I took a late-afternoon nap today after having slept only four hours last night, and something rare happened: this was one of the few times where I've both remembered major parts of a dream, and had a dream within a dream.*
Can't say that it was pleasant. My "inner" dream involved my brother David, who got mauled by an escalator at an airport while on his way to a flight to Europe or somewhere; I was a helpless witness as my brother's clothes somehow got caught in the machine and he was torn apart. I can only imagine that this scenario has something to do with my having read that article about the poor woman who recently died on the subway tracks in New York City. (Also, the escalator scenario isn't as preposterous as it seems.)
The "outer" dream involved me, David, and my brother Sean: Sean and I saw David's clothing get stuck in the escalator, and we managed to pull him free before anything could happen, then we saw him off as if we hadn't just been through a near-death experience. In the "outer" dream, I told Sean afterward, as we were walking toward the airport's exit, that I'd dreamed this was going to happen. As soon as I confessed this to my little brother, the pain of the imagined loss made me cry-- and when I woke up from this weird experience, I was indeed wracked with sadness and resting on a tear-soaked pillow.
Moral: beware late-afternoon naps. (And for those who don't know me: I don't believe dreams are prophetic. They augur nothing.)
*Since I rarely remember my dreams, it could be that the dreams-within-dreams occur more frequently than I think they do.
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Might be related to your having read about Mrs. Diallo in NYC?
ReplyDeleteDoh! And I see you actually said that.
ReplyDeleteI've had 3 of those lately, all to do with losing teeth. I'm pretty sure it's because my teeth are moving from the braces, and my mind interprets that they're about to crack or fall out.
The day before yesterday I had a dream that my youngest brother died. Although I do not believe that dreams are prophetic, either, there's no denying that they can be very traumatic. Ruined my entire day.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I will be in a sour mood and not know why, and only later in the day will something trigger the memory of a bad dream, and I will realize that the dream played a big part in my mood, even though I did not remember it until then.