Dream Swim
Adventures in Lucid Dreaming
In a world where people, researchers, die in their sleep, Alex drudges through a familiar loop of work and life, out of balance. Yes, I used my name. Decades ago a million people died in their sleep, and to this day nobody knows why. Intense study and research followed, only to uncover the saddest truth of all; anyone who devotes their life to solving the mystery finds death in their sleep.
Only crazy people research. Who wants to die? What are they all researching? Why would anyone research if the outcome is death? Life meanders through the years with fewer and fewer researchers. Acceptance grew, hysteria settled, and immunity developed. Back to our old lives, our familiar routines with a hint of repressed anxiety and fear. Bliss. Alex certainly isn’t interested in research, until he meets Becky, a researcher.
Book progress: Draft complete. Editing…
In the meantime, here are a few excerpts from the book…
The river splashes far below. Becky follows its path out into the distance where land gradually fades, replaced by a lake or ocean extending out to the horizon.
Becky checks ahead along the bridge, the next mountain grows into view. She checks behind, their previous mountain shrinks into memory. Becky takes a step to the edge, then another into the air.
The train rumbles forward and out of sight, while Becky spreads her arms and legs to catch the wind. She floats like a feather through the air. Where was the train headed?
The river swells with a violent current. Becky tightens her body into a perfect line. Her arms out in front, toes pointed behind, and submerge. Her dress blends into the hazy blue water. A few bubbles point the way as she swims deeper into the expanse and lets the current take her.
The cavern stands exposed, rebellious to the wind. A rock at its entrance, a tooth for the mouth, snow upon its face. Pitch dark inside, a contrast for the outer white, blinding void. Unsure where refuge lies, he stands at its entrance in the haze of gray.
The depth draws him in, darker, methodical steps, and black. How deep does this go? Will I hit a wall? He surveys. Apprehension slows his trek, begs for abandon, but he thrusts on. Time passes, but history, erased.
Smooth red waves flow upon the yellow sky. Becky’s eye catches orange threads as they entangle, then disperse. The horizon up ahead rests upon the rooftop of trees.
Becky’s eyes focus, and black shadows turn to green, lush foliage, as though drawn by a child. Each fluffy, circular display of leaves sprout a thick, long, dark brown anchor to the ground. A silhouette of shrubs sprouts between each tree. A path lost into the depth of the forest.
She looks up at the living sky without a sun. Then circles the horizon of identical trees in all directions but one. And finally Becky looks down at the water. The small ripples betray the forest camouflage, as the river seems to snake through. She follows the ripples back to their source, her canoe.
“Perhaps if I sit?” No, remain standing. The full moon illuminates a trail through the forest of trees. A paddle appears in her right hand, long enough to push the water back, and swim.
Becky propels herself forward along the river. She gains speed with each push of the paddle, too much speed. The paddle’s purpose shifts from acceleration to navigation through the whitewater rapids. The trees to her sides blur into an embossed green wall, as the river drives her towards an opening up ahead. A clear sky awaits.
Becky’s eyes open wide as the river takes a turn downward. She looks up at the moon, her path betrayed. Her canoe tilts at the crest of the waterfall, and descends into free fall. Becky separates from the canoe, and half-turns in the air. She catches the moon’s smile, and goes lucid…
Becky takes a few steps to my side, as though about to encircle me. I turn to stay in front of her, and she whispers, “you can go lucid in any dream, and transform the dream into something else. You can also travel in the dream, maybe even enter the astral plane… But it’s important to be careful. Monsters are everywhere.”
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