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| Galaxy Photo found on Wikimedia Commons |
She looked over at her friend across the clearing. "Huh? Yeah, yeah, they're gorgeous," she paused before continuing. "Sorry I was just thinking."
Looking back up at the crystal clear sky, Jenny's mind wandered again. The stars were clustered so close together that they seemed to form a shimmering puddle of liquid light across the sky. If she concentrated hard enough, she could feel herself floating through it, her thoughts sliding easily to the farthest reaches of the universe.
She did not notice Shane watching her expectantly until she said, "Well, what are you thinking about?"
Jenny shook her head slightly before turning her head back toward Shane. "I just heard something interesting the other day and it made me think," she started. "You know how, when you're dreaming, everything feels so real. You can never really tell you're dreaming until you wake up?"
Here she stopped, waiting for Shane's answer. When she nodded her head, Jenny continued. "Well, I was just thinking, what if this is just a dream? Or what if this is someone else's dream and we are just characters in it. And when they wake up, we disappear, only to reappear in a different form when they go to sleep again."
Shane's eyes widened before she laughed, eyes crinkling. "You're thinking too much! You have to just appreciate what is happening now because if this is a dream, there's nothing we can do but enjoy the stars and the time we have!"
Jenny paused and looked up at the sky again. She smiled, first at the stars, and then back at Shane. "You're probably right, I'm just overthinking things."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both watching the stars so intensely that they noticed them begin to dim. One by one, they went out until finally-
****
Nina groaned, yanking her pillow over her head as her alarm told her it was time to get up. She had to leave for class in a few minutes, but before she left she reached into her nightstand to get her dream journal. She always had the most vivid dreams, and this had been one of the strangest ones yet.
As she hastily wrote it down, she skimmed through the rest of her dream journal. Maybe one day she would figure it all out, but for now, she was running late.
Author's Notes
This story was inspired by the Pattanaik video and the story on Narayan's sleep cycle as the cycle of the rebirth of the universe. When Narayan is awake, the universe exists, but it stops when he is sleeping. For my story, I decided to switch it up and have the dream state as a universe of it's own. This was just a fun little story that I kind of think about a lot and the video this week reminded me of it.
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Hey Natalie. What an awesome story! As soon as I started reading it I was intrigued. I have always heard people say stuff like "what if this is just the flashback you experience when you die", kind of dark sorry, but that sort of reminded me of that. You wrote the story very well, the dialogues were great and kept the reader interested. Great job!
ReplyDeleteWow, Natalie! This is really powerful. Like Kurtis, I was thinking about all the interpretations of dreams. I've always felt that Deja Vu is connected to something you've dreamed before. My grandma always told me that it meant you were on the right track in life!
ReplyDeleteYour writing is beautifully detailed and a joy to read!
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteYour story was very interesting. I thought I was the only one that felt as if dreams felt like a reality until I was woken up by my alarm. Also I always feel like I have déjà vu from a dream that I have at times. I felt like this story really spoke to me when I was reading it. Really good work, this story was amazing.
What a thought provoking story! It definitely would be interesting if all that we see is simply a dream for other people or it was simply an extended dream? It would all be a bit like the movie Inception! The best I can do however is to live to the fullest of my ability now whether it is a dream or not.
ReplyDeleteHello, Natalie. This is the first that I have read of any of your storytelling posts, but I really enjoyed your writing. It was really interesting to see the concept of a semi-permanent universe manifest itself in the way that you presented. I have not read this particular myth during the course, so it was a new premise for me.
ReplyDeleteHey Natalie! I was immediately drawn into the story when I read your opening line. Your writing is incredibly interesting. I do not know if you have ever seen One Tree Hill. There is an episode where a couple is in a coma and they are in a dream world. I remembered it as I was reading your story. Great job! It was a joy to read!
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie! Your story was so intriguing- it had me thinking and thinking! First of all, great job on keeping your readers so interested! The continuous dialogue in the story really helps it flow so well. The detail in the story, especially that describing the star-filled sky, was just fantastic! Great job, keep it up!
ReplyDelete