Shriya Week 15: I Had a Dream

Today, I would like to share with you all a really vivid memory of a dream I had about four years ago. 

I would like to preface by saying that this isn’t a nightmare. Nor is it my most absurd dream on any scale whatsoever. I just seem to remember it for no reason at all.

This dream I am talking about was set in the middle of the woods, and it featured me, my sister, and our parents, which is unusual since my dreams typically star random people whom I’ve only met a few times in my life. The location wasn’t any forest, though; the scenery was distorted and somewhat cartoon-like. 

The objects around me were not real objects but polygons that formed shapes of those objects: trees were green triangles with a brown rectangle supporting each one’s base, and the sky looked like the blue inside of a hollow sphere. And as for the ground, it was a trampoline—a real one that was bouncy and everything.

I remember that it was a happy dream, full of exhilaration and without a hint of fear or tension (common characteristics of the dreams I often remember). At one point, all of us stick figures were giddily skipping through the forest when we found ourselves in front of a fun house (think Mickey Mouse) shaped like a yellow rain boot with red polka dots. 

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Without a second thought, we stepped inside and were astounded. Everywhere, there were distorted mirrors, the kind you only ever see at amusement parks. And, all of a sudden, the floor disappeared. In the blink of an eye, it just *poof * went away. After that, everything spun. All of us, all the furniture and mirrors and everything, spun, like some sort of hamster wheel. But just as we began spinning, the dream broke and I awoke.

Usually, I don’t remember my dreams 30 seconds past waking up. This may sound weird or relatable based on your experience with dreaming, but it is explained by this article I recently came across which shares that when dreaming happens, which is during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the parts of our brain that transfer our memories into long-term storage are relatively inactive. So, my usual lack of memory of my dreams makes sense. 

But I don’t completely understand why I specifically remember this absurd one with distorted shapes that was nothing like a nightmare; to be honest, it was even a little enjoyable.

I would love to hear from you all about dreams that have made a space for themselves in your memory, or any other thoughts you would like to share!

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