The Lucid Dream

The Lucid Dream

I have had lucid dreams before; you know the kind that seems to be real life. In the dream, it seems a person is actually talking to me. In this particular one, the dream continued for a few minutes after I had awakened. It was rare for this to happen but not unfamiliar to me. The dream was sad in that it reflected my true life situation.

My only sister had just been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. She had lived a full and happy life and although the news was a shock, she took it in her usual philosophical way. It was time, she had said. Her only regret was that she had never been on a cruise to Hawaii.

My dream was about the fulfillment of her life’s desire. I dreamed that I had won a lottery for ten thousand dollars and she and I took a cruise ship from Vancouver to the Hawaiian Islands. Well, it has happened that my lucid dreams have come true in the past but not always. In this particular case, I tucked the dream away in the back of my mind and went on with my day.

My sister’s medical problems were on my mind so I decided to go to the local mall and spend some time walking and window-shopping. The mall is huge; the third largest in Canada so I knew I could kill a few hours and let my mind wander without having to think about problems that had been cluttering my mind. It was a time to de-stress, you might say.

I treated myself to a leisurely lunch at a fine restaurant in the mall – bought a few odds and ends and was ready to go home when I spotted one of those kiosks in the middle of the mall selling lottery tickets. I thought, why not? It was time something lucky might happen for me. The draw was the following Saturday and as I palmed the ticket, I thought – wouldn’t it be nice if I won enough to take my sister and myself on that cruise.

It was then that I remembered a part of the dream that had almost slipped my mind. In the dream a voice had said – if I use the money to take my sister on her dream cruise, I would win.

I smiled to myself. Psychic dreams are fun if they are not taken too seriously and that is what I tended to do. My thoughts were -- yes, that would be nice but still the thought and the dream was simply an illusion.

It was three days until the draw and I couldn’t help thinking positively about winning the prize. I spent as much time as I could with my sister as a benefit to both our mental and physical state. Other than the cancer, she was still able to cope for herself but I wanted to be with her as much as I could for my own benefit. After all, I was losing my best friend in a matter of months, or possibly, if we were lucky, a year. The loss would be almost unbearable.

We had not been the best of friends during our growing years, she tended to be bossy and dominant and I, being the younger, tended to be a follower. Many times I felt that I was taken advantage of but as we grew older and I became more confident, our friendship grew. We married and went our own ways for many years but as fate would have it, we both became widows in our late fifties. We bonded now as mature adults and truly enjoyed each other’s company.

I didn’t tell her about my dream or about the lottery ticket – I simply did not want her to manifest a hope that might result in disappointment. On the other hand, she did not believe in my psychic abilities and especially not in vivid dreams. So, the secret was mine to ponder and contemplate on my own.

Without telling her, I contacted a travel agency to get some prices and other information. I found that the price would be about $10,000. I also found that there was one double cabin available on the next cruise. A couple had just cancelled and if I booked within the next week, we would be leaving in three weeks time. My heart leapt to my throat -- that was just the amount in my dream. I could not stop my mind from racing. The days seemed to drag until Saturday.

The win was almost anti-climactic for me. I got a nice cheque for $10,000 in the mail and went directly to the travel agency to book our cabin. And would you believe it, the ship was called “The Dream Boat”.

800 words
Oct 27, 2009