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Mar 7, 2010

NIGHTMARE BEASTIES!

On holiday at last! Pure bliss - and there was little me - Geri in paradise! Knee deep in a sparkling blue sea and gazing joyfully up and down an empty ribbon of white sanded beach, that stretched for miles to both sides of me.

Dabbling in the gentle waves with both hands, I turned lazily and gazed towards a darker patch of sea just in front of me. This dark area indicated a sudden drop into deep water; and there were darker patches at regular intervals all along the shoreline. One minute you would be shuffling through the gentle swell and the next, swimming high above an underwater tropical world!

The idea of a swim was appealing - but before I could don my snorkel and step forward, the sand shifted violently beneath my feet and my heart was suddenly thudding with horror as the dark patch was swirling upwards out of the water to meet me! What in heaven's name....?! And then the dark patch tore off my leg!

It was a dream...? It had to be! Another one of those blasted shark nightmares! Ughh!....*shudder*.
All it takes is half an hour of National Geographic in the late evening - and there I am in slumberland, gathering up severed limbs!!! You would think I'd have learned by now not to watch late night Oceanic programs.

In childhood, it was snakes. The funny thing about that though, was that I did not need to see or hear about snakes beforehand for them to infiltrate my dreams. All it took was a bout of feverish bronchitis (which was often) and young Geri would be plunged into a pit of slithering, entwining vipers - and it would only take one tiny movement.... and they would strike and strike and strike....aarrgghh!! Woe betide me, but I always thought I could get out of the pit by walking v-e-r-y slowly. But it never worked. I always got thoroughly bitten - and woke up gasping and sweating with fear.

The sub-conscious is very strange, don't you think?

But there were nice dreams too. When I was very young, I remember seeing a picture of the boy God Mercury, with tiny wings on his heels. All he had to do was flap these tiny wings and up he went! It made such an impression on the wee sub-conscious, that it wasn't long before I too was flying through the air - up and away, above towns and countrysides... lovely! The best dreams were when I would run a few steps and suddenly be flying over the heads of my surprised classmates and family....
The funny thing is, I never dreamed about the landings. Up, up and away and the next thing - back in bed.

Haven't dreamed the flying dreams since childhood. But they were nice and I'd like them back again. So, think I'll swap those Nature programs for Aeronautical ones. Trouble is, the only flying documentary I have ever seen on Nat. Geo., is: 'Seconds from Disaster'!!!
Guess in future I'll just have to turn the telly off straight after 'Eastenders'..... (...help!)

9 comments:

Grannymar said...

Thankfully I do not remember dreams, but then I may not be asleep long enough to reach the nightmare level.

I hope you rest well tonight.

steph said...

Well, I'm very glad it was a dream! You had me worried there for a while, Geri

I often dream of being able to fly and in case you didn't know, I'm particularly good at swooping through narrow spaces!

My recurring nightmare is being on public transport miles from anywhere and suddenly realising that I've left a hungry baby alone at home. Then follows a mad dash to get home!

I don't know what I did to deserve this nightmare???

Hope you get to enjoy a real paradise beach soon, Geri!

Geri Atric said...

Grannymar ~ Glad to hear you do not suffer from nightmares (!) although hours of laying staring at the ceiling can also wring a person out. Unfortunately they do say cat-napping through the night becomes more the norm as we get older! But we will not give up!

A long dreamless rejuvenating sleep, is a true blessing - and I fervently hope we may both find a way to enjoy an abundance of them before we get much older.

Thank you for the well wishes. I am thinking of replacing tonight's evening television with a good, humourous book. That might keep the night-time bogies at bay!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steph ~ Sorry to worry you, LOL!

Wow..! Still flying aye? - I am impressed! And swooping through narrow places at high speed is no mean achievement!

As for your recurring nightmare... that is the worst thing I could ever imagine! Bitten off limbs are sweet dreams, compared to the angst you must feel trying to get back to your home alone hungry baby! OMG! And I am quite sure you have never done anything horrible enough to deserve such a nightmare.
Are you a perfectionist perhaps? Steph? 'Afraid' of doing things wrong? (Don't worry, I am not going to try to analyse you - I can't even begin to fathom my own dream psyche!).

Hope you have a nice holiday soon too Steph and good luck to everyone going on summer paradise holidays - but please, do take an extra long look at the waters edge before venturing in... duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh (*Jaws theme music*)...heh heh!

Jay said...

UGH!! I had one or two shark nightmares after picking up 'Jaws' in a bookshop and reading the first page when I was about 18 years old, I think. Good grief, they should warn a girl when they're planning to kill someone on the first page! I do sympathise with your own shark nightmares. Having your leg bitten off doesn't bear thinking about.

I have had the flying dreams though, sometimes quite lengthy and enchanting. Often in a dream I will suddenly remember that in dreams I can fly, and I'll deliberately take off, but if I do that I seldom get much height. Perhaps I need more practice? LOL!

Geri Atric said...

Jay ~ It would be handy if we could evoke our flying powers to get away from the sharks (and snakes)! Unfortunately though,what with you struggling to attain height and me not able to take off at all anymore, we are doomed to battle it out! Haha.
Where's Harry Potter when you need him?!

Kate said...

The best dreams I have had involve hot air balloon rides - and I have never watched a film about it - but they were lovely dreams .... flying high in a windless sky....gorgeous!!!

Geri Atric said...

Kate ~ Ah that dreamy, free, floating feeling... Your hot air balloon rides sound wonderful! And all without any kind of experience to reference them by - it truly is amazing how the dreaming brain works, isn't it - and we all seem to be doing it.
Come nighttime and up, up and away we all go!
(Except moi. Can't get off the ground anymore. Can I please hitch a ride on your balloon?!)

Kate said...

any time my friend.... any time!!

Geri Atric said...

Kate ~ Ta! I'll bring cakes..