Dream I had last night....

[georgethecow]

So last night I got to sleep past midnight and slept till about 6. Then I sort of woke up but was kind of dizzy and couldn't get to sleep until the next thing I knew, the scene changed. All of a sudden, it was my 18th birthday and my parents and I went to some unnamed restaurant to eat. As it turned out, a good friend of mine (we'll call her Michelle) was a waiter there but we didn't really acknowledge knowing each other. So cut forward to the next day, I go there again by myself and walking into these two guys who were talking about how they're going to "shoot it up"...referring to the restaurant. The building was circular, with an entrance on the front and one in the back and a divider putting the building in two parts. So I freaked out and ran into the other side of the building where they wanted to attack. I start telling everybody to leave, and then the next thing I know the door opens and these kids near the door get shot and fall dead instantly. The whole building flies into a panic as everyone around me is getting shot or trying to escape. So I run down a hall, knowing a guy is behind me but thankfully his shot missed. So I ran into a door on the side and I guess he decided there were more targets the other way and left me alone. So I escaped and then thought "Crap, is Michelle ok?" I ran back in and the guys are being detained by police that I called while I was outside. Instantly I turn to my left and my friend is there, and it's the most relieving thing in the world. Then it turns out another friend of mine works there and she's alright as well. So at this point, while I'm extremely happy about my friends being ok but still deeply in shock about the attack, I realize "Wait, this is so a dream..." Then I think I wake up, but not really, and there's this weird period of time where I keep fake waking up and the dream continues on just with the aftermath of the incedent, but I'm totally aware that it's a dream and that I'm "awake" even though I'm not. This isn't the first time this has happened. Once, shortly after some crap happened in the family, I had a dream where I was arguing with yet another good friend of mine who I was losing due to my family drama. I woke up from that one not sure if it had happened or not...it all seems so real. OR even when I was younger, this would happen where I could tell it was a dream and direct it. Also, when a "big dream" like the one last night happens, it just stays on my mind all day. I can't stop thinking about it! So yeah, is this a lucid dream or something else that's going on?

[Burke]

This definitely sounds like a lucid dream. You said out loud in the dream, "this is so a dream..." which combined with you saying you were aware tells me that this was highly likely a lucid dream. It sounds like you woke up from excitement causing you to wake up, only you didn't. This "fake waking up" you kept having is called false awakenings (close ) and they can be pretty common. You can use them to become lucid simply be preforming a reality check whenever you wake up to be sure you actually are awake.