Active Dreaming

I've been stressed, exams are approaching far too quickly for their own good, and I am tired. I should be working on my Japanese final project presentation, but I'm just not ready. It'll happen in due time and before the due date. I know it will. For now I'm just breathing.

Anyway, when I get stressed, I tend to dream alot more, and with a lot more vivid dreams.

Last night's dream included my parents inviting some people to the Opera my brother was playing in, but the invitees had to come up from Texas or some far southern location, a portion of the dream was of them speeding down the highway to arrive to the show on time. None of this included me, for I was on the edge of a narrow cliff in a river valley looking down upon the still, black waters of the river. On the ledge with me were three small children, the oldest no more than 10. Of these children I only knew one, that being Brayden, a child I know in reality. Who knows where the rest of these children came from.

The four of us stood in our swimming gear on the cliff ledge. I was the caretaker, and I knew my mom was further off in the distance with Delaney. We were planning on doing a little bit of diving, but I was having second thoughts. The water was black (but not in a filthy sense, it was just....black) and as a result I couldn't tell how deep it was. I could see rocks protruding from the water near the edge and feared we would injure ourselves jumping in. But before I could stop him Brayden leapt off the ledge and disappeared into the water.

He resurfaced by one of the rocks and yelled out, "OW!".

"Brayden! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, I'm not bleeding." And with that he started swimming to shore. I did not trust him to be okay. Not bleeding is not the same as uninjured. I yelled for him not to move until I came down to check on him, but was already on shore and about to disappear into a cavern that lead back to the ledge. With another urgent yell, I get him to pay attention and not leave. I look into the water nervously. I'm alot bigger than a 7 yr old, and I didn't want to leap into shallow water. With a deep breath I take a running start and jump near the edge of the ledge as possible for maximum distance. I landed a lot further from shore than Brayden and came to be fully submerged in the deep midstream water. And here I got into trouble.

It occured to me just as I came to be fully submerged, the water is deeper farther from shore, but the current is faster too. I found myself caught within the current, fighting to stay in place and inable to surface. After a struggle, I surface, gasping and swim to Brayden where he clung to the very rock he landed by. The water was deep here too, but not so fast. I checked him over for any wounds.

"I didn't get hurt," he claimed, "I was jsut shocked when I hit the rock." An lo and behold, he was completely uninjured. He had broken the plastic on him fin where his heel had struck rock, but he was perfectly fine.

That's the part of the dream I remember most vividly. I cannot remember much of any sensation during the dream, but I do distinctly remember the feel of the current and the drag against my limbs that prevented me from swimming up and out of danger, pressure on all sides with more on one side pushing me with the current.

My dreams are a little too real sometimes.