Dream: The Nickel Left a Mark LUCID

Dream 20031013, 5:00 AM:

This is the only dream of any length that I recall from the entire 10-day trip to Peru. Before this dream, I recorded a brief snippet that seems to be mostly day residue. My memory of it is mostly gone. The notes I wrote were: “I am using a computer to try and get a visa for Ecuador. For some reason it seems it would be easy because we have visited Peru. Much trouble with tick-boxes.”

Then, went back to sleep in that buzzing, gentle way that leads straight from drifting off, to dreamland.

I hit a wall with my right hand, and something across the room falls as if knocked off by the motion. I realize that it was a chain reaction. There are pictures of Mom and Dad in front of me, not really in the room, just kind of a side image; they are like grisailles, all gray-toned. Mom’s picture opens its eyes, which are ivory white and strange looking. I realize that this is not real – I say, out loud, “I’m not asleep!” I amend this, realizing, “No, I AM asleep, I’m dreaming!” I lean in toward a telephone that is sitting on the table, and my face kind of goes through it, as if it’s a hologram.

I am walking through a room, and I have a small white ball, about the size of a tennis ball. I throw it against the wall, which is also white, smooth plaster. It bounces back, and I do this a couple of times, playing catch with myself. In real life, I’m not very good with catching things, and I remark to myself that this might be good practice, doing it in a dream. The ball passes through some dream characters, but they seem like only shadows, not real.

Then, I’m sitting at a table with J from work. There is a penny and a nickel on a white toweling tablecloth. I pick up the two coins, and when I do, the nickel leaves a mark on the cloth, as if it had tarnished and the tarnish rubbed off on the fabric. There’s also an impression of the nickel, as if it had been pressed into the towel with an iron. I look sideways, surprised with the detail. I can see Lincoln’s face (although I still think it’s the nickel, not the penny) and and it says “Christopher” behind the head.

I wake up (for real) to the 5 AM wake up call to get ready for the Backpacker train to Machu Picchu.