Thena

I was up late last night after working second shift, then had to get up early for a contractor stopping by in the morning. So I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. When I started feeling drowsy after the contractor left, I figured a nap wouldn't hurt.

I'm looking at my smartphone and for some reason, I'm trying to search for information on Jimmy Kimmel. I'm having trouble spelling his name, with my attempt to spell "Jimmy" coming out as something else. I look at my hands and realize this must be a dream. I look up from the phone and find myself at work, except I seem to be on skates while the main aisle is made of ice. I start skating down the aisle until I get to the toy department. When I head down a smaller aisle, I see a magic lamp hanging on a display. I rub the lamp, which looks like plastic but feels cold like metal. I wait for the genii to appear, except nothing happens. I take a few steps and try again, and this time the genii comes out of the lamp.

I wish for a magic carpet. The genii points to an endcap where there are plush purple toilet lid covers on display. He takes one and tosses it in the air. It seems to get larger and thinner as it spins until landing on the floor, now large enough to hold a person. I make sure to hang onto the lamp as I get on the rug. The rug flies through the air, heading for the front of the store where I magically pass through the plate-glass window. Outside, it is cool and cloudy. I do a few loops on the magic carpet before returning to the ground.

At this point, I know I want a second wish but I'm a little stumped for what to wish for. I look at the clouds and wish that I was someplace warm. Almost immediately, I find myself wearing a rain coat and sitting at a small table under a large umbrella. I can see palm trees in the distance, and when I stick my hand out, I can feel the rain. I focus on the sounds of a tropical rain storm…

And then I find myself in my garage at home. I open the garage door, reminding myself that I wished I was someplace warm. And instead of my driveway, I see a tropical forest with a dirt path winding through the trees. I follow the path, feeling squishy texture of the dirt under my feet. Eventually, I come to a large building. I realize that it's the home of my grandparents in India. I remember where to find the back door that leads to a kitchen. From there, I move to the large reception room on the main floor. I remember that it was my favorite room as a kid because it had a swing. Sure enough, I see a wicker egg-shaped chair that is suspended from the ceiling. I sit in the chair and let it swing back and forth. A drink appears in my hand, and I wonder what it is before deciding that it should be Bombay Sapphire gin, of course. I sip it and debate what to do for my third wish. For a moment, I wonder if I should ask for the perfect kiss and an image of Benedict Cumberbatch comes to mind. But I decide that I can't have him show up in every single lucid dream!

Instead, I wish that I could speak to my grandmother. I see my Nana, my mom's mother, appear on my left hand side. She reminds me that this used to be her sewing room. I look on my right and see my dad's mother, who passed away before I was born. I really want to hear what she has to say, but she remains silent at first. I realize that I have no idea what she even sounds like because I have no memories to build on. Trying to draw her out, I ask, "What should I do with my life? I could really use some guidance." She remains silent, but this time she leans forward and kisses me on the forehead, then she gives me a hug. Then she tells me, "I want you to live. I have two beautiful granddaughters that I am so proud of and I want you to live your lives."

Having not focused on lucid dreaming for a few months, I showed just how easily I can get back into practice by hitting two more in one night. Also, it looks like it helps if I do them on my day off when I'm more relaxed and able to sleep in.

…I'm standing in the front hallway. I know this has to be a dream because I was just in bed, and I confirm this by noting that the hallway seems larger and the closet seems smaller than usual. I wonder what I'll find when I turn around, and what I see is Michael Fassbender. (Yeah, at all those Fassy pictures on Tumblr before bed really paid off!) Oddly enough, he's wearing a priest's roman collar -- must be due to that interview I read about him wanting to be a priest when he was little. The first thing that comes to mind is that I want to give him my heart. How romantic, right? I try to reach into my chest. It's like there's a gap where I can get my hand through, but then I hit a bony plate halfway in that stops me from reaching my heart. I try to think of another way to get my heart out, including the possibility of reaching down through my throat. This is pretty gory stuff, actually. Not what I was thinking about when I set out on this task. I look over Michael's shoulder and there is Benedict Cumberbatch, all dressed up in his tux like he's going to some awards show. And as I look at him, my heart just floats out of my chest and into my hands. It's a large heart-shaped ruby that seems to be glowing. I give it to Benedict and he cradles it in his hands as he promises he'll take good care of it.

At this point, there was a noise outside that woke me up. I checked my watch and realize I have another two hours before I have to be up, so I roll over and try to go back to sleep for lucid dream #2.

I'm walking through work as I listen to "We Go Together" from the Grease soundtrack playing. Wait a second -- they don't play music at work. I see that there is an extra block of aisles where there shouldn't be one and I know I am dreaming again. I look at my hands to stabilize the dream, but my hands start flipping up and down, faster and faster until they're beating like a pair of hummingbird wings. The store disappears and I see a mountain appear, the same mountain that has shown up in a few previous dreams. I start to fly up towards the top but think to myself, "No, wait, I was supposed to do something else."

Returning to the ground, I see my coworker Kathy. I've noticed that she turns up in a lot of my dreams hanging out with my friends even though we barely speak to each other at work. I walk up to her and ask why she keeps showing up in these dreams. She tells me, "Because I represent the possibility. I represent what you could be if you would just open up and try harder." I'm not quite sure I'm satisfied with her answer, but I consider it for a moment. Then I decide to try something. I step into Kathy's body to see what it's like to be her. The mountain appears again, this time completely covered with snow. I remember the bonus task of the month and find myself on skis. I've never really skied before, so it takes me a little while to figure out how to start skiing up the mountain. I settle into a sort of cross-country skiing up the steep incline. I do have to pull myself along at times, but I make it to the top, where there's a flat ledge. Kathy is waiting up at the top and tells me that I did a great job. There's a guy waiting there, too, but I can't make out his face. He stands behind me, takes a linen suit jacket and wraps it around me to keep me warm. The jacket seems more like warm weather wear, though. Since it's not enough, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer. I wish I could see who he is because I know who I want it to be.

And then my cell phone rings, waking me up.

First time I successfully used DEILD! One thing I use sometimes when I'm having a dry spell is to review and old list of lucid dream goals, and one of mine was to visit Venice.

I'm not quite awake after the last dream ends when I decide I want to go for it and return to the dream. Instead of the restaurant I was dreaming of, I'm now walking through very deep snow headed towards a small building with white siding. It looks like a church. Outside the door, there's a man waiting for me. He's wearing a red sweater, his dark hair is cropped and he has a round face. There's something about the way he looks at me that makes me uncomfortable. He asks, "So, how have you been taking care of yourself?" It feels intrusive. I look down at the snow and wonder why I'm even here.

I try spinning and find myself in the upstairs hallway of my house, where the paint colors seem a bit more vibrant than I remember. Unfortunately, Creepy Sweater Man seems to have followed me home. I head downstairs and he follows me -- oooh, wait, those are really cool shoes sitting on the floor by the front door. Are those mine? I pick up one of them. It's a black wedge sneaker with all these metallic accents. I trace one of the metal pieces as I listen to Creepy Sweater Man trying to get my attention. Then I cut him off to ask a question: "Who is my soul mate?"

Without any hesitation, he answers, "Gerard Butler."

"I don't even know who that is! I've never seen any of his movies," I reply. I can't even picture what the guy looks like, and I get a little upset.This is not exactly the answer I was hoping for.

Creepy Sweater shrugs. "I really don't know anything. I just took a guess," he says.

The scene shifts, and now I find myself in a partially lit room full of pottery, and I'm holding a pair of vases. At least Creepy Sweater Man is gone. I'm right near a window, and when I look outside, I see that I am in Venice. I've always wanted to come here! I can see a canal just outside this building, and I race downstairs to get closer to the water. I come out onto a balcony that is about four feet above the canal. It has the feel of being in a video game where you have to navigate three dimensional levels on a 2D screen. I see a gondola waiting on the canal and I worry about how to get there, but then a ladder appears that allows me to climb down.

Once I'm in the gondola, the gondolier sets off and starts to sing "O Sole Mio." It's a song I usually enjoy, but today I'm a little impatient. I cut him off and ask, "Who is my soul mate?"

"The gentleman waiting at the bridge, he is your soul mate. You will see him soon," says the gondolier. I'm thinking that he means the famous Bridge of Sighs. I wonder how I'm going to meet someone there because there's no access to the bridge from the canal. As if the gondolier is reading my mind, he instead takes me to the Rialto Bridge.

I don't even remember getting out of the gondola as I'm in such a hurry to get on the bridge. As I'm climbing up the bridge, I can see Benedict Cumberbatch (an actor that I am very familiar with) waiting at the top. When I get to him, I ask, "Do you know who my soul mate is?"

He looks a little surprised by my question. "Darling, it's me," he answers before leaning over to kiss me. I'm so overwhelmed that I wake up.

This was a lucid dream that was a bit unexpected. I was having a lazy Sunday morning lingering in bed. I had already turned off my sleep tracker and was trying to review my last dream of the night (involving tea with a Tibetan monk) when I managed to fall asleep and re-enter it.

I'm back in the monastery, which is basically a rectangular stone room with a doorway leading outside. The monk is pouring tea for some kind of tea ceremony. One detail seems out of place -- my dad and sister are lingering near the entrance. I don't remember them being here in the previous dream. I pull out my phone and try to read an email in order to do a reality check. The text of the email doesn't make any sense at all. The room starts to fade a bit, so I try spinning to keep the dream going. The scene shifts to my workplace. I think about my goal, which was to accomplish two of the tasks of the month in one dream since I usually wake up right after finishing just one task. I realize that there's no way I can do any of the tasks at work, so I try spinning again.

This time, I find myself on a beach at the base of a mountain cliff. There's some dim light in the sky, but it looks like the sun has just disappeared behind the horizon. I decide that I'm going to write my name in the sand. First, though, I need to find a good place to do it. The strip of beach I'm on is very narrow, and there are waves washing up from both the sea and, oddly enough, there are waves coming in the opposite direction from the mountain. I walk down the beach until I found a wider stretch. Then I proceed to write my given name in the sand. The sand itself feels almost liquidy as I spell out my name. When I'm done, the sand starts to bubble like boiling water until my name is no longer there. It's kind of funny to me since I'm not really fond of my given name anyway. Once the sand settles, I go back and write my nickname "Thena" in the sand. I accidentally walk over the "n" and "a" at the end, but I'm able to fix them. This time, the name stays put.

I want to try one more task, and I struggle to remember the details of the volcano task. But when I turn to scan the horizon for a volcano, I find Obama standing right behind me. His proportions are a little bit off. He's only an inch or two taller than me (I'm barely 5' tall while I'm sure the real Obama is over 6' tall) and his head seems slightly larger than the rest of his body, like a bobblehead. I immediately start repeating, "Oh my god, I am so sorry." This isn't who I planned on punching when I first read the task! But I have to do it because I'm not sure when I'll get another chance. So I punch Obama with my fist making impact with the right side of his face. I don't think my punch has all that much power, but Obama reacts as though I really hurt him. He even spits out a tooth that was knocked loose. He gives me this icy glare as though he's really angry. Then he turns around and walks away.

I try again to remember what was involved in the volcano task, but I'm fuzzy about the details. I remember climbing a tree in a previous lucid dream just because I could, so this time I climb straight up the side of the cliff. When I reach the top, I look around for a volcano, but there isn't one. Then I dive off the cliff into the sea. I go straight down into the water before surfacing. This time, I see a sunny island right in front of me with a single mountain peak that dominates the whole island. There's smoke rising from the top, so I know this has to be an active volcano. Something that amuses me at the time is that I can even hear Hawaiian music. I decide that I'm going climb the side of the mountain, but it bothers me that I can't remember what I'm supposed to once I reach the top. But the sides of the mountain are so smooth and so perfectly sloped that it feels a bit like climbing up a slide. I end up sliding backwards and then wake up.

Went to bed at 2:25 AM (damn novel keeping me reading until the very end!). It took me 24 minutes to fall asleep, with minor awakenings at 4:45, 5:24, and 6:30. I was really restless around 8:30 AM. That was when I decided to do a WILD while half-awake, but I didn't think it was working. In reality, once I gave up I started dreaming.

I was at work. I had my new clear water bottle with me, and at one point I realized there were bubbles in my water. On closer inspection, there were bubbles coming from the bottom of the water bottle. I couldn't see anything that could be causing the bubbles. I showed it to a coworker, who checked her water bottle and found the same thing. We set both bottles down, side by side, and watched the bubbles. I laughed and said it was probably Thor's fault, because gods do this kind of thing, right? I was willing to bet Thor or Odin would pop-up at any minute. My coworker and I went down an access corridor back to the main sales floor. Just inside the door to the sales floor, there was a family with two small kids. I asked if they needed any help since I had a feeling that they were looking for the bathroom, and the woman said that they didn't. Then I told them that this was an employees only area and they would have to leave. The woman gave me a dirty look, and I moved on without checking to see if they left the access corridor. I took a quick glance around the sales floor, then I ducked into another corridor to make my way to the bathroom. It looked nothing like our work bathrooms. The stalls were stainless steel but looked really aged, as if they hadn't been cared for in years. There was dim light coming from a window but no interior lights. I was shocked to find another woman already there. I moved past her, went into a stall, and realized it was too narrow to even turn around. Then I woke up.

At this point, I wanted to try for a DEILD. But I was acutely aware of sweat beads rolling down my nose and the sounds of a garbage truck making its way down the street. Plus I really could not bring myself to re-enter that awful bathroom. I rolled over and figured that I'd probably blown it, but I wasn't willing to give up yet. I watched some of the HI, which reminded me of daisies, then clouds, until a solid image formed that I could interact with…

And the image that came to me was a young Tom Hiddleston with his pre-Thor curly hair. I remembered the task of the month was to hug the first DC you come across, so I told him, "Okay, I'm hanging onto you until I get my chance." He looked pretty confused. And then I realized that I had to engage more of my senses than just sight since I could still hear the damn garbage truck outside, so I went to touch Tom's hair. Actually, I did more than just touch -- I started running my fingers through his curls. Now he was really confused, although I saw the hint of a smile. His hair really wasn't very soft. It was very coarse and felt a little bit like straw, which was not what I expected. But it seemed to do the trick and the dream finally solidified around us. We were in the upstairs hallway, but where there was supposed to be a light fixture, there was a miniature version of the sun. It was way to bright to look at, so I rushed downstairs and outside. The sun was much less intense out here.

I still felt the need to touch things, and the grass seemed like the next best thing. I plopped down on the ground and started rolling around in the grass. Tom stood over me and laughed. Then an animal appeared next to me, and at first I thought it was one of the dogs. Instead, it was a sheep. I got up and plunged my fingers into the sheep's wool, which was really soft. And then, for reasons I couldn't understand, I ended up climbing onto the back of the sheep and riding it like a horse while Tom led the sheep down to the street. Then I directed him to take us to the local park. There was a field we had to cross to get to the park, and the grass kept getting higher and higher until it was brushing my knees. I looked up and saw mountains in the distance behind the houses. "Guess we're not in my neighborhood anymore," I said to Tom and the sheep. I trailed my fingers in the tall grass until I hit something gooey. It was like a little hill of -- cream cheese? Okay, that's weird. Fortunately, I see a nearby stream. I bend down and plunge my fingers into the water to clean them off. The stream becomes more of a fast-moving river with a steep bank, and Tom has to hang onto my feet to make sure I don't get carried away by the rushing water.

We find a bench and sit down. I can feel the hard bench underneath me and realize that I'm pretty much done waiting for this dream to feel real. I tell Tom about how much he means to me, how I started with "The Avengers" and then went back to watch all his movies, then all of the interviews he's done, and how I really appreciate him. He seemed pretty flattered. Then I asked if I could give him a hug and embrace him. At first, he seemed a little stiff, but then I felt his arms close around me. He grabbed my butt and pulled me closer while I rubbed his back.

And then someone rang the doorbell, the dogs started barking and there was no way I could block all of that out to stay in the dream.

According to my sleep tracker, it took me 13 minutes to fall asleep. I slept for a total of 8 hours and 53 minutes. I had brief awakenings at 1 AM, 3 AM, 4:30 AM, 6 AM, and 7:15 AM. There was also an extended period of restlessness about 20 minutes before I woke up.

Supplements: I took one melatonin (because I haven't been sleeping well) and two menthol cough drops (because I've had a sore throat)

First dream: I was trapped at my friend Katie's house, though Katie wasn't there. I gathered up my stuff and put it into two bags. One was a backpack, and I wondered whether it was worth it to lug this heavy bag around while trying to find my way out. I also had a strong sense that the room next to the one I was in had a garage. I could almost picture the cars inside. I wandered out into the hallway and found myself in a banquet hall. In the entrance was a ticket booth, but instead of tickets, they were selling paper plates. I got a plate and tried to find to find the buffet in the maze of hallways. I found a room that seemed like a private party room. I started examining the light switches on the wall, and the next thing I knew, I found myself in my own bathroom at home. But there was a strange woman there giving her son a bath in my bathtub. I felt awkward for interrupting them. I turned to leave, but I noticed a row of hooks on the wall, just about the light switch. They were mounted on a black plastic panel. Part of the panel had broken away. Initially, I thought there were only 3 hooks, but as I looked closer I saw a fourth one. I couldn't remember installing this panel, and I couldn't understand why I would keep it if it was broken like this. I went to shut off the lights to the sink area, but instead the lights went out near the tub. I turned around and apologized to the woman, explaining that it was too complicated to keep track of which switch controlled which lights.

Second dream: I was going through piles of stuff in the office nook of the kitchen. Dad asked me why I was going through things instead of just throwing them out. I told him that I was looking for photos from a trip to Florida when I was a teenager. On that trip, I had taken photos of space shuttle Columbia landing at Kennedy Space Center about 5 years before it was destroyed. Dad said he remembered the photos, but he never made the connection between the two events until Aidan explained it to him. (Note: Aidan is our dog!) He told me he had the pictures framed and that I could find them "by Verizon, under summer photos, about two years from now." I didn't understand his directions, but I went upstairs to check his bedroom.

So I keep having dreams about my evening and weekends job, which has been a little frustrating because I don't really like spending my waking hours there! Tonight, I woke up from another dream about work around 6 AM and attempted a WBTB, where I had this WILD.

I was back in the same scene where the previous dream left off, but at least this time I knew it was a dream. I looked around, seeing the whole store around me and letting the images solidify. Now, I had to have a little fun with it! To my left, I could see a manager and a group of coworkers gathering for a short meeting. I went over to join them, glancing down quickly to make sure that I was in my work uniform. Remembering the task of the month, I decided to rip it off. I didn't even get that far as my clothes simply disappeared. There was no discernible reaction from my dream coworkers. I started to walk away to see if I could find someone else who might react. I glanced down again and realized that I was now wearing a very skimpy blue bikini. Oddly enough, it seemed to fit me very well -- that really should not work on my body type. I started removing the bikini top, but that's when one of the the dogs jumped on the bed and woke me up.

I was staying in a fancy hotel suite in Las Vegas. Two of my coworkers were there with me. One was enjoying the oversized tub in the bathroom. The tub seemed to be in a strange location. There were large "steps" carved into the wall and the tub on was one step. The next "step" had a jacuzzi. I nearly missed it at first because it was just above eye level.

I ran out of the bathroom to tell my other coworker, "Hey, we have a jacuzzi! I can't wait to use it." She was busy getting a massage and suggested that I get one as well. A massage therapist showed up to give me an in-room massage. Her massage table was in pieces, and she brought her boyfriend and a bunch of kids to carry all the pieces and set it up for her. The table seemed awfully long. I could probably take up just half of it. The massage therapist showed me this awesome raspberry-chocolate moisturizing cream she was going to use on me (it looked and smelled like a dessert I had a few weeks ago).

Finally, it was time for my massage to begin. The massage therapist suggested that I should take off my clothes before getting on the table. I was just wearing a tank top and panties at this point. I reached for the hem of my tank top, but then I realized that the room was full of people and all of them were staring at me. I felt really uncomfortable getting undressed in front of them.

I ended up skipping the massage and heading up to the roof. The view was amazing, and it reminded me of taking a cruise to a Caribbean island touting itself as the new Las Vegas. (So I was in Las Vegas and comparing it to a place trying to imitate Las Vegas?) There was a sign for Harrah's Casino just in front of me and I decided to take a picture of it. But every time I looked in the viewfinder of my camera, a Paradise Road street sign kept obstructing the view. Funny, that street sign wasn't visible when I wasn't looking through the camera lens. Then I noticed that there was film coming out of the camera. It had been so long since I used a camera that required film. I wasn't sure if I had to manually rewind the film. I remembered that there was a one-hour photo place nearby and made note to take the film to be developed. I had no memory of taking any other pictures and really wanted to see what else was on that roll of film.

It appears my mantra of "Don't dream about work so much" had the opposite effect. It's a a shame I missed the opportunity to do the Task of the Month.

My workplace had added a new gym and spa and I decided to try out their fancy showers. But first, I was having trouble locking the door of my shower stall. The door kept opening even after I thought I had closed the deadbolt. Finally, I managed to slide the bolt a lot further than seemed possible. Confident that the door was locked, I took off my clothes. But then someone outside bumped the door to my stall. Then the door disappeared completely, leaving me exposed to everyone passing outside. I grabbed a black t-shirt and and held in in front of me as I looked outside. It seemed that the doors to all the stalls were gone.

I carefully ventured outside, still trying to cover myself with the t-shirt, when I spotted my boss. I told him about the missing doors and he thanked me for bringing the issue to his attention. His attitude puzzled me since it should have been obvious that none of the stalls had doors. I told him I really needed it fixed because I needed to take a shower after my workout. Funny, I don't remember working out. My boss told me that there was a private shower area restricted to employees, and he gave me directions.

I started making my way to the private showers, but I was having trouble finding them. The directions my boss gave me didn't seem to make sense. After finding myself at a basement entrance (that doesn't exist in reality), I found my coworker Angie. She directed me to a far corner of the basement, where I found a weight room. The dream ended before I finally got to the showers.

Oh, hey, I'm back! This dream was so long and detailed that I had to share.

It was early in the morning, and Dad and I were driving in his new car. He made a stop to pick up some woman, and I realized that I was now tagging along on their date! I also had to give up my front passenger seat and move to the back seat. I noticed as I moved into the back seat that I was wearing a really fitted leather jacket, something I've never had before. Dad dropped me off at a shopping center that the locals call Four Corners. Somehow, I lost my leather jacket once leaving the car, so I dropped into a clothing store to see if I could get a replacement. When they didn't have anything useful, I went to the next store. It turned out to be a grocery store I worked at before, but it was staffed with people from my current job. I knew something was a little off, repeatedly telling myself, "My shift doesn't start until 4 in the afternoon." (Talk about carrying over intentions into the dream state -- I really am scheduled to work 4 PM until close today!) I worried for a while about finding Dad to take me home in time for me to get ready for my shift in the afternoon. I hung out in the backroom with my coworker Kay, who was monitoring several computers. At one point, she got worried about something on one of the computer displays. A guy stopped by to take a look, and I talked to him for a bit before realizing he was Jay, the new head manager. I decided to leave, but I made sure to take a walkie-talkie with me since they're tougher to find when I come in for the evening shift.

I remembered that there was another good clothing shop at the far end of the strip mall on this corner, so I started walking towards it. But there was construction work in the parking lot and the construction crew would not let me pass. I crossed the street, thinking I could get past the blockage from that side. Instead of taking me to the other half of the strip mall, the other side of the street took my right to my house, with my (old) car sitting in the driveway. It was a little odd, especially since I was approaching the house from opposite side away from the main street. But I ignored the odd feeling because I was so glad I wouldn't have to find Dad to bring me home now that I had access to my own car.

I went into the house, but instead of the normal interior, there was now the lobby of a large apartment building. There were people meeting there to plan some type of heist. They wanted me to join them. I went up to my room to grab a larger bag and filled it with things we would need to carry out the plot. When I returned to the lobby, the group was being loaded onto buses. We were told that the place was being evacuated because of a bomb threat. I realized as we left the building to get on the bus that we were in the Four Corners parking lot. On the bus, I went through my bag to get the walkie I had grabbed earlier, but instead I found my bag filled with cash. There was a teenage boy sitting in the seat in front of me who noticed the cash, and he asked if I was trying to buy something. I said no, and he turned around to talk to someone else. That's when I realized he was in the middle of a transaction -- the other guy was giving him money in exchange for a small baggie.

The first dream was fairly fuzzy and difficult to recall, even though I woke up right as it ended.

I was traveling by ship with a large group of people. Somewhere, someone came up with an idea: a group of six of us would retreat to an empty room and "disappear" from the ship for a while. We had to be sneaky about grabbing food from the buffet when no one could see us, and there were a few misadventures when I tried to avoid being scene while moving through the ship.

I woke up because of a cramped wrist. After getting settled in a more comfortable position, I fell asleep pretty quickly and had another dream along the same theme as the previous one.

I am at an old job at a grocery store. I am making my way through the produce department on the way to the break room. There's a supervisor walking with me, the same woman who did my orientation when I was first hired. We come across a produce worker who seems to be passed out drunk. We try to check on him, but he pulls out a gun and shoots me. It happens pretty quickly and I don't feel anything other than a slight pinch where the bullet hits me. It seems that I died, because now I am seeing my family trying to move on years after my death. I find out the company covered up my cause of death, making it look like was my fault so my family did not get anything. I am furious. I try to appear to my sister to tell her the truth. It takes a while to convince of my story, but I think she listens. Then she tries to introduce me to a friend of hers who has also had supernatural experiences. I wonder why she's bothering with this when I've just told her something important that she needs to take action on right away. Then I wake up.

I've been off my game for the last few weeks. I've been needing pain medications that I suspect are messing with my REM sleep. I also had my sister staying with me for a while after some guys broke into her place in broad daylight while she was home, which seems to have influenced this dream.

I'm in an unfamiliar room -- it reminds me of the backstage area of a theater -- with several girls. One of them seems to be the leader of the group. She presents me with a bunch of fake IDs and says she has a fake phone number which I can use to check messages online. I check the first fake ID, which is a driver's license from my state, and I notice it looks nothing like the real driver's license. I take my own license out to show her what it's supposed to be like. I wonder if she can even reproduce something that looks realistic enough since they started adding holograms to the real licenses.

While trying to show this girl my license, I follow her down a flight of stairs and find myself in someone's very large mansion. My sister is here, packing up to leave for college. The mansion belongs to a friend's parents, and all of her friends seem to have gathered to here to see her off. My sister and I talk a little bit while we walk through a living room filled with jewelry displays -- nothing fancy, more like costume jewelry. She tells me that she send me a religious medallion in the mail, but I don't remember getting anything in the mail. She then points to a necklace on one of the displays, and it turns out to be the medallion she sent me. I look at it fairly closely, trying to make out the face of the saint, but I can't make out the details.

I need to use the bathroom, but there's no separate bathroom in this house. Instead, there's a toilet sitting out in the open in the marble foyer. I think I can quickly use it and be done before anyone notices, but it seems my digestive system has issues. I end up taking a very long time on the toilet while everyone comes out of the other room, wondering about the noise.

And it's time for my sister to leave. As I exit the mansion through the front door, I find that the main entrance is actually on the second level. It's a long walk down some steps to ground level. To the side is the driveway, which looks more like a small parking lot. Here, my sister is packing things into her car. I start making my way down there, but there are more steps than I realize. As I get down to the ground level, I see my sister driving off. I'm really disappointed that she didn't wait for me to say good-bye.

Then I notice a lot of scruffy-looking men in dirty clothes are hanging around the end of the driveway. One of them growls and approaches me, seeming to be more wild animal than human. They're werewolves! I realize all the friends that where here with me earlier have vanished. I race back up the stairs with the werewolf chasing me. There's a few times I can even feel his teeth as he tries unsuccessfully to bite me.

I make it back to the entrance, but now instead of the mansion's front door, I find an elevator. I jump in and hit any button to get away from here. I'm hoping that I hit the right button to get into the mansion, but instead, I'm taken one level down to servants quarters. But I'm not safe here because apparently the werewolves work in the building! I race through the hallways, trying to find a way back into the living areas of my friend's mansion. Eventually, I run into my friend's mother, who leads me to a staircase and sends me upstairs.

The staircase actually takes me to the foyer of my own house. I also seem to have a Game Boy in my hands that I don't remember picking up. It's about time I got myself to bed, but first, I want to check that the house is locked up for the night. I go to check the front door and find it sitting wide open. Even the screen door is sitting open. Anyone could have come in here while I was distracted, even the werewolves if they followed me home! I rush to shut and lock the door, but there's a problem. The key I normally keep in the deadbolt is gone. In its place is a little bike key which doesn't even fit in the lock. I scramble to get my own key from my purse so I can lock the deadbolt. But I'm worried about what happened to that other key. If the werewolves took it when they sneaked into the house, then I won't be safe here. I debate searching the house for intruders vs. calling the police. Eventually, I decide to make sure the door to the garage is locked and secure before doing anything else. The garage is dark, and I can't see if any werewolf is hiding in there. I shut the door, which still has a key in the deadbolt so I can easily lock it. However, instead of the normal wood door, this door looks more like a heavy freezer door. I start worrying what to do about any werewolves hiding upstairs and wake up.

Failed a WILD attempt today, probably due to lack of focus. But after getting up to move my car, I realized I was still pretty sleepy. I went to lie down for a while and ended up having a DILD instead. However, the lack of focus meant that I forgot about my dream goals and simply went along with the plot.

I walked through a store, trying on shoes. Narrowing my choices down to two pairs of heels, I selected the red pair with the higher heel. I made sure that I had two matching shoes before heading to make my purchase.

I moved onto a different shopping center that had a large outdoor area. After quite a long walk through an outdoor courtyard, I reached the interior. I'm walking down a flight of stairs when I realize that my shoes don't match. The left shoes is the style I picked out, but the right shoe is the style I rejected. I worry about how I'm going to fix this. The best option seems to be to rush back to the other store and exchange one of the shoes. But I don't want them to not take a return because the shoe looks worn. I take off the right shoe, put on a thick sock, and walk off wearing one high-heeled shoe and one sock.

Once I get outside, there's a large crowd that is blocking the exit from the courtyard. I can't seem to get through, but I explain my problem and someone offers to help me. She has a large camper in the parking lot and takes me there. She brings out a chest of drawers from the camper and tells me I can swap my mismatched shoes for a matching pair. I open the first drawer and recognize my own clothes. If these are my clothes, then I must be dreaming. If I'm dreaming, then I'm confident that when I open the next drawer, I'll find my matching shoe. Once I have the shoes I want, I leave with the woman who helped me. She takes me to an apartment in a warm, sunny city. I think it's Miami. I see something odd reflected in a mirror on the closet door. Turning around, I see that there's a small window. Outside the window, I can see large whales swimming down a narrow canal. They don't look like any whales I've ever seen before -- very large with a flat head that doesn't look like it makes them very aerodynamic in the water. Instead of swimming, they move forward by leaping through the air.

I turn away from the window. Near the entrance of the apartment, there is a group of people gathered around a woman. She is a victim of domestic violence and they are trying to clean up her injuries. I notice she has a Nintendo DS in her hand and realize that I have to reset her current game to help her. But when I reach for the console, the others yell at me. They say that I can offer my advice, but I shouldn't reset the game for her. It has to be her choice.

Came up short on sleep today. I went to bed at 11:30, tossed and turned for a while, and woke up at 6:45 thanks to a noisy truck.

I'm selling my car, though I don't seem to want to sell. I take it to a dealership where I am told that the new buyer is waiting. The buyer is a guy named Lennart. In a weird twist, I'm sitting in the driver's seat when Lennart shows up, throws a duffel bag in the back seat, and orders me to drive him to the airport. Without questioning it, I start driving. As I drive away, I hear a shout and look over my right shoulder. Lennart never got in the car! Instead, he is running after the car. I feel sorry for him, especially since his bags are in the car, but I keep driving. I'm not really sure why I keep going. It doesn't feel like I'm in control here. Lennart keeps running until the side of the road drops off into a ravine. Then he loses his footing and falls into the ravine. It's sort of funny to watch. He'll never catch up now.

Woke up around 5:45 AM and decided to try taking a sore throat lozenge with menthol to see if it affected dreams. I also thought about attempting a WILD. However, I ended up dozing off too quickly. Also, the lozenge still hadn't fully dissolved by the time I woke up at 8:15 AM, so I don't think there was enough in my system to make an impact.

I'm home alone, so I think I can strip down to a tank top and panties while walking around the house. While I'm in the kitchen, I hear a noise from the entryway. I'm initially nervous because I'm not expecting anyone. I peek around a corner and see Lady Diana Spencer (from her Shy Di days before getting married). She seems to want to hang out like she's my big sister. I'm a little befuddled for a moment, not sure if I should point out to her that technically, she's dead. She also makes a reference to my upcoming wedding, but I can't remember if I'm engaged or not. I start wondering if maybe she means that I'll be marrying one of Charles's younger brothers. While Di gets comfortable, I am distracted by the sight of my winter boots near the doorway. They look like they've been worn in deep snow, and I feel I need to polish them before they get stained.

I woke up before Diana and I could really get talking. It would have been interesting to see what she had to say.