Recurring dreams

I have decided to actually write something on my blog for once, rather than posting a picture or music, and I thought what better place to start than dreams.

I have weird dreams- fact.

I once dreamt that everyone I knew where all standing in an empty swimming pool- not doing anything but just standing there quietly. It wasn't a big swimming pool either, it had just been layered with friends. Another time that I was trying to make tea for my friends out of a ridiculously small kettle that wouldn't fill a single mug. Everytime the water had boiled, the water in the mug had gone cold and I had to start again. I've had the standard dreams; me dying, my friends or family dying, falling, flying- the usual.

I also have dreams that feel so real I am never sure if it has happened or not, I got a text in my dream so I will look at my phone to see if they have replied when I wake up, I have carried on conversations from my dreams with the person who I thought I was talking to etc.

But for some reason there have been a few recurring dreams, some I have had since I was very little:

1. Jellybean Mountain
Bizarrely I can remember the night that I first had this dream/nightmare: I was about 7 or 8 and my parents had gone out for a meal with their friends so we had a babysitter. Anyway in this dream there is unsurprisingly a mountain made out of jellybeans. There is no scenery, instead it is surrounded by darkness. In my dream I always started halfway up the mountain- I know I need to get to the top, and I can tell I am upset. I see the scene as the third person, but I feel everything. The panic that is rising, the slippy beans that move like falling rocks when I try to get a decent footing, and the overwhelming urge to cry. I climb fast but it feels like I am getting nowhere. Suddenly giant gummy bears are visible, their sickening yellows and reds towering over me. They then begin to throw candy at me, making me loose my grip. I fall.

2.Locked in
These dreams have only started occurring since going to uni (possibly because it is only at uni when I have ever had locks on my doors?). In this dream I am asleep. But I wake up upon hearing my friends banging on the door asking if I am ok? Do I want to go out? One of them is laughing as they chatter. I go to answer the door except I can't, I can't move my body. I try to shout for help, but my lips don't move. I am starting to struggle to breathe, possibly hyperventilating. I can hear life on the other side of that wooden panel, but I can't get them to hear me. They can't help me. It is usually at this point that I wake up, heart racing, gasping for breath.

3.The Tunnel
In this dream it is more of a sensation than a narrative. I can see lights flickering by, like another train passing in a tunnel, I know I am moving forwards at some speed. I feel enclosed, and a little claustrophobic. I can feel my anxiety growing as the speed at which I am moving increases, the brightness of the lights blurring to grey. I can see the end of the tunnel but I feel sick, we are moving too fast and it feels like we will crash. As we near the end of the tunnel I close my eyes awaiting impact- and I wake.

4.Zombies
The location changes and so do the zombies in their various stages of decay but one thing doesn't: the chase. For some reason my zombies are FAST. They always know where I am hiding. Anyone I am with gets picked off in dramatic style, rendering me solo on my mission to escape the living dead's clutches. My ways of slowing them down are pathetic (Think Nick Frost when he first starts throwing the LP's in Shaun of the Dead). I can only run, hide and hope they don't find me. I know when they find me it's game over. A guy I know once tried to help me with my zombie dreams, he told me to imagine him there with me, and he said he would protect me. He got bitten on the top of his shoulder by a zombie builder as he tried to fend others off with a fire extinguisher. Thanks for trying anyway.

These dreams always make me feel unsettled when I wake up and I want to scold my subconscious for putting me through it. But to be fair- I believe it is my brain's way of training me for when these events do happen (think Groundhog Day/the Source Code). One day i'll get to the top of jelly bean mountain, karate kicking some of those gummy sods on the way.

I don't want everyone to think that all my dreams are negative because usually it is far from it. I have great weird dreams. One of my favourites is when all of my friends are in one giant conga line, me at the front with some maracas, dancing down brightly coloured carnival streets singing 'Las Iguanas' over and over again in some sort of tune. If you ever want to know, come see me and I'll sing you the song and show you the dance. :)