Dreaming in Digital

I've forgotten most of my dream, but I sat beside my Cookie's sister in a cinema, waiting for the movie to begin. I've baked muffins and gave a box of them to her uncle, who was offering them to our group - the cousins. They were chocolate flavoured, and I couldn't remember if I baked them with eggs and milk. I was warning the vegans of the family.

I had two dreams that connected during a nap. When I woke up from the first half, I was scared, but I couldn't leave the dream without an ending.

My husband and I lived in the countryside, and we've become good friends with our neighbours. They were a family of four with two dogs - two black and white French bulldogs. The wife was beautiful with blond hair cut short to her shoulders, and her husband had dark, ash blond hair ¹. They had two children - a son and a younger daughter. When I visited, it was near the end of autumn. It was still light out, and the children had arrived from school. It was extremely windy this day, and my long hair and knee-length, blue dotted skirt would fly about as I knocked on their glass, back door. I was let in by the husband, who was around his late 30s, into their kitchen. The walls were white, and brighter with the sun's light. The counter tops were wooden in a walnut finish.

The children put their empty lunch bags on the kitchen island, as the mother started on dinner. They were a warm, loving couple. The kitchen slowly grew darker, as clouds covered the sun, and the wind became stronger. Soon, it was dark, even though it was only late in the afternoon. I had a bad feeling about what was about to happen, and when I looked at the parents, they were quite alert as well. The children ran into the kitchen, scared too. We heard the wind swirl outside, saying something in a low voice, and soon the back door shattered. The wind came in like a miniature tornado, as if taking slow, arrogant steps.

Something dark and oozing began covering the crème tiled floor, so we all ran high into the house, into the little girl's bedroom, closing the door behind us. The ooze followed us quickly, seeping under the door, and we all stood on the bed, as if it were a boat. I tried to grab one of the dogs and lift him up on the bed, but he was heavy, and as soon as the ooze wrapped a slimy tendril around his leg, he was yanked from my grip. Before I fell in, the father grabbed me, pulling me to safety. We watched the dogs melt into the darkness, their yelps becoming angry growls, and their bodies transforming into dog-shaped sludge.

I thought we'd all die, or worse, be covered in this filth and become some kind of monster. Thoughts flew though my mind: would we become something like zombies, where we'd transfer this disease to others and convert them into a being like us? Would we take over the world, and would human-kind become extinct? I wondered about my husband, and cried in my head for him to come save us.

We all heard a loud bang from the door, soon followed by a large axe shattering it open. It was my husband (not Cookie, though), and as soon as he saw me, he smirked cockily, but reassuringly. My heart stopped for a second, thinking 'that was the sexiest smile I've ever seen' ². He slashed through the dogs in a quick swipe, then dragged his axe on the floor, creating a clean path from the bed to the door. He reached a hand for me, and I hastily took it.

-----

¹ The parents looked very much like the parents from Kyle XY.

² Please, no. No. No. Darius from League of Legends. I can't remember the face anymore, but he was the first one I thought of when I woke up. Please, brain. Don't do this.

The lights were off in the small, dark hotel room Talon (from League of Legends) and I silently waited in. The wind rattled the window blinds that filtered the moon's light onto the carpeted floor. We were waiting for some kind of instruction, or maybe a target, because he waited beside the open window, out of the moon's reach, and staring into the darkness. I vaguely remember lying on the bed with a maroon blanket, and another time where I tried to pull his hood down, but he pushed me away in annoyance.

*****

I was lazing on a lawn chair on the balcony of our apartment that looked much like my childhood apartment of 9L. Wearing sunglasses, a white t-shirt and short-shorts I made from a pair of my husband's shredded, old jeans, I enjoyed the morning sunshine, reading "Crossed" by Ally Condie. Once in a while, I'd look around, taking in the suburban view when I noticed a man in his 20s sitting in his balcony from an apartment across our own. Sitting beside a woman around his age, he was eyeing me, a big grin curving his mouth. We made eye contact, so I waved to him, and he cocked an eyebrow arrogantly. As soon as his female friend handed him something that looked much like binoculars, I realized I was lying about with my knees bent and my legs wide open. I knew these homemade shorts revealed my underwear, but I didn't realize I would sit down in that particular position (it's a regular position I fall into). I quickly went inside, embarrassed, bumping into the black sofa in our living room.

*****

Perhaps this part was another dream. Inside my apartment, there were clothes hanging on racks, as if it were a store. I thought about trying some of them sometime, as made a bee line to the washroom, which became a public one with grey stalls. Someone knocked on my stall door, and the voice of an old lady told me to hurry in a rude manner because they were closing. Offended, I thought about cancelling their contract of using my home as their store, but I figured it wouldn't be a good idea, because they contributed to the rent, significantly making ours much, much cheaper. When I was finished, I walked out of the washroom, and the store was run by a handful of old, wrinkly, grey-haired ladies, who pushed me out the door before I could tell them, "I live here!". Regardless, I was dressed in a long, navy, wool coat, and my beautiful taupe boots, that I walked out into a hallway, ready to go out into the winter cold.

For some reason, Cookie, a few friends, and I were spending the night at Cookie's mother's house. I've forgotten most of what happened, but I remember three main events.

The first was with Shortbread and Wafer. Shortbread was asking me what the furniture was like on the backyard deck, because we saw chairs made of weaved material - some kind of tree. I told her my in-laws had two sunbathing chairs and four arm chairs made of the same materials and in the same weaved style. She was surprised there were weaved sunbathing chairs, but she didn't reject their existence.

Some time passed and we went to the backyard, where Shortbread commented on the sunbathing chairs. Although it was day time, we acted as though it was time to get ready for bed. Wafer disappeared, and Shortbread pulled out a denim blanket, sinking into a depressing mood. She told me about her cat, Pika, whose health had fallen, and the time to put her to sleep was approaching soon. She had scissors with her, and began weeping as she cut up the blanket to make a smaller one, so she could wrap Pika and bury her in it. I watched as she flipped the blanket over, finding a square pattern in the centre, and decided on cutting out the square instead. I had an arm around her the whole time, not sure how to share my support.

After everyone had gone home, and Cookie and I were packing our things in the lobby. Cookie's mom was at the house, and I was fully aware that it was November 29th - Cookie's stepdad's birthday. I was shy to talk to Cookie's mom, and when his stepdad came downstairs, we said our goodbyes and went out the door. I didn't greet him for his birthday because I was too shy.

I was swimming under the sunshine with my friends, some of my family, and Cookie. For sure, Biscotti and Lychee were there, so was my aunt Cougar, Tiger and Lion's families. There were many of us - at least ten, so we began to play a game similar to Marco Polo, except everyone had to be on land, while the two people that were 'It' had to be in the water with their eyes closed. We were playing this near the shore, where the water reached up to my neck. Everyone else stood on these little islands that floated and were solid. Someone else was calling Marco with me - I think it was my husband. I was successful at times, despite not being able to swim in the deep end. I caught Lychee, and I heard Biscotti laugh and scuttle. I caught Cougar's feet, but she pretended she didn't know she was it. Once that happened, the game faded, and so did this dream.

I was watching John Diggle (from the show Arrow) visit some friends, who lived in a court-like street, in the suburbs. It was the same house from one of my past dreams, and it was autumn, right after summer had left. I watched him knock at the wooden gate, and be greeted by old friends who invited him into the backyard. There was a greying father, mother, and their daughter ,who looked about her twenties. My dream followed him in, and he sat around a square table, being served pumpkin pie. He said he absolutely adored it. After eating, he left, and I met the Arrow outside the gate. It wasn't a warm, holiday setting anymore because the place faded from an illusion and the world became the inside of a dark warehouse. The table and food was still there, and so were the people. Arrow and those people talked, and they mentioned Diggle's name. Arrow was startled that they knew Diggle, and the people revealed they wanted to make Arrow suffer as much as they could. There was a prize for who could make him suffer most, and the daughter pulled out Laurel from a tent behind her. Laurel screamed, and the father pulled out a camera and shot pictures. The father said they'd win the contest this year at a convention that was coming up this year.

I had two dreams that were related.

I was at an event with my parents at my family church. Even though the location's space was smaller, there were still the same amount of visitors. They had a guest speaker today, and because I arrived late, I had to operate the projector via a computer. During the sermon, the speaker called for those who lived east of a certain city. My mother called me over, and as I walked, everyone's eyes were on me. She told me to join the group kneeling pm the carpet at the front. One of the church's older members, and another child member were kneeling, so it seemed like a game to me. I knelt with them, my head fully on the carpet before me, and wrapped my arms around it, covering my sight. I heard a tinge of my favourite song in the background, and as I heard more, I realized it was Rev Theory's "Far From Over" playing, muffled through the walls. Worried, I left my ipod touch playing, I got up (and I woke up from this dream).

*** *** ***

Lying in bed at my husband's and my apartment, I heard "Far From Over" through the walls. The song changed quickly before the guitar riff began, but I still had to find its source. I wanted to give whoever it was with the music something, so they'd play it. I followed my ears to the balcony. Down below, on the street, a group of boys were dancing to rock music. The doors squeaked as I opened them, and they heard me. One of the boys had a boom box on his shoulder, and he waved to me and I waved back. I rushed to get ready and watch them on this grey, winter day.

Cookie and I were getting married, and so was my cousin. We were invited to have our weddings at an old, massive manor house. We had a lot of events that happened. One was a dinner where our families met and ate and chatted. There was also some strange bridal traditions, such as covering me in butter. I don't remember the dream very well anymore.