Dreams

10 participants

This term, our theme is 'Dreams'. To kick off the first session, we all shared a dream/ambition for our writing, and then we got going with a free write about what it feels like to be in a dream - thinking about colours, sounds, textures, lighting, how time moves, how place moves/changes, who is in dreams, recurring dreams, how real they feel.

Lawrence wrote this beautiful and powerful dream poem from the exercise:

What does it feel like to be in a dream?

Weightless comprehension; familiar scenes without the ailments.

For some reason, I never dream from a wheelchair-eye view,

but never wake wishing my life was different.

My most recurring dream is losing a tooth.

It’s even gotten to the point my dream-self says ‘This time it must be real,

even using his tongue to probe the new crevice in my gum

Before my stomach swings upward, my eyes open, and I’m back counting teeth.

I’ can’t sleep in pitch-black anymore, not since those postoperative-days -

when nerve pain kept me awake so long I began naming my bedroom shadows.

Next, we read three extracts about dreamers in novels, from Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland and the opening of Rebecca. Inspired by this, the writers worked on their only short story about a character waking from a dream. Here is Charlotte's atmospheric piece:

I stroll out to the bannister. The smell of salt is overwhelming and taking over all of my senses without a second thought. I’ve never felt sea sick before; and after twelve years at sea you’d think I’d be used to it. Somehow however, the whole situation was causing me to go green at the gills and weak at the knees.

The whole picture in front of me, I now noticed, was at an angle. No wonder I was a bit all over the place! One side of me was tilted downwards towards the ocean that was now facing me, with the other tilting my body upwards. I was trying my hardest to stay upright but with the angle becoming more and more off balance, I was loosing my grip with my feet to the floor. A haze came out of nowhere and began to form on the water and it didn’t take long before the haze was covering the water like a blanket. I could barely see anything in front of my eyes, all I could feel was the tilting that didn’t seem to be letting ip any time soon.

Suddenly my foot felt soaked. I looked down to see the ocean, I had been staring at, lapping at my feet. The ground slowly but surely was feeling more and more unsteady. The water continued to climb higher and higher up my body and the floor which was now basically a seabed. It was now up to my chest and I had to grip onto the bannister as the floor was at a 180 degree angle.

“Sparks, can you hear me?” A muffled shout seemed to come out of the water.

The water rose again. This was it. I was going under and I couldn’t do anything about it. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes assigned to my fate, whatever it might be.

“Sparks? Someone fetch the doctor. Sparks?!”

The shouting became a little bit clearer. I still couldn’t make out who it was or where it was coming from but it was certainly getting clearer. I could also feel someone shaking me and a cold sweat across my body.

“Sparks? Oh come on old man. Answer me!”

My eyes felt so heavy but I finally won the battle against them. A tapping sound accompanied my eyes blinking and trying to focus.

“Sparks thank goodness.” Second Officer Trent peered back at me as my eyes finally decided to focus properly.

“Trent, what’s going on?” I mumbled slumping forward in my chair, wiping my brow.

“I came to check on you and say goodnight but I found you asleep with the machine running. Couldn’t you hear the messages coming through? It’s loud enough to wake anybody.” He pointed towards the telegraph machine which was now on overload.

“I must have just dozed off for a second.” I rubbed my eyes, grabbing the nearest message that had come out.

“I’ve sent for the doctor. I can call him off but you’re freezing Sparks. Not to mention sweating like it’s 90 degrees outside!”

“I don’t need him, thanks.” I tried to return to my work.

“Maybe you should call it a night. I’m sure Cape can wait until morning. Most signallers do!” Trent wasn’t going to give up.

“I’m fine, thank you. Now I’m sure Rowan needs you back on the bridge.” I waved my hand out of the door.

He could see he wasn’t going to get anywhere. He bid a small goodnight and left me to it. I shook my head once again and tried to decipher the morse codes now coming through.

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Dreams