Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A Recent SF Dream

A generational spaceship had been discovered which was inhabited by two different alien races. Both had been reduced to a relatively simple level of culture and were constantly in conflict with each other over resources. What had been a decidedly “hot” war in the past had deteriorated into more of an exhausted hate fest because the numbers of each group had declined so precipitously. I was part of a group of humans who were trying to negotiate a peace between the two warring factions. I don’t know how we found out about the ship or how we reached it. The story began with our group already onboard. I didn't "see" the origins of the story; as often in dreams, I just "knew" them.

Although both groups of aliens were relatively humanoid in appearance, there were some differences. One group was very tall, and…wedge shaped. They looked like slices of pie from behind, with two eyes on either side of a triangular shaped face. The other aliens were very squat, and almost frog looking. They were quite a bit less humanoid.

The representatives of the two groups sniped at each other constantly throughout our attempts to negotiate, and my fellow humans were on the verge of giving up. Then the wedge shaped alien representatives did give up. At least, they rose as one and started to stomp toward the doorway. In desperation, I launched into an impassioned speech. I can’t remember much of the details, only that I focused on how the two groups had to live, or die, together. By the end of my speech everyone was in tears, including me, and the Wedge aliens had returned to their seats.

We humans then began to carefully withdraw from the scene as the two alien races began to talk with each other and, for the first time, seemed to speak honestly and honorably. I remember looking back on the room and thinking, we’d done it, we’d brought peace to these war torn groups.

We took an elevator upward and as the dream ended we stepped out of the elevator on top of a spaceship to look down across it. It was a series of half spheres, each one seeming to have bubbled into others. Our ship was docked nearby and I remember it being sleek with a huge back fin rising up into the blackness of space. Then I woke up.
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37 comments:

  1. Wow.
    Extraordinary dream.
    Very vivid, and certainly allegorical.


    I keep thinking of right-wing commentator Bill O'Reilly and Dr. David Suzuki being sent out on a spaceship.
    I somehow think that's a good idea.

    Also, in my warped sense of humour, I would have Bill O'Reily, undernourished throught the trip, eating Dr. Suzuki, because he needed something green in his diet.

    Fer to fight off the scurvy.

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  2. Charles, Very in-depth dream for sure... Mine usually involve Mrs. Emma Peel but unfortunately I forget them by the time I wake up.

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  3. Sounds like the beginning of a book here. Something to think about.

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  4. sounds to me like you were patching up the differences tween the republicans and democrats, charles... they fit the images ;)

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  5. Cool dream, Charles! Emma Peal, David?! Now THAT'S dream material!
    aloha-

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  6. That's very cool! How absolutely vivid - like a movie! So this is where you get your inspiration from!

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  7. That's amazing! I can honestly say I never have such vivid, detailed dreams. Hmmm...except when I was pregnant. Then, I had horrible nightmares.

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  8. I am so envious! My dreams are always so...realist.

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  9. You must have felt exhausted,
    after such extensive and emotional negotiations!

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  10. This is uber-cool, surely a story line.

    Besides that, you would be an excellent candidate for the Obama dream team, international relations or domestic.

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  11. Charles Gramlich for Secretary of State!!!

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  12. wow, it seems like you dream in cool story ideas! congrats on saving the alien races!

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  13. Cool dream. Every time I have a story dream like that, I can't help but wonder Was It Real?

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  14. Your dream plot reminded me of a Star Trek episode. It's really fun when a dream is so vivid, it stays with you instead of fading.

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  15. What a fascinating dream, Charles. You should definitely use that in a future story. :-)

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  16. My only question is What in the hell are you on that gives you dreams like that ? lol !

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  17. Kinmd of goes against the traditional sc-fi wisdom of wise aliens needing to help himans get to peace.

    Though of course, in 'Farscape' the 'peacekeepers' are human.

    The black fin is eerie though.

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  18. Ivan, it would be excellent to see some politicians and ridiculous pundits reduced to eating each other, engaging in literal cannibalism rather than feeding off the dying husk of the people they represent.

    David Cranmer, last night mine involved motorcycles. I don’t think Emma Peel has been in any of mine. Or, perhaps she’s been in all.

    Randy, I was actually thinking of that. Sounds almost like a Star Trek: TNG script in a way.

    Laughingwolf, you know, you may have something there.

    Cloudia, I’m sure David meant Emma in her leather “fightin’” outfit, don’t you? I believe we’ve just discovered something about our friend David.

    Ello, I really feel gifted with my dreams. I don’t know how I scored lucky to have such cool dreams, and to rememeber them. But I enjoy!


    Barrie, wow, must have been hormonal then. I have a lot of what would be considered nightmares by most folks but I enjoy them very much.

    Lisa, maybe you’re just too serious of a person. Go crazy once in a while. ;)

    Merisi, I have awakened feeling exhausted after certain dreams. This one was certainly different in that it didn’t have a lot of action, which most of my dreams do.

    Erik, Obama might be just right for this one.

    Mark, I learned when I was chair of the psyc department that I can be diplomatic when I have to. I really hate to have to, though.

    Greg, yes, I felt like Jean Luc Picard after that one. I’m a regular diplomat.

    Writtenwyrdd, maybe it’s all real somewhere in the universe. It’s a big un.

    Bernardl, I thought so too, especially a Next Generation type of plot. I’ve watched a lot of those shows but wasn’t watching any particularly when this dream occurred.

    Demon Hunter, I’ve got it recorded for posterity, in case it seems to fit anywhere.

    Heff, these days mostly food. I used to notice that I had intense dreams the morning after drinking a lot. I don’t do that much drinking these days, though.

    Crushed, Yeah, it did seem bass ackward in a way. I wanted to watch more Farscape but I think I’ve only seen a few episodes. That black fin was cool and I “think” I’ve seen it in a painting at some point, on some book cover, though I’m not sure which.

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  19. I just LOVE your dreams, Charles!
    Thank you for sharing them. They are extraordinarily vivid and complex. Are they in colour, too? It's great that you can remember them. I hope you're weaving many of their elements into your stories.

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  20. Now my husband has dreams like this all the time-dreams where he's in a place he's never been and saving mankind. Me, I dream about local disasters.

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  21. That was pretty detailed. I'm starting to really get into space stories so that was cool.

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  22. Vesper, my dreams are always in color. When I was a teenager the colors were usually very bright. As I've gotten older, they tend to be darker colors, like maroon, indigo, dark gold. Sometimes I still have a brilliantly colored one.

    Pattinase, I love my fantasy dreams. Like seeing a really good movie every night.

    Christina, I've always been into space stories. There's some great ones out there.

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  23. Crack's a hell of a drug. *LOL*

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  24. Maybe that really happened - in another dimension :D

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  25. Never have I had a dream that vivid and remembered it. Mine are usually involving high school which was NOT the best time of my life. I would be scared spitless if I dreamed like you.

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  26. Interesting that I should have just as vivid dreams as you, Charles. Though most of the other people in my dreams tend to be strangers.

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  27. Lana, as we saw with Meth on Secret millionaire tonight.

    Miladysa, I believe firmly that it did.

    Jodi, I usually turn out to be the worst monster in my dreams so I never worry to much about it. lol.

    Barbara, they say that men dream about strangers while women dream more about people they know. Just goes to show what the experts know.

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  28. Anonymous9:41 AM

    I wish I dreamed in science fiction. I like those wedge shaped aliens.

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  29. Jack, they were quite strange. everything triangle shaped.

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  30. What's with you and those plot-perfect dreams? I have a dream where I'm fighting a monster and suddenly I'm using a peanut butter sandwich to wipe the kitchen counters. You have a seriously organized mind, my friend.

    If the wedge aliens don't play nice, we should use them as doorstops.

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  31. Avery, I don't really even want to know about the peanut butter sandwich cleaning thing. But yes, the Wedge alien doorstops would be a nice novelty item for Christmas.

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  32. It's neat that you have dreams of this nature. Must help your creative working hours.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  33. You have such cool dreams. And this one is even season-appropriate (peace on earth, good will toward men, and all that).

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  34. Cool. Lots of metaphor in there about bringing together conservatives and liberals.

    Or just a really nifty story about aliens if you don't subscribe to allegory.

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  35. Ok, what sort of pizza did you have before you went to bed?

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  36. Wowww... so coool.... IF you can dream sci-fi, then I guess you can write it! :-) Me, I don't think I like sci-fi dreams...;-)

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  37. Now that is vivid. You have the perfect imagination for your art.

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