Thread: hey :) nice site. here's an old LD i had, one of my faves.

the first thing i remember is snow. not white powdery winter stuff, i mean the television kind- CRT static, rapidly moving random white and black dots. they weren't on a screen, they were simply everywhere. i looked around, left, right, up....i was surrounded. that's when i realized i was floating. i didn't feel like i was floating though, it felt more like i was standing on the ground, except when i looked down at my feet, past my jeans and white sneakers, which were basically silhouetted against the white noise backdrop, i saw only more snow, and realized i must be dreaming- this was truly impossible. i upturned my palm, and inspected the familiar lines. i was me, but i was breaking some new ground here. i turned my attention back to the snow, and either my mind starting forming patterns in the dots, as most people's will eventually while staring at TV fuzz (yes i've tried), or they actually started moving in swirling patterns. regardless- the end result is the same. it occured to me that since i didn't seem to be touching anything i must be floating. i started to wonder what the boundaries of the space i was occupying were. i had no perspective to judge anything by. could i touch anything? i reached out with my right hand to feel for something, and the tip of my outstretched fingers touched something flexible, like a rubber membrane. as soon as my fingers made contact, a ripple went through the snow, followed by ever-smaller ripples- like a pebble might make thrown into a glassy lake. from the perspective of the ripples. i realized i had touched a vertical plane- a wall. i watched the ripples as they diminished in size traveling away from me, and it was then that i realized i was descending.

concentrating on what was below me, i saw the fuzz dots increasing in size, slowly at first and then faster, and i realized they were forming into coherent shapes. it became evident that i was descending toward an immense field completely covered by thousands upon thousands of figures doing battle- i was falling into the middle of a battlefield. the coherent shapes continued clarifying until i could see individuals- massive grey-skinned bipedal rhinocerous-men looking beasts, in varying forms of full medieval armor, carrying myriad weapons and shields, bloody and menacing, locked in mortal combat. it was at this point that i realized i had no wish to touch down in the middle of this ferocious scene. summoning control, i gestured with an open hand at the snow above me, and willed the dots to become a vast swarm of mosquitos, and swinging my hand commandingly downward, pointed to the field of battle. instantly my swarm of fist-sized mosquitos obeyed, and descended in numbers dwarfing even those of the combatants below. they attacked in a wave of ferocity and literally drove them from the field, before me and to my left, far into the distance. as they disappeared from view i settled easily to the ground. fascinated, i stood watching all the other participants receding from view in the distance, and i was again alone.

then i realized someone was watching me. i wheeled abrubtly about, and not 50 feet behind me stood a massive stone cliff, rising out of sight above me. at the base of the cliff, in a crude opening that showed only black beyond, stood an old man, in a white robe, with a white staff. he said nothing, but beckoned me toward him with a hand gesture. i complied, walking over to him. he had a weathered face and a long grey beard, and he fixed me with his stare while i crossed the distance. it was obvious to me this was a wizard, and somehow i knew he meant me no harm. when i was a few steps away, he turned and entered the opening in the mountain, and i followed him. his staff glowed dully, and the passage was tight enough that two men could not walk by each other without turning. i could have trailed my hands along both rough-hewn stone walls. the passage twisted and turned, but never branched off; it was completely black beyond the reaches of the small light from the head of the wizard's staff. he seemed to be hurrying (for an old man) and looking for something in particular; but i couldn't imagine what i could be. at one point in the tunnel he slowed and suddenly stopped. regarding the wall for a moment, he mumbled something unrecognizable under his breath and gestured with his right hand in a counterclockwise circular motion, inches from the tunnel wall. in a moment, tiny points of light began swirling in the dark surface of the rock, as if he was stirring them with his hand. they increased in brightness and were joined by more until finally it seemed the rock dematerialized, and there was a portal through which i was staring into space. the wizard stopped his motion, and the portal grew in size until it was a rough circle as tall as the tunnel. he still had not spoken a word to me. he regarded me thoughtfully and inclined his head toward the portal, through which i could see stars in the way one sees stars on a clear night far in the country, away from man-made light. it was quite clear that the choice to enter the portal was entirely mine.

i only thought momentarily, and stepped through. instantly i was surrounded by a swirling mass of colors and the feeling of rushing at immense speed. the sensation was entirely overwhelming; i thought i was going to be physically sick. i started to black out, and the colors flying by me melded into a white light so blinding i had to shut my eyes to block it out. then i realized something was changed. the feeling of movement had stopped. the blinding light felt like warm sun on my face.

i realized i was on one knee, my right hand touching....sand....the crook of my left elbow shielding my eyes. i relaxed, and opened my eyes, standing up. i smelled salt air, and saw cat tails and tall grass growing on the slope i occupied. i was facing a beach, some kind of inlet, or bay. i could see mountains on the other side. the sun was high in the sky, but my attention was drawn to the water. sunlight reflected off the peaks of the ripples, the way it does, and i felt like i should be looking for something...but what? i asked myself what i should see, what was it, why did i come here? and the answer that came to me was the name of an ex-girlfriend (a very good friend now). i'd come here to see her. just as the thought formed in my mind, in the exact spot i was staring at in the water, a huge blue whale crested, rolling over backwards, slipping impossibly gracefully back into the water, black tail fins glistening as they disappeared.

and i realized everything in the world was as it should be.

i can't remember ever waking up more refreshed than i did that morning.