Did you ever have one of those dreams in which you’ve committed a murder and everybody’s chasing you? Note: the murder was already committed when the dream started, it’s a fait accompli and you’re just plain stuck with it.
I had one of those last night, with the unusual twist that I did not, in fact, commit the murder, I was innocent–but I was running around with the victim’s blood-stained clothing in my hands (highly incriminating!) and unsuccessfully trying to get rid of it. I was running through the woods and swamps, trying to find a hiding place, but I kept winding up in people’s back yards in my old neighborhood.
File it away for use in a future book.
I think I need to be getting back to novel-writing soon. Like as soon as I get the idea for the next book. But if you’re gonna have vividly alarming dreams, you might as well try to get some use of them.
Sounds like a great thriller. You could call it: The guy who was running around with the victim’s highly incriminating blood-stained clothing in his hands and unsuccessfully trying to get rid of it. 🙂
I have had some strange dreams in my day, but the strangest was one I had as a child; falling from a very tall building while tied to a power pole. 🙂 Legend has it that if I had ever hit the ground I would have died of a heart attack.
Hopefully you were tied with a bungee cord.
That certainly is a vivid dream, Lee – and more than a little unsettling!
Dreams of being chased are very unsettling, but being female may intensify the dread in these dreams.
Hmmm … someone’s been watching Alfred Hitchcock again! 🙂
I have a very full dream life. I always write down what I can remember rom the ones I have. Last night I dreamed I was in a huge USA space vessel that contained tons of military technology and hardware. When I was back on earth I was not allowed to tell anyone what I had seen. I think think maybe the dream was initiated from watching “Apollo 18” two night previously.
The climax of “The Thunder King” and the opening of “The Fugitive Prince” both started out as dreams.
I guess my stress dreams are pretty pedestrian — if we don’t count nightmares, which are more terrifying and/or sickening than stressful. My classic stress dream is not being able to find my car. Sometimes, in one of these dreams, I start thinking, “This is just like one of those dreams, only this time it’s real.”
And believe it or not, I still have the occasional student/teacher stress dream. You know the one … you’re going for a final exam, and suddenly you realize you haven’t been to the class all semester? Guess what? Professors have the same dream — except now you’re about to GIVE the final exam and you realize you haven’t been to the class all semester. (I wonder why your department Chair never called this to your attention during the semester? Oh, well, that’s the dream world for you.)
I occasionally dream I’m still in high school at the age of 68–now that’s stressful!