*
Have you ever dreamed vividly of a person you’ve never encountered in your life? I have, and it’s so strange to wake up and realize the person you’ve spent time with in the dream doesn’t exist.
Last night I drifted off and found myself on a winter automobile journey with a friend. I think we may have been driving through the north-central States, but, it’s hard to say. The landscape of dreams has no map. We ended up having to park the car - I think we decided it didn’t work anymore. We each sat in the front seat debating if we were within 9 feet of the stop sign or not. (One gets a parking ticket if one is too close to the sign.) This went on for sometime…My friend then mysteriously evaporated from the dream, and a tall police officer with shaved sideburns suddenly appeared and kindly said, “That’s perfect. That’s nine feet exactly.” From there, we struck up a conversation, and he offered to drive me into town (my friend and I had left the car in a campground or state park…). We talked all the way there, and we developed a real fondness for each other. I asked him if he had any kids, and he said “Two”; he seemed otherwise reluctant to talk any more about his family. He drove to the local ski resort/chalet, and we spent the evening sitting on bleachers (BLEACHERS??), drinking champagne and watching a spectacle of some sort. I don’t remember much after that, but, when I woke up this morning, I missed Bob. (His name was Robert, but he went by “Bob”.) Funny, eh? I pictured him so vividly in my dream, but I don’t think there is anyone in this world who could match his description.
This isn’t the first time I’ve created people in my dreams like this, and I’m sure it happens to everyone. It seems odd, though, to have met so many wonderful people this way. And it’s odd that these folks seem almost more real than some of the people I know in my waking life.
If this post makes me sound like I’m the kind of oddball who talks to 6-foot rabbits all day, I actually don’t. But if I met a big rabbit in my dreams, I’m sure we could chat for hours and have a grand ol’ time.
Posted on August 29, 2002 10:15 AM