Only a Dream?

According to http://www.wikipedia.com/, a dream is a succession of emotions, images, or sounds that the mind experiences during sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of interest and speculation throughout recorded history.

Just about everybody dreams. Most of us can recall dreams from different periods of our lives. Some of us even remember a dream from last night. Dreaming happens different for everyone, though science recognizes it usually occurs during the sleep stage of Rapid Eye Movement, or REM.

I believe, for myself, that when I dream it's my subconsciousness working out things my awake self didn't or couldn't deal with. You might disagree. I've learned that dream interpretation has an enormous berth. Recently, I noticed my daily stress has been rolling into my sleep.

I had a very disturbing dream just last night. The progression of the dream made no sense, yet my dream self knew exactly what I should be doing at all points of the dream. Only it wasn't a dream. It was more like a waking nightmare. I'm not really keen with sharing the details so I'll just give you the dynamics. Someone was dying, I couldn't stop it, and right before the dream should end, the face of the dying person was replaced with someone I'd give my life for. Even worse, the details of this dream really stood out.

All day today I've had this dream in the back of my mind. When I broke it down it was almost humorous! The beads of sweat I so clearly remember, turned out to be some drool. The password for the computer in my dream turned out to be the last thing I was thinking of last night. I also believe I gave my blanket a very awesome back rub. I realize my stresses were just amplified.

Other aspects I've come across are: I normally don't remember dreams and the ones that stand out are the ones that happen right before I awake. Sure I've had a few where I wake up in a sweat in the middle of the night, but those are ones where I don't remember much and I eventually nod back off over a book.

This post is quite relevant to Bryony, because Melissa relives a life that isn't hers during the nights. She is faced with lucid dreams or wild hallucinations. Melissa is unsure whose version of events she's dreaming of or if they are even dreams because they seem so real. Denise's manuscript is full of clues that lead the readers into making their own assumptions as to what happens. If you dream tonight, ask yourself in the morning, "Is it only a dream?"