Dreams

There has been a strange new phenomenon in my life. I have woken up remembering my dreams. For as long as I can remember I haven't been able to remember anything i dreamed about the night before. I was concerned about it enough to ask about my dreamless sleep during an anatomy lecture on brain memory and reorganization (a la the hippocampus). My professor says you're not supposed to remember them unless you woke up in the middle of or right after REM. That brought relief.

But now I'm remembering them! Does this mean my nights are more fitful and restless? Most likely. It's been difficult to be in a long distance relationship, have a milestone birthday, work 2 jobs and not really have time to unwind. There was one dream in particular I had at the beginning of the month that was amazingly vivid. It felt as though I were watching a fairy tale and I had to write it down.

Once upon a time, there lived a king and queen of the forest who ruled over the land with the power of their love. All in the kingdom were humbled by it and loved to be subjects in such a positive and peaceful land. Daily citizens had conversations about the king and queen's true love for each other, and how much it inspired them. They needed no police, no taxes-- love brought peace and comfort to the hearts of all. The kingdom itself was beautiful. The colors shone brightly, the sun was warm but not too hot, the breeze was cool and balmy, and the world seemed to sing. I think this dream was in technicolor.

Around the castle, a loving couple would communicate in short glances, an affectionate hand on the other's shoulder, just staring into each other's eyes. The king would leave notes where his queen could find them to remind her of how special, beautiful and loved she was. They had a special language which only the two of them understood that looked like single-line drawings on EKG strips.

One day, to the dismay of all who knew her, the queen mysteriously disappeared. In my dream she had either fallen ill, died, or disappeared. The king was heartbroken. Part of him believed that his queen would one day return. That she was still alive and would come back to him. But in the meantime he could not rule without her. He gave up his crown to live in the forest and took one of his advisers with him. They were shape-shifters so he and his adviser decided to turn into large trees, kind of like the tall Ents in Lord of the Rings, so that they could retreat but still be able to listen and watch for any sign of the queen.

Months/years... [time] passes.

Suddenly the king began to hear rumors of a woman or being that fit the queen's description: her good nature, her beauty, her grace. He started finding new secret love notes like the ones they used to write to each other. Though skeptical, they king began to move out of the depths of the forest and closer to the kingdom. The king then announced that on a certain day, for an entire day, he would display the queen's ring for her to come forward and reclaim by trying it on. (very Cinderella-esque)

That particukar day came quickly and the king sent his adviser to the town square. He placed a pillow out--on it sparkled the queen's ring. The whole kingdom gathered with wide-eyed anticipation of their queen's return and with hopes that their kingdom would be restored to the happy place it had been. They wanted desperately to believe in true love again.

The day stretched long. No sign. The sun began to set but the ring sparkled on.
The collective heart of the land was once again broken.
She never came.

And then I woke up.

Some of the details are still missing and I hope to fill them in with "awake" fiction because I think it's a lovely (though tragic) story. If you ask whether I'm supposed to be the queen in this story, I'll tell you no.
My thoughts and feelings throughout the entire dream were from the perspective of the king.