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Darkness Falling


I've mentioned my "darkness falling" dreams plenty of times, but I don't think I've ever described them [here]. This is the only real "recurring dream" I've ever had [note--not exactly true], and it's more of a theme than an entire dream, as it always goes just a bit differently...but I'll let my original description speak for itself...

I'm usually outside, walking around, perhaps, and it's daytime. I notice it's starting to get dark and I think I should probably get inside. But it's usually not sunset. I look toward the sun and there it is, too high in the sky to be setting already; but it *is* getting dark. This darkness fills in the sky around the sun but doesn't block out the sun itself. It's not clouds; it's just darkness. The sun gets dimmer but it isn't covered up; it's like it's getting weaker. It might turn orange or red, like it does at sunset. So now it doesn't look much like the sun anymore, but like a ball of fire in a black or nearly black sky. I start to feel afraid--a tight feeling in my chest, a feeling of anxiety--like I should *really* be heading indoors before the light goes out entirely! Yet at the same time I also feel like I should stay outside and see what happens, try to tell what this darkening means. It's like an excited feeling; y'know, maybe the kind of feeling one gets when going on a rollercoaster or something--"This is going to freak me out, but I've gotta try it!"--only more extreme. But somehow, the dream always ends--or I wake up--before I get to figure anything out.

This isn't a recurring dream; like I said, it's more like a recurring image *within* the dream, since the dream usually doesn't start out this way. I could be walking along, innocently minding my own business, and the darkness comes. Oh, and I forgot one thing. When this darkness falls, it's almost impossible to see anything around me but myself. Apart from that reddish-orange dot in the sky, just about everything else--even people standing right next to me--goes black. I might try to find my way inside, but it's hard to see where I'm going.

In a few variations the darkness did take the form of clouds, but they were like dark gray storm clouds that move in quickly, and they still don't block the sun entirely. The sun just fades very slowly. It's beautiful, in its own way, but also frightening, like I said.


I remember a couple of specific examples...one where I was outside my house, standing in front of the west driveway with a couple of friends, and it got dark, just like that. I started wandering around near the woods. I could see the lights in houses but they were dim and I couldn't seem to reach them--besides, it was the neighbor's house, which means I'd have to stumble through the woods to reach it, and risk getting lost. I didn't know where my friends went. It was summer and warm outside. I then was near where our sandbox used to be, beside the garage. I aimed in the general direction of my house, intending to go inside to be safe, but at the same time I wanted to stay out so badly. The sun was just an orange dot in a black sky. It never got any further than that.

In another I was outside in the front yard and it was both winter and summer at once. Strange winter weather, but warm like summer. It suddenly got dark; these clouds started rolling in. I looked to the west to see the sky darkening and the clouds turning colors. The wind picked up, this strange swift warm wind. I was near the iron porch railing and the front door was right next to me but I wanted to see what would happen. Once again, though, I never got the chance...



Early Dreams
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