26th August 20 - Bowling

I'm standing in a small bowling alley. It's darker than it should be, and there are only a few people around me. I know them all, friends and ex-coworkers. The bowling alley is closed for the public, but open to us. I realise that I'm at a wedding party, and that they have booked the bowling alley for this use alone, though nothing has started up yet. I have been to this bowling alley before, in a dream a few months ago, but right now I just know it feels familiar. There aren't any staff members around and I realise we are waiting on more guests to arrive, I've probably gotten here rather early.

I head outside with my cousin (R), we figure we have time to kill. We get on silvery chrome hoverbikes and head out across the city. It's an old metropolitan area, and I get strong New York vibes from it, lots of metal beams and suspended railways. I've been here before too, in a previous dream, though I only know that the place feels familiar.

We reach a parking lot, it's empty and wide, and surrounded by chain link fences. At one end there are red hoses, and I go over to interact with them. Gasoline starts spraying around the parking lot and after covering a lot of the surface area, I set it on fire. We watch the flames rise high and then slowly die down, leaving little trace of their existence. I knew my cousin would like this place, and he is eager to set some fires of his own. I decide to return to the bowling alley and leave him to it, leaving on the hoverbike.

I reach the bowling alley and the atmosphere inside is dire. There are a lot more people, and they all look subdued. The lights are still dimmed and no machines are turned on. The bride approaches me, she's an ex-coworker (BMac), and she looks disappointed. I realise without her having to say anything that I'm the reason nothing has started yet, they were all waiting for me to arrive. I hastily begin to explain that my cousin and I only nipped out for a few minutes, and that he would be back shortly.

As I say this I scan the crowd of people who are listening in uncomfortably. One of them looks like Aidan Gillen, only his face begins to change as I glance over. His face continues to change until realisation hits me, his face is changing into my cousins. He starts to grin at me, and I notice that his face is incredibly pale, almost as if he's covered in makeup or flour. I turn back to the bride who says 'Your cousin is over there though...' pointing to the man who changed as she says this.

I smile, because I recognise that this makes no sense. 'That's not my cousin, because this is a dream!' I state. And I start to attain lucidity. I can feel my control wavering, my perception of what's happening around me getting spotty. I remember various techniques and start slapping myself on the arms and telling myself  'I'm gaining control'. It works to a degree, and I feel like I start to stabilise. I try to look around and feel myself move twice. Am I waking up? Is my lucidity just me basically daydreaming, and to move is to actually move in real life, waking myself up properly?

I slap myself in the legs and take more control of my situation, I look around and in doing so I feel like I'm sat in a chair in a dark room, sleeping. This makes me struggle to think of a way to solve this problem - can I get lucid and not wake up? I close my eyes and try to center myself. Something clicks and I feel a rush of sensation and vividity like I've never felt in a dream before. I open my eyes and I am fully lucid.

The remaining dream did not last long, and was controlled by myself, and as such I would rather not write it up as it was a bit personal.

15th July 20 - Flask

I’m in a dark room, with a few desktop computers set up. The monitors are on and the towers glow with that lovely chroma set of colours, and there are sleeping bags on the floor, a few of them have people in them. There’s a party on in the house, and I show my step cousin (G) that I have FIFA installed and ready to play on my laptop – which I know will please him. I leave him to it, because I think I’m sort of hosting this house party?

I head into the hallway and realise I’m at my nans old flat. It’s quite busy, and I head into the garden where there are about 40 people all playing hide and seek. The garden isn’t at all large though, so practically the entire border is filled with people avoiding the seekers in the centre. Somehow one of the small trees on the lawn snaps at the base of its trunk, and so I do my best to resolve this. It looks like it had been planted in concrete at first glance, but it seems there’s a grey plastic covering that was on the floor around the trunk. I lift it up to find a perfect square hole around 3 feet deep, with a small pile of wet earth at the centre, upon which rests a pristine silver and gold watering cannister. I place the earth in the canister and get the broken tree inside, but then remember the plastic cover. I thread the tree through that, place it in the cannister and close it all up.

The tree immediately falls to one side, crooked. I leave it. The garden is still incredibly busy and people seem to be having a fun time playing hide and seek, even given the space constraints. I want in, and ask people what the rules are and how to play – are we allowed to go into the house, are you a seeker once you’ve been caught, is it eyes closed? Nobody is really interacting with me though. I spot my dad and at that point I realise that the game is influenced by discord roles. I ask my dad if I have these roles assigned and he’s like ‘yeah of course’. I don’t though, so I press him further, and he continues to insist that I do until I spot the roles on another person (just floating above them) and ask about them specifically. My dad finally admits I didn’t have them, and reluctantly assigns them to me.

I still don’t know the rules to the game, but I hurry to the border like everyone else as the round starts. An elderly man hobbles towards me, arms outstretched and pupils white (the discord role effect?). I don’t know if I’m allowed to move or not, so I plant my feet and do my best to dodge his clumsy gropes. I manage to avoid consecutive attempts to grab me, and it’s clear that he can hear me moving as I’m hitting the bush next to me and breathing hard with the exertion. Several other hiders watch on appreciatively and I feel somewhat proud. The elderly man is finding this humorous at least, and eventually gives up and the round seems to end.

I still don’t know how this game is meant to be played so I decide to leave them to it and fix myself an alcoholic drink. I procure a weird green vase/flask thing that does not seem suitable as a drinking implement, but I start pouring in vodka and some sort of fruit juice regardless |Sex Education (Netflix) reference here|. One of the partygoers comes over as I’m doing so and decides to tell me just how wrong I’m making this drink. I ignore them, taste it, am happy with the taste. Another partygoer comes over to tell me that my drink looks nice.