Dream 85

This was partly a lucid dream, and a very strange one at that. I have previously noted that sometimes when I drink a small amount of alcohol late at night, I am more likely to have a lucid dream, or at least some degree of lucidity within a normal dream, like last night. I drank two glasses of cider and before I went to bed told myself that if I was able to say mentally "I will remember my dreams tonight" 20 times in a row, then I would definitely recall them when I woke. I fell asleep whilst watching the American NBC comedy series My Name is Earl on the internet. The significance of this will be apparent later. Also at this early stage, I would like to note that PS also had a strange dream on the same night - involving, like mine, a threatening dog set to attack him. Earlier today, N was acting strangely and barking/crying - because there was a dog visiting our neighbours on the estate. When the door was opened, N ran out and had a fight with the neighbour's son's dog, which also happened to be outside on the communal driveway.We had to break the fight up, and luckily, neither dog was hurt in any way (the neighbour's dog was a full Rhodesian Ridgeback and twice the size/weight of N, who still managed to pin him down to the ground!)

Anyway, this dream started with me standing in some kind of lounge/living-room (not very memorable, but I do not recall actually looking around the room - the first and only thing I remember, is standing at the window). I was looking out of the window, onto a green garden. Although the room did not seem familiar from what I could see of it from my position at the window, the garden looked like that of my nan PC's, in Sheringham, except the garden was much longer (in real-life, her garden is pretty long for a council house, but it is separated into two halves by a rockery and some fir trees. The grass seemed beautiful, incredibly green. At this point I was not lucid (i.e. aware that I was dreaming). There was a male to my left side, but I am not sure who it was. I did not turn to look at him at all. Suddenly, I saw a grey wolf-like dog running on the grass towards the window. I wondered if it was a dog or a wolf, as I could not tell. It's teeth were barred in a fierce way and it looked ready to attack. The running of the wolf seemed to take ages, as if I was watching in slow motion. I was gripped with panic and fear for what would happen when the wolf (which was huge, and could easily smash a window) reached me at the window. However, the wolf was taking an unfeasibly long time to get down the garden. I realised it was PC's garden - I found myself looking at a section of it (that which is closest to the 'front-room' (strange name for the room, given it looks out at the BACK garden, Nanny!) window which is randomly linked in my memory when I read Hansard reports (online daily reports of the sessions of Parliament, which I read for my legal studies). Whenever I read those, particularly ones relating to rape/child abuse (relevant to my thesis and other topics I write academic articles on) I get an image of this part of PC's garden - which is odd as I have not been to PC's home once since I started this particular strand of my legal education. I was watching the shed wall and the dustbins. I had time to voice my concerns about the wolf to my male companion; he was concerned and fearful too. It seemed like minutes were passing. I looked directly ahead of me, taking my concentration off the brick shed wall and saw the wolf at the window, mouth wide open, showing razor sharp teeth and a massive red tongue. It had very shaggy fur and big hamster cheeks. I screamed. The wold smashed through the window. I saw a cartoon dust cloud and stars and felt a huge blow, which knocked me backwards. I woke up. However, this was a false awakening.

I was then, lying in bed, thinking I had woken from a scary dream. I could see PS lying next to me in his side of the bed. As I thought about the wolf, I looked up to my left and saw the disembodied head of Darnell Turner (played by actor Eddie Steeples) floating above the bed. His head was double the size of a normal human head and was rotating in a clockwise direction. Darnell is a nice character, and I wasn't particularly scared, but I did become aware I was dreaming. I watched Darnell's head for a while. Then I decided to crawl to the bottom of the bed. I got down there and decided to make a phone call. I used my hands (the thumb and pinky sign for a 'telephone' or 'call me' gesture, as demonstrated by the image of Beyonce, below). I wondered if I could make my hand-phone work. The 'phone' rang, and then was answered by a male. I asked if it was EB, but the voice was unclear. I then realised that it was him. We spoke on the 'telephone' for a few moments. I told him that I was calling him using my hand only, but he did not seem to believe me. The conversation was frustrating (note that in the week prior to this dream, EB had messaged me with the phrase 'Stop crying wolf...' in relation to me complaining of feeling sick). I looked up at the corner of the room, by the ceiling. The room was dark, but I saw there were lots of small boxes mounted on the wall. I thought to myself that they looked like the Damien Hurst artwork (below). Suddenly, the boxes started falling down from the wall. I panicked and fell to the floor. I was screaming, lying on the floor next to PS's side of the bed. PS woke up. He leaned over the side of the bed and started shouting at me for screaming and waking him. He was really angry. I thought we might wake up other people in the house because of all the noise we were making. He hauled me up onto the bed by my arm. I was then laying in my side of the bed. I thought I woke up again, but this was a second false awakening. On this false awakening, I found myself laying in bed next to PS, with my left arm above my head, as I sometimes fall asleep in this position. I realised that the false nail of my left pinky finger had fallen off. I assumed this had happened during the 'lucid dream' phase when I found myself on the floor shouting. I thought I would look for the nail in the morning and glue on a new one (when I woke, I had not in fact lost any of my false nails). 

Eddie Steeples aka Darnell Turner (and Harry Munroe) in My Name is Earl

Damien Hurst, Boxes (1998)

The next thing I recall, I was in a room, with a bright light and normal, nondescript furniture. In the corner was a shelving unit, with paper work on the shelves. In front of that was an orange-brown wooden desk and a chair either side. A man entered the room. He was elderly, short and fat, with white hair and a beard. He was wearing a suit and smoking a cigar. He had a red neckerchief or cravat. While I was standing next to the shelves, he came over and removed a bundle of papers, which he placed on the desk. We both took a seat, me on the chair by the wall. He was telling me that if I paid him £50 and signed the papers, he would make sure I got a place at a good university. I signed the papers and paid him.

I was then sitting in a bath of water, positioned in the middle of the same room. There were people standing around the bath. I'm not sure if I was naked or not. PS was leaning on a counter. He told me I was going to get done for fraud because of the deal I had made with the bearded man. I thought to myself that I could rescind on the deal and escape getting punished for committing this fraud, although I wasn't sure what I had done wrong. I received a text message on a mobile phone. It was from EB. It said: "I'm at the Walker's Marathon, come along. Don't bring K-Dog". I thought he meant that he was at a marathon sponsored by Walker's Crisps, but then thought maybe it was a marathon for people who only walked the route instead of running/jogging. I said to JH, who was at the left side of the bath: "Can I have the key back?" (I had lent her my spare key as she had misplaced her own in real-life). She said: "No". I wondered how I could leave the house to go to the marathon if I didn't have a key to lock the door behind me and get back in afterwards. I woke up.