01/01/04
Pirates Of Mackinac Island

This is an interesting but rather muddled dream I had during my sleep yesterday.

I'm not sure of a lot of the beginning details...I was at home with my family--both parents, plus my brother Eric and his wife Shannon, so their baby Rayne was probably present too. Some sort of family gathering or something. It seemed to be nighttime or late evening, and I think it was winter in the dream. I'm not sure what everybody was doing but I was busy with something; perhaps I was going to record my shows? Anyway, while they were all doing their own things, I started working on a webpage of mine, even though I wasn't at the computer--it's like I could use the TV instead. I think the site must have been my Tripod "Dreamforest" site, which in real life the past few days I have been revamping so I can update it more easily, after having abandoned it for several months. In real life I am only mildly editing the pages so linking is easier, and each page has a very simple black layout with light blue lettering and very basic HTML. In my dream, the pages were slightly more ornate and I think they had a medium greenish background. Somehow I brought up some odd page which might have been a layout design from someone else's site, or an old design of mine; all I can remember is some sort of roundish feature that went in the upper left corner, kind of like an illumination to set off the text in the box that was included. I marveled over this layout and thought, "THAT'S the one I want to use!" The thing was, I had already redone lots of my pages in my other style, so I knew I'd have to redo them AGAIN with this style if I wanted to use it. (I'm very anal about all my pages looking alike.) Still, I was enthused, and tried to figure out how to acquire the HTML source for this layout. It was easier said than done.

I think I tried viewing source right on the TV but it didn't work. This gets weird because then it's like I was viewing source on everything BUT the TV, like everything in real life had its own HTML source or something. o_O I think it might have been when I first viewed this roundish-cornered layout; it was on a tape I had in the VCR, and I kept rewinding and pausing it to try to view it in still mode and to get the code but for some reason it wasn't working. As I was busy doing this my family decided they were going to go somewhere; I decided to stay home since I don't like most family outings. They all acted very neutral and detached, hardly even interacting with me; I remember them leaving out the front door (odd), and I think I was going to go to the window to watch them leave. When I did this maybe I tried viewing the source of them departing as well. It made sense in the dream. *shrug*

I believe this was all the same dream. Anyway, I then went over to the shelves where in real life our encyclopedias and some of Ma's collectibles are--she has a decent-sized collection of tiny perfume bottles, which she intends to bead into necklaces someday. In real life they block the encyclopedias from easy access! >:/ In my dream, there were still various books and collectibles here, and I started poking around...perhaps at first I was still looking for the HTML source for my webpage, but then my goal changed to finding a dream dictionary of mine. In real life I have at least two decent ones (both hardcover, Jungian/psychological themes), and at least two rather hokey ones (one hardcover, one softcover, precognitive/fortunetelling-type themes)...and I could SWEAR that I had a third decent one, in paperback, but I just can't find one or remember what it's called, so I'm not sure. :/ In my dream I was looking for this third dictionary on the shelf. To my surprise, I found that there were quite a few dream-related books now up there! It was well lit over here, and I stood or perhaps knelt on the chair and started browsing through them. I think I found one good dream dictionary, and some other books on the same subject, though maybe not as specialized; and books were not the only things here. Sitting in front of them, as the bottles sit in front of the encyclopedias in real life, were some little jewelry boxes like the kind you get earrings and necklaces and such in, just little white satiny boxes with cotton lining. They were all open and displaying their contents. There were at least several, though I guessed there were up to twelve as they each contained little matching sets of jewelry which I assumed were for every month of the year--birthstone sets. I spotted a beautiful greenish set but picked up the first one in front of me, which MIGHT have been amethyst or something purple, but then again it might have been the stone for either January or Aries (whichever one started the set--I can't remember the birthstones for January or Aries). The pieces of jewelry included were all very, very small and kind of cheap, like sets you'd buy for a little girl, but still pretty. They had silver settings and included such things as lots of tiny earrings, a little matching necklace, and maybe some other items. I smiled as I looked at these. I wondered if they'd have a beautiful opal or a crummy rose quartz (at least I think that's what the cheap birthstone is) for Libra, but I don't think I ever got to find out. I was more interested in locating the gorgeous greenish gems I'd seen. They were almost iridescent, and a darker, cooler green, like leaves. I don't think I got to look at them more closely either.

I got a little anxious as I looked through these boxes as I think a few of them had been sitting there a long time and had collected some filth so were mildly discolored, the cotton lining dirty; not so much dust as something kind of scummy, ick. I hate filth. That kind of marred what was otherwise a rather pleasant discovery. I put back the box I had picked up and continued looking at the rest of the things on the shelf. Somehow I now got into looking at some old photographs, perhaps in books, and then I was again distracted and started collecting these old pictures and photos instead, intending to do something with them. (Yep, I apparently completely forgot about the HTML, the dictionary, and the jewel sets!) I started collecting various pictures and sorting through them to find which ones I liked most; I'm not sure what I intended to do with them, I just knew I wanted only certain ones of quality. Most seemed older, like Victorian; I think some were actual photographs while others were illustrations and such. I might have been getting them out of some books on the shelf, though I didn't really feel I was destroying anything; perhaps they were for decoupage? (This part of the dream reminds me of how lately in real life I have been sorting through decorator wallpaper to use in making journals out of composition books. At least the method I used in sorting through the pictures was much the same.) I can't remember what most of the pictures were of; some were like engravings or something, most of them black and white but maybe some colored. All I know is they all seemed to be quite old, like turn of the century. (Er, turn of the LAST century, not this one, I mean.)

I finally located one picture which particularly interested me. It was an old illustration of Mackinac Island! Intrigued, I pulled it down and looked at it more closely. It was a very old, colored illustration so I was interested in seeing what about the island's features had changed since then. I was also cutting this picture out, around the outline of the island (it was a side view, not an aerial view, but the island was MUCH taller and thicker than it is in real life and I was cutting it away from its background of the lake), and cutting around the edge of it allowed me to observe it more closely. As is the case in dreams, I could view this picture in ways that aren't possible in real life, as if it were three dimensional and capable of moving around in space rather than being flat on the page. While I was cutting it out along the left side I cut around this BIG jutting stone ridge on the far (west?) end of the island and wondered about it a bit, even though I supposed it was meant to be there, I'd just never noticed it; then I started scanning along the west shore, which was what faced me, looking for Devil's Kitchen (a cave on the lakeshore). I didn't find it, but now I saw some big fancy houses lining the bluff, and these interested me as they had not been there before. Hm. The houses then seemed to shift into just one big, long building, like a huge mansion/factory or something, though I think it was long rather than tall. Except for its chimneys. I spotted its chimneys and they were made of red brick; there seemed to be two or three of them all in a group, rising way into the air further toward the right. In my dream I vaguely knew of this landmark even though I'd never seen it; I'd heard of it. (In real life of course it does not exist.) I puzzled about it for a bit.

And then...the dream shifted as I looked more closely at this picture...and I was now in it, on Mackinac Island, except it wasn't really Mackinac Island, at least not as I know it. Rather than an island I found myself walking along a sort of canal like in Venice. It was sunny out and very, very busy and bustling as lots of people went back and forth along both sides of the canal. I think there were only narrow sidewalks or docks to walk along--no streets, no automobiles (at least THAT one feature was the same as on the island!), just lots of busy people. It was very cluttered and antiquarian looking though I can't exactly describe how. The only way I could begin to describe it would be to compare it to a pirates' hideout, or a town populated by pirates as envisioned in popular movies...lots of busy storefronts, taverns, people dressed in oddly colored, scrappy clothing, lots of earth tones and lots of things going on at once. I think perhaps it WAS supposed to be a pirates' town, though I can't be positive as I don't think I ever saw an "Argh matey"-type pirate go wandering by. o_o

This place really intrigued me, though I had no clue what I was doing and even felt some tension; I knew I wasn't safe. Somebody was with me, perhaps another girl around my age (I felt younger); we walked along this canal, which was about as wide as a road, and I looked down into the water. It was rather shallow looking, clean and clear, and light aqua green--so gorgeous, like tropical water! It looked so warm and inviting. I'm afraid of water in real life, and even walking along these narrow, unprotected sidewalks/docks would normally make me nervous, but I was more adventurous in the dream. At one point, for some reason, I either stepped into or plunged into the water just to test it out. And rather than being warm, the water was CHILLY! I shuddered with surprise at how cold it was. Though I did notice that once I stood up and then went back into it, my hands at least felt warmer--since the air drying them off had made them feel even colder, so of course submerging them again made them feel warmer. I got out of the water and continued walking along with my friend.

As we walked along I noticed another girl around our age walking above us and to my left, on some upper-level hanging sidewalk or balconies (the buildings were at least two stories high, and there seemed to be some means of traveling along the upper level as well). She walked parallel to us and I noticed she seemed intent on following me. (This is a bit confusing as we had seemed to be on the left sidewalk before, but during this the third woman seemed further away, as if we were looking across the canal at her, which means we would have been on the RIGHT side since the sidewalks were so narrow...*shrug*) I glanced up at her a few times as we walked. She was quite pretty, in older-style clothes--perhaps a loose blouse and tight pants, maybe a bodice or something? I believe she had red, kinky hair, maybe tied back in a tail, and as we walked she smiled down at me. She kept pace with us so it was obvious we weren't headed in the same direction by mere chance.

I made direct eye contact with her to be sure she was in fact looking at me, then turned away from her, facing forward and murmuring to my friend (who walked to my right) from the corner of my mouth, "I feel as if I'm supposed to know her, but I can't remember who she is!" I had no memory of her whatsoever, not even a fake dream memory; but based on how she was acting, I could tell she knew me and she expected me to know her, too. What was I missing? It was like I had partial amnesia or something. Weird.

We just kept walking along, the redheaded girl still following. I glanced up at her again and now saw that she'd apparently realized I did not recognize her, for the smile on her face had faded and she looked frustrated and suspicious, on the verge of getting upset and angry. I tried not to stare at her in too obvious a manner; I hated that my confusion had upset her so much. I got the feeling she felt I had forgotten her out of carelessness or unconcern, when that wasn't the situation at all. I just had no clue who she was! She was so pretty, and had seemed so friendly, that I hated that I was getting her angry with me. It would have been nice to be her friend. :/

Something happened here, I'm not sure what, but it's like two things were going on at once. I ducked into the buildings--I again seemed to be on the left side of the canal--in order to get away from some pursuer, I believe. Yet it's also like I was trying to avoid running into the redhaired girl at the same time. Not to evade her COMPLETELY, but I didn't want to run into her just yet--I wanted to run into her on my own terms, as if on accident, rather than look like I was trying to escape her, which I really was. I guess I wasn't ready to face her yet and had to prepare myself. She was still following, so I had to run. All these buildings were either connected or had alleys between them...I can't be sure, but I seemed to be running in the opposite direction now, but still on what had been the left side of the canal earlier but was now of course the right. My pursuers might have been some bad-guy pirates or something; I never clearly knew what was going on. I might have separated from my friend at first, but I think we could have met again later on.

This part of the dream just consisted of me dashing through all these interconnected buildings, passing from one to the next, hoping to evade both the bad guys and the redhead. I STILL wanted to meet her, remember, just not at this exact moment. I seemed to want to orchestrate an accident whereby we'd run into each other, not actually run into her while running away from somebody else! I just kept running and running, dodging people and obstacles and slipping through doors. I wasn't panicked, but I was tense. I might have passed through an arcade, like for videogames...maybe an alley...I think I went through a public bathroom at one point, and maybe I used it...then I dashed through what seemed to be a tavern or restaurant. Everything inside these places was done up in darker colors, like wood...lit with candles or lanterns...very beautiful. It was full daylight outside but dim inside these places. I zoomed through part of the tavern/restaurant and then jogged down a few steps into a lower level, I think, and passed by this bigger roundish landing-type area on my left, which might have been overlooked by windows; I paused temporarily to look at this area. (Oddly, now that I think of it, the design of this landing might have echoed that of the circular part of the webpage earlier on. Hm.) I really liked the design and construction of it and hesitated, wanting to either stay here to look at it more closely or maybe double back and take some other route, even though I also seemed to want to run directly over this round landing-type area (it was just to my left but I had seemed to pass beside it, rather than over it...sorry this is so confusing). But I knew I had to keep going. The thing is, somewhere in here--maybe as I paused and looked around, then maybe passed through a door--I forgot which way I had come from, and thus which way I was going! I think what happened was I ducked behind a wall to hide and then when I came back out I didn't remember where I'd come from. o_o I turned in circles, confused and lost. Which way to go? I think I finally just took a wild guess and went running again. This is weird for me, as usually, even in a dream, I would just continue circling and then begin to panic, but in this dream I was merely confused and then resigned myself to guessing which way to go. I might have passed an Asian guy, a cook or something; then my speed picked up. I guess I ended up going the right way after all, by sheer luck; I had to pass by some more obstacles, then I seemed to meet up with my friend and ran outside onto the sidewalk again.

I stopped at the edge of the canal and considered jumping in again. I KNOW I did this at least twice in my dream, but when I looked down into the water it's almost like this was the first time, with how anxious I felt. Can't really explain it; neither can I be sure when exactly was the first time I had jumped in, so maybe my memory of doing that was just a false dream memory? In any case, I thought that maybe by leaping into the canal I could avoid the bad guys--like in the movies. *shrug* So I took a breath and did so, diving in feetfirst!

The water was not hugely deep, but I'm hydrophobic and afraid of even shallow water, if there's the threat that my head might go under. My entire body plunged down into the aqua-green water, a splash rising around me, but...it's like I stopped just short of my head submerging, as if my feet touched bottom and stopped me, though I don't remember them doing that. I was somewhat surprised, as well as both relieved and DISAPPOINTED. I'd taken the plunge and didn't even get my head wet! I hadn't WANTED to, but it kind of ruined the adventure... Anyway, I think my friend might have leapt in too (at this point I think of Mya, so maybe that's who she was supposed to be, even though I think she looked much different--maybe long straight light brown hair in a tail, kind of overweight, not very pretty?)...and now I had to be careful to avoid a dead horse which was lying on its side in the middle of the canal!

I kid you not--I think I'd spotted it before, but now I came within inches of it, and had to be careful not to touch it. It didn't seem to be on the bottom but it wasn't floating either. Just this big dead dark rotting horse, lying on its side smack dab in the middle of the canal. Perhaps it had died and somebody had tossed it in here, as was customary with refuse; though the water had seemed, and still seemed, perfectly clean and safe, I get the feeling it could have been used for garbage by such people as this. Ugh. I pushed myself away from the horse (it was to my right--I was facing the other side of the canal, what had been the left while I was running, which had been the right side while we were walking) with a bit of distaste, though I tried to be nonchalant. Ick.

We might have climbed out of the canal again, maybe on the other side, our pursuers lost. I also might have talked to my friend to try to figure out what to do next, and I really wanted to seek out and reconcile with the redheaded girl. I felt she could be useful--she looked as if she knew how to fight and fend for herself--and I still felt poorly for having apparently forgotten who she was. I wasn't sure if she'd forgive or believe me or not. :/



2004 Dreams
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