blamed me for whatever it was. At some point, this results in an epic battle in the street against his mecha form.

07.05.2014

DJ Academy (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm in a place that could be straight out of an anime. A girl is leading me and a small group of other girls around a huge radio company, explaining that we're all going to be DJs for these reality talk shows. Everyone here has their own show, in many different genres. "You'll learn what kind of DJ you are pretty quickly," our guide tells us. I'm a little confused as to how I got here. When she concludes the tour, our guide asks if we have any questions.

I raise my hand. "What exactly is this place?" I ask. I realize how stupid this sounds when she gives me a 'were-you-even-listening-to-a-word-I-just-said' glare. I am now somewhat lucid, though at a very low level. "I mean, I KNOW this is a radio station, but I don't know how I got here. And um, I think I missed the first part of the tour? Is this like a DJ academy?"

She explains that no, it is not. We are to start our own specific style of show with our individual skill sets, which we'll learn as we go.

((Starting from this point, I awake and re-enter the dream many times due to irritating dogs barking right outside my window.))

I'm exploring the station and checking out the various different studios and DJs. Everyone here is their own special brand of crazy, I realize. I'm in the studio of a very pale girl with white hair and red eyes. She's dressed in Lolita style clothing and seems just like an anime character. She talks like a little kid, though she's probably my age. The directer (our tour guide from earlier), is standing in the doorway observing. I suddenly notice a familiar container on the Lolita's book stand--- my medicine! "Hey, these are mine!" I snatch up the pills before she can take them. "How did you get these?"

She tries to deny stealing them, saying their hers, but the director cuts in. "What have I told you about taking other people's things, [girl's name]?"

((Awake. Re-enter.))

I am participating as a guest in one of the DJ's studios. There is a large swimming pool with rows of intertubes. Some of the tubes have people in them. Playing against another newbie, I have to throw bean bags and hit the people. I think it's going to be like Bingo or Tic-Tac-Toe, but it turns out to be more like shuffleboard with no clear rules. The people in the intertubes are swimming around, making it even harder. I lose horribly, and the girls sitting by the pool watching make fun of me.

((Awake. Re-enter.))

This part is rather vague. Something about a dude with rabbit ears who needs my help getting out of a fix with a demon (who happens to be one of the DJs).

((Awake. Re-enter.))

The rabbit-eared guy walks out the door of the demon's studio, leaving me to deal with the angry DJ. I'm very slightly lucid--- I "remember" having this dream before. I know that the demon is going to spew sludge on me, so I guard my face with my hat. The rest of me gets covered in slimy demon puke. He's supposed to do this four times, according to my "memory" of the supposed previous dream that never actually happened. On the third time, the feeling of the cold slime on the back of my neck jars me awake.

07.04.2014

Quite the Wolf Problem (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I am taking a stroll down the road late at night. As I pass the cemetary, I encounter a girl around fourteen years old who warns me that she's out hunting werewolves with her grandfather. She is clutching a vicious looking shotgun in a manner that suggests she's well accustomed to using it. While I'm talking to her, we hear a ruckus nearby. A werewolf is attacking her grandfather!

Suddenly lucid, I remember that I, too, am a werewolf. Fortunately I happen to possess much greater self control than this brute, who is out of his wits with the change. I morph into my werewolf form and leap onto the other wolf, tearing at his throat with my teeth. I can see how it could be tempting to go on a murderous rampage while in wolf form--- letting out my inner beast feels amazing! Still, I hope that the girl realizes that I'm helping, that I'm protecting her from this other wolf. I'm not too keen on being shot.

Suddenly, I'm pulled from the dream into sleep paralysis as I feel someone shaking me awake. It seems to be my mother; I hear her voice telling me to wake up. I try to explain that I'm in sleep paralyis, but it just comes out as a mumble. I try to roll over, but cannot move. My mom continues to shake me, telling me to wake up.

By this point I'm a bit irritated. I manage to get control of my foot and shake it back and forth enough to jar me awake. (This has proved the ONLY way I can force myself out of SP. I don't know why I'm able to move my foot; it's literally the only real part of my body I'm ever able to move.) Once awake, I realize that my mom isn't even here. I'm house sitting for her while she's in Florida.

07.04.2014

George and the Rabbit (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I seem to be a well-known scholar, and I'm staying in George Takei's house for my current research, as he lives in a convenient location.

I step out the front door to begin my day. Beside the step is a white rabbit wearing glasses. Insteac of fur, the rabbit has wool like a sheep. It seems happy to let me pet it, closing its eyes in content.

George Takei is doing dishes behind me. I try to get his attention to show him the rabbit, but he does not want to be disturbed.

07.04.2014

The Tornado Approaches (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

We are out in the open country by a little house. My grandmother, who suffers from alzheimer's, wishes to drive to the store. We are desperately trying to talk her out of it, but she will not listen.

As we're arguing, the sky goes dark. A storm is nearby. I can hear the sounds of a tornado quickly approaching from behind me. Not even looking back, I lead everyone to a manhole by the house that appears to lead to the sewer. Not a proper storm shelter, but it should serve the purpose all the same. We hurry down the ladder before the tornado can reach us.

07.03.2014

Wandering Vagabond (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I am going through what seems to be a repeat of my dad's death, with different events. Somehow, this results in no longer being able to stay at my aunt's house for the summer. In the meantime, I've gathered my things to crash at my mom's.

I have a different phone that seems a lot older and more basic than the one I have now, which is saying something. Someone calls and I can't figure out how to answer it, so it goes to voicemail. The voicemail plays live through the speakers of the phone, but I cannot interact with the caller. It sounds like my dad! "Lola! This is important. I'm calling to tell you----" In my frantic effort to answer the phone to speak to him, I accidentally drop his call. I desperately try to call him back, but the number is odd and it goes straight to some person named Jana.

Later, I am outside my mom's house contemplating things when a little baby walks into the yard and starts playing. There is no one else around who the baby could belong to, and I'm concerned for his safety--- especially when he trips and nearly falls face forward into a ditch. I dive towards the baby and stop him from going into the ditch. When I pick him up, he is a lot tinier than before. At first, he was toddler sized. Now he is smaller than even a newborn baby should be, while still exhibiting the characteristics of a much older baby. Since he seems to be all alone, I take him inside and hand him off to my mom. It was really hot outside, so I tell her that he's probably thirsty. I walk away for a few minutes. When I come back, my mom is bathing the baby in a little pool of cold tea. I have no idea what purpose this is supposed to serve.

I am trying to figure out where I'm supposed to stay for the remainder of the summer. I refuse to live at my mom's house again. The only other relative I really know well enough to stay with is my grandmother, but the thought of living with her isn't that pleasing, either. I sigh. I really look forward to the day when I can live alone in my own house and stop bouncing from place to place between the school year. I decide to call my grandmother, having such few options. Since my phone refuses to pull up contacts, I dial what I assume to be her house number. Instead, a rather deep-voiced woman answers that is definitely not my grandma. "Umm, I have the wrong number," I tell her apologetically.

"Awh, that's alright. I'm just about to go have a lovely meal at [restaurant I've never heard of]. Hope you have a wonderful day!"

I wish her a good meal, then hang up.