Am I Awake?

The dream began with me, my mother, father, two older sisters, their kids, and grandparents all dressed very nicely, being seated in what seemed to be an opera house-type auditorium. The giant red curtains were closed in front of us. There was orchestral music playing throughout the room. Everyone seemed excited. There were large, flowing white ribbons all around us, hanging from the ceiling. Someone was getting married.

The curtains opened up, and everyone clapped. Behind the curtains, though, was blackness. It was almost like the beginning of a movie, but we weren't there to see a movie. Suddenly, in some of the most vivid, extraordinary, magical detail I ever remember experiencing in a dream, bright green flowers and leaves began to protect themselves like holograms out from behind the stage, over the audience; like the beginning of a show. I would say the dream felt very realistic, but honestly, it was a feeling of hyper realism - this could never actually happen. Suddenly, the audience was being flown through a three dimensional holographic realm of an enchanted forest. If you've seen the opening of Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast,' I'd equate it to that.

Suddenly, the holographic opening was over, and the stage was set with rows of chairs on the left and right, and in the middle, a flowering arch. Underneath was a prince, wearing a white military uniform, holding a saber. A voice echoed through the room. "We will now seat the family of our most prestigious guests."

Then, people began to file in from back stage, sitting in the chairs on stage. Then, someone I thought I knew appeared. He had long, flowing Fabio-like hair. He was smug, arrogant, clumsy, and wearing an awful-looking vest. I felt inside that I... I absolutely hated him for some reason. Behind him was a very prim girl I understood to be his sister, and not his date, for some reason. Then, a wild, possibly retarded child followed her. He had dark red hair and very haunting eyes. Behind him was another girl, though much less attractive than the first, and she had black curly hair.

More people sat down, but I only seemed to care about these four, though. They were misbehaving and it was making me angry, because this was a big deal.

When the ceremony was about to start, though... I noticed I was nude. This should have been the obvious moment for me to have realized 'Hey. I'm dreaming,' other than the holographic forest experience, but... no. I stood up, but didn't want to distract anyone's view of the ceremony with my... well, nakedness. So I took a back route to a strange closet I found at the top of some stairs, in the back.

Inside was a change of clothes, fortunately, but they were gym shorts and a T-shirt; hardly proper dress for such a ceremony. One odd thing about the room, though; it was lined with at least a dozen old TVs... all playing infomercials. Shamwow, Chia Pets, OxyClean, all that kind of stuff.

It was at this point I began to fade back into reality.

I had left my television on, and the commercials playing in reality were leaking into my dreams because of the audio.

I woke up for good, and that was it.

Strange. I would love, love, love to see that holographic forest again, though. It was so... vivid. Unlike anything ever.