Because, sometimes, the most interesting things happen when your eyes are closed...

...I really don't know what this says about me, but THIS, quite seriously, is often what my nights are like.

Dream from October 10, 2007

I am on some kind of large, ocean going ship, originally military in function. It has been a long time since it has seen service, however, it is permanently docked in a big city harbor, with all kinds of decking and shops and such built up against it, strings of lights hung from it to the shore, the whole touristy dock/marina thing. There happens to be a huge party on board at the moment, tons of drunk, happy people, balloons, streamers, people in tuxes and evening gowns, etc. Feels like new years. It seems most of the party goers are spending the night on the ship. Early the next morning, the engines start up, suddenly, and in minutes, the ship starts moving and pulls away from the dock, destroying all the built-up decking with great commotion, and heads out of the bay onto a river. Myself, and many others, wake up to this – but it is too late to disembark. It is a military ship again, apparently, with a commander, and officers in uniform, and a contingent of soldiers moving about the halls. It seems the civilians on board are pressed into crew jobs. Later, somewhere down this extraordinarily deep, wide river, the ship pulls over to the shore, and a bunch of civilians, with a few troops, go ashore to “gather supplies” Its just a big, grassy hill – there is no port here.
On the ship, we can see something huge approaching, fast, UNDER the surface of the river. It is some kind of submarine, but, it seems, one constructed entirely of green, leafy underwater plants. Smaller craft accompany it, and we can see their riders – who can only be described as “Algae people” – they are also green and leafy. The huge ship, with all its escorts, passes rapidly underneath our moored boat, and continues down the river. There is a feeling of relief, because they have passed us without any appearance of hostile intent. However, moments after their passing, a small, green, vine-y missile hurtles back from that direction. It strikes the shore, and, rather than exploding, grows instantly into a giant, killer tree with long vine arms that begins attacking the people on the shore.

I am immediately in another part of the ship – either a tower of some sort that rises very high above the deck, or the ship has the capacity for flight and has taken off, because I am in a narrow, metal, windowed hallway (Rather like the inside of a bus) and it is high in the air and wind is rushing past. There is metal emergency door/airlock at the far end, and a small red robot has punched its way through, and is bending back the metal, attempting to get inside. This is where the rushing wind is coming from. I attempt to block its path, and struggle with it. I find some heavy object, like a fire-extinguisher, and bash the thing repeatedly until it falls out the opening and disappears, sucked away by the wind. I am braced in the opening to avoid being sucked out myself. I look to one side and see a large, powerful-looking shotgun mounted on the wall next to the door, above a sign reading “In case of emergency”. I think that would have been useful a minute ago, but I leave it where it is and head back into the ship.



Dream from a week before this:


I am arriving in a mid-sized town in a valley with mountains on all sides. Normal town, with rows of houses and a few shops on the main road. There is large group of people gathering, with luggage, at the gas station. Buses are unloading. We are waiting for something. I have the sense that we have been drafted, or recruited, as soldiers, but we have not been trained or equipped yet. Perhaps we are awaiting transport to training camp. The atmosphere is light, there is laughing and horsing around, people’s families are there to see them off, like kids leaving for another year of college.
Myself and a few others leave this crowd and go further into the town, which seems deserted. Someone shouts. I look up to the surrounding mountains. Up on a hill, not very far off, is a stone fortress. At that moment, a creature, like a large metal-scaled lizard- with massive, steel-sharp front claws and no back legs at all- is climbing over the fortress walls. Several more of these things can be seen moving rapidly over the surrounding mountains. They are approaching very fast, and dead silent. We realize that we are under attack. There is a sense that we are expected to stay and fight , but we have no weapons, and I seem to know we have no chance against this particular enemy. We turn and run, back the way we came, as fast as we possibly can. We ought to warn the others, but the creatures are on us too quickly. Suddenly I am running alone – the others have either run off in other directions, or have been cut down. I run right past the crowd at the gas station – I don’t recall if I say anything to them, but they’ll see it themselves soon enough. I am making for a huge wall at the edge of town. It may be a natural mountain ridge, with a large, hi-tech steel door leading to a tunnel through the mountain. The door is closing. I know we are being cut off – abandoned by our own, left to the mercy of the lizards. I slip through the door just before it closes. I am in an elaborate shiny steel chamber of flashing lights and machinery. Running extremely fast, ducking and dodging, I somehow evade several automated security systems (hey, its my dream – I can have super-powers if I want to) Surprised guards run out, but I am already through the tunnel, and out the other side, into another town.

Later, it is night. I have escaped pursuit, and am hiding in the basement of a building with several other people – perhaps other “deserters” or refugees. They are afraid of being found by the army or by the people of the town – but again, this town feels deserted, too, except for uniformed army patrols. We also know the attack will most likely come here soon, and want to get out before it does. (It is also possible we have some other, secret mission, not directly related to the battle at hand. That would be supplying a less cowardly motive, at least.) We eventually sneak above ground, moving from building to building. The town is full of small patrols of soldiers, but these ones actually have uniforms and are heavily armed. We are hiding in a very small building – open-air- almost like a picnic shelter – a soldier spots us and yells – but right at that moment, the metal lizards attack. The soldier turns and fires, but is seized and swept away by the creature as it swoops past. We crouch in the shelter as all around us soldiers are yelling and firing, but they are quickly and effortlessly cut down by the lizards.

Another dream from the same week:

In a huge complex of some kind, in a gigantic arena with many balconies. Myself and several others are on of these. We are prisoners, and I understand we are on trial, awaiting execution. There is some confusion, some unforeseen calamity, and we escape, and are separated, running and hiding throughout the complex. We are all making for a secret, pre-arranged rendezvous point. I am with a thin woman with shorter, straight, dark hair. During one of the pauses in all the sneaking around, we end up kissing, briefly. ( I ‘d like to stress that this is not at all someone I presently know) We are immediately embarrassed by this, both by its occurrence, and by the fact that, at that precise moment, the rest of our party finds us. There is some kind of secret entrance, which appears as a solid wall but can be passed through, as though a hologram. We realize that our friends witnessed the entire scene, but that awkwardness is swallowed up in relief at re-uniting with the others. The mood is jovial, belying the apparently life-and-death circumstances. We all pass through the hidden door into the room our friends have been hiding in, and will apparently be waiting there for some time, for some opportunity to come. At any rate, there is a sense of having some sort of a plan (Sounds familiar…)

It is later. An exterior. A large, helicopter-esque hovering craft, all searchlights and sweeping sensors, is just outside our hiding spot. A screen inside shows an infrared scan of the room, with little orange-red blotches that would appear to be the sleeping forms of our little group. Calls are made, silently. Black-clad riot cops burst in.
But the scene shifts to our party escaping out a window, in a completely different part of the complex, and onto the roof…
(We have somehow tricked them – rigged bundles of clothes to emit heat, or some such thing)


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attempts at analysis and interpretation are welcome. Though, the most likely conclusion is simply that I have watched too many of the wrong sort of movie....