Enlightening

"So that's pretty much it," I finished. I was trying to sound light-hearted, but just talking through the dream had a power over me: the feeling of being trapped, the darkness, the fascination for the light, the sensation of falling...but above all of these, the endlessness of it.

Time after time, the dream seemed to bring me to the point of some revelation, then take me back to square one.

Janice appeared to hesitate, then said, "does any of this mean anything to you? The place where you wake up? The watch? Is it based on anywhere or anything you remember from real life? I just wondered whether any of the images mean anything to you in particular.

"I do have a thought on what the dream might be about, but I wondered if any of the dream-story has any personal resonance for you."

I told her that I couldn't think of anything - that while it felt so real and concrete, none of it was familiar.

"OK, that's interesting. Now, please remember that this is nothing more than my opinion. I think your dream might be directly about what happened to you while you were in the hospital, when you were in a coma.

"To me, it's about feeling isolated, removed from the world. You're moving towards the light - that's like the light of consciousness, that sort of thing. But you keep going back to where you started from, unable to wake up. The fear of the dark, too - that's the unknown. Even the drink of water - that could be your subconscious letting you know that your body's basic needs were being taken care of."

Could it be that straightforward?

"Well, what do you think?" she asked. "As I say, I'm interested in dreams, but I'm no expert. One thing I do believe is that I can't tell you what the dream means. What I've said will either ring true, or it won't."

We talked for a while longer, but I wasn't really taking too much notice. As I left, I couldn't help thinking her words did ring true.



Story begins here.