Dream Journal #6

I'm not sure how I managed to remember this. I'm pretty sure I went back to sleep afterwards, but I really thought this was worth keeping and so rehearsed it quite a bit before dropping off again. Apparently it worked.

28 March—29 March

Some ambiguous school friends and I were hanging out in a normal house, with sort of an old-person feel to it. It wasn't well lit, mostly by desk lamps, and the carpet was light. At some point we left the house, going along a path of worn, rectangular stepping-stones across the front lawn and onto the road. It was dark, probably a bit before dawn. No streetlights were on.

I'm not sure what happened, but we scattered. It seemed like a game at first, as I ran through the dark cul-de-sac, but at some point I found myself rather frightened and hiding at the front porch of someone's house. I couldn't see if I was that hidden, so I got a bit of light from my mobile phone before quickly putting it away. Still, the others—I'm not sure who in particular, or even if they were still my school friends—found me and tried to take me away. They grabbed my arms, but I managed to wrench myself away (this kind of thing happened quite often in the dream).

I ran away harder. It started to become lighter as I reached some sort of hotel. In an attempt to stop the others from following me, I ran straight across the edge of a large, blocky swimming pool, a sharp-edged hole in the otherwise undecorated concrete. I managed not to slip, and three boys that had been following me, one of which was Caleb*, came to a stop at the edges of the pool and argued with each other.

Still running as hard as I could and knowing I was still pursued, I went through the actual hotel and ended up in an indoor shopping mall. After some time of running across the main floor, I ended up going in a "store" that was really a type of popular shooting game, akin to laser tag. With no time to lose, I kept running through, dodging the crowd. I almost ran into a girl, donning the game's white, mecha-like costume, on the way back out and apologised to her for it.

After going across the main floor of the mall for a bit longer, I ended up underneath the building. There was a series of criss-crossing, otherwise deserted hallways on different levels that seemed very much like hotel hallways. The carpets were a bit darker than mint green, and there were few doors, only near places the hallways bent. Somehow Amelia had managed to almost catch up with me as I ran here. She caught me by my long skirt, and I couldn't quite get away. Crying, she begged me to stop running. I told her I couldn't do that, but also that it wasn't because I hated her. I couldn't convince her, but we did emotionally hug before I escaped and fled to the main mall.

Not feeling safe enough in the open area of the mall, I ended up running through stores in my attempts to dissuade my constant pursuers. I seemed to have lost them in some trendy but sparsely-stocked clothing and accessory store before I ran into another store. It was quite large, with two columns of various recliners spaced some distance from each other and extending back for a while. As I entered, a man in a coaching uniform who worked there asked if my shoes (which were my normal navy, undecorated walking shoes) were for the [city removed] team. I told him that they weren't, but my father coached at the school (which is true). With a grin, the man revealed he actually was my father and shook my hand, saying no one had complimented him like that before. He asked me what I was doing at the mall here, and I quickly thought to tell him some school friends and I were playing the popular shooting game.

Dad was fine with that, and I left the store, running from the pursuers again. At occassions they caught up and grabbed my arms; I managed to get away every time. We went through all types of stores, none of which I remember well, before I finally lost them. Wanting a break, I ran until I saw the front of my favourite bookstore chain. Although I knew it was terribly predictable and the others could try to look for me here, I entered anyway. Passing some typical displays of children's books, I realised how badly I had to use the restroom and looked at ceiling signs to find one. One sign pointed to a sort of atrium area, which included a rock wall (as in, a slab of grey rock in the gap between escalators that reached to the next floor) and various displays of small, square pieces of speckled soap.

Unable to find the restroom, I went to the second floor hoping for it there. Not far from the escalator sat one of the moderators of the improv contest I had the evening before (in real life). I knew he was one of the people after me, but I decided it was time to stop running. He seemed rather shocked and unsure how exactly to react to me just standing there watching him. As we were at some sort of video game station (consisting of a large, wooden box), he invited me to play with him and another girl, who had been sitting there with him. I agreed to it but asked where the bathroom was, hoping he wouldn't think I was just trying to get away again. He directed me towards them, but warned me the women's were a lot worse than the men's, with a score of 7-0. I tried to pull up the back of my jeans (apparently I was no longer wearing the skirt from the rest of the dream) but was unsuccessful and instead pulled my shirt down before hurrying towards the restroom.

*Caleb is a school friend, though we don't see each other much. We both went steampunk for Halloween, though, so that was cool.

Wow, this was a dream of rather epic proportions. And surprisingly consistent, as far as dreams go. I wonder if it actually meant something.