Looking through the Looking Glass
I'm in my bathroom, knowing that I'm dreaming. I feel very lucky for being exactly where I want to be, and don't waste any time climbing onto the sink: I've got to finish that lucid task. I raise my head and look at the mirror for the first time. I pause. Before me is an image, a landscape...this is definitely not a reflection. I look back and forth from the mirror to the contents of the bathroom, trying to confirm that the two scenes I'm viewing are not in likeness with each other. I relax my body and cock my head. Then it comes to me. I visualized this place once, while reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- This was the garden of The Queen of Hearts.
I press my hands to the mirror with anticipation. Tentatively at first, but then with assured force. I'm actually surprised this time to see that nothing happens. Disappointment contorts my face, and I push harder. Why couldn't I do this, at least once? I'm so angry now- I thrust my body to the mirror, screaming, and beat the glass. I feel close to tears. Why couldn't I do this...at least once.
The garden is beautiful.
Dissatisfying Lucid Abilities
I'm in the trunk of my parents car, with the knowledge that I am not supposed to be there. My father is driving, and my younger sister and brother are in the backseat. The three of them are speaking amicably, and I resolve to stay hidden. Suddenly my brother turns slightly. He reaches in the backseat and I twist about as well as I can, trying to avoid his touch. Just in case he decides to look back, I turn invisible. It takes little effort on my part: All I have to do is visualize the disappearance of my body with my mind's eye. All I have to do is tap into that subconsciously created omniscient view...
My intuition was correct- my brother peers over the back of his seat. He extends his arm into the trunk yet again, and though I'm sure he is unaware of my presence, it seems like he is feeling around for something he knows is back there. It's clear to me that whether he can see me or not, he can still touch me: I regain visibility, and through the same technique I used a short while ago I morph into a small brown puppy. Soon enough his hand rests upon me. He coos when he sees me, and puts me in his lap.
As we rode on, I began to think. I was...unhappy. I had just exhibited great lucid control, not once, but twice, and I was not pleased. I knew why- It was the way I had achieved it. Through my mind's eye, it was like I was imagining all this. It came with a realization that the dream body was indeed not my body, simply another changeable illusion. It felt so much less real.
Where was the enjoyment in that?
Task Failures and Spells Galore
I run up the stairs of the apartment of Dan Li, an asian girl who goes to my school. I rarely know her, but that doesn't matter. I need her help. I burst through her door and find myself standing face to face with the girl I am so sure can save everything. Other than us, the room is empty. 'Dan Li! There's a man in the school...and he's got Rebecca!' Shock runs through her face, and without a second to lose we turn and run. A scene change occurs, and I am in the kitchen area of my school cafeteria.
Perhaps the scene change is what makes me lucid. Dan Li, myself, and a group of other students are searching through the kitchen with mops for weapons. I'm not too frightened at first, and I try to tell myself that the villain will be behind a stove so that I can get this confrontation over with. Though when I get there of course, it isn't so. Suddenly an undercurrent of ominous music begins to play. I'm not stupid, and so I run out of the kitchen as fast as I can. When I throw open the kitchen doors, I see that it is elevated quite a ways off of the ground. I am not afraid, as I know there is no gravity here. I jump, and slowly float to the ground. When I land, the school bathrooms are in my immediate view. Remembering the task, I enter one of them. I push on the first mirror I see, and unfortunately I do not go through. Oh well- I'm not going to waste my time trying.
I walk outside, and wonder what I should do. I nonchalantly look around the parking lot, and unexpectedly my mother is here in her car. Deciding to use the mirror at my house, I run to her. 'Could you take me home?' I ask. She nods, and I get in the car.
We ride for a while, and the quiet is very relaxing. Eventually we cross an abandoned amusement park, and for some reason I begin to think of the spells in the Harry Potter Universe. Hesitantly then, I choose to experiment. I wrap one arm around the frame around the window. 'Wingardium Leviosa!'
In an instant, we rise above the ground. My mother screams, but I am filled with joy! I have never flown, but something this close is simply exhilarating. I find that I am able to control it with my mind, and after a few short minutes in the air, I land us safely on the ground and get out. This experience has left me wanting very badly to fly. I remember what Caradon said, about using telekinesis on my body. The Levitation Charm was simply a way of channeling telekinesis, wasn't it? I repeated the magical phrase, and began to lift in the air...
'Ow!' Something small and fiery hits me in the back, and I fall to the ground. I jump to my feet, and to my amazement the park is inhabited by several children with wands! I’m delighted to see people with whom I can try some spells on, and though I have no wand I run to join them. Immediately a boy jumps in front of me, and with a malicious look he raises his wand. I don’t hesitate, and point my palm towards him: ‘Accio!’ His wand leaps from his hand to mine, and before I can utter another spell he runs away. I look around then and see a boy, keeping to himself. I run up to him. ‘Expelliarmus!’ A white bulb flies from my wand and hits him right in the chest. The boy is thrown backwards, and suddenly I hear someone scream.
There are two more boys a few meters beside me. One is unarmed. The other is encircled in flames, and from those flames he raises a fireball. Pitying the boy who has no weapon, I take it upon myself to protect him. 'Expecto Patronum!' At first nothing happens, and I frantically worry that I have failed. I try to reach him in time, to save him, but I'm too late. The fireball zooms towards the boy, but when it comes within a few feet of him, a transparent, spherical shield becomes slightly visible. The flames die down instantly after coming into contact with it, and I let loose a sigh of relief. The boy I saved gives a quick and grateful look in my direction before running off. The other turns his attention to me.
He grimaces, and flicks his wrist. The flames around him rise into the air, and he swirls his arms in a corresponding motion as they circle above his head, ultimately shooting towards me. I think quickly. ‘Aguamenti!’ A jet of water bursts forth from my wand, and collides directly with the fire. As planned, the fire is doused. I grin, and cast the spell again- this time my enemy is stricken, and is blasted through the air until I can no longer see him. This victory makes me giddy, and I laugh. Shortly after, my mother honks her horn. Reminded once again of the lucid task of the month, I run to the car and we drive away.
Eventually we arrive home. I recognize this as not being my waking life house, but accept it as “home” just as well. As I enter, the first thing I see is a welcome mat. Randomly I use the levitation spell on it, before remembering to go find a mirror. I locate the bathroom then, and I hurriedly put my hands on the mirror. Strangely I can see through it…I pay this oddity no mind, and continue to push. I’m pushing, pushing, when all of the sudden-
‘Oh!’ I’m on my hands and knees, having pressed the mirror so hard that the entire wall has given way. I dust myself off, and get back to my feet.
‘What…have…you…done?!’
My mother stands before me with her hands on her hips. She looks quite mad.
|
|
Bookmarks