sanity is relative

I began the dream as a much darker version of myself. I was put into some sort of free-for-all environment that I think was a prison where people were sent to die. It was all underground, and a fairly modern-day setting. The top two or three floors were safe, but the floors below those were supposedly super dangerous and if you went down there it was your fault if you died. The top section was more like a bunch of apartments, and the lower sections became more like a run-down, abandoned shopping mall.

I had no weapon at first, and went straight for the first dangerous level. I killed several people (including children) as if it were nothing, and then one guy appeared with a switchblade, thinking because he had a weapon I would be afraid of him, or he would win the battle by default, or some such stupid thing. All I knew was he had a weapon and it was gonna be mine. I snagged it and killed him with it and a few more people.

Then I guess my conscience got to me and I decided not to kill anymore children. Plus, it seemed like I was getting a reputation and smart people were deciding not to mess with me; why bother with pointless killing when I could be working on getting out of here? It seemed like there was something more going on in this place than what I thought I'd understood. I had a short conversation with someone (the next couple of kids and an adult?), saying I was pretty sure that if I fought my way deep enough into the place I'd find a way out... and the kids said they might be able to help if I took them with me so they could escape too. They were pretty impressed with what I'd done so far (even killing the other kids), and I said that Riddick would have done the same thing, and he'd probably have kept on killing.

Then next thing I knew, I was Riddick, and I was in Landel's Institute and it was nightshift. In the dream, Landel's wasn't one large building but several buildings spread over a decent-sized complex with quite a bit of of grass, road, and concrete between the buildings. The whole complex was surrounded by deep forest, and somewhere in the dream I was able to look out a window and see that the surrounding area looked like dense, forested, rolling hills near a stark mountain range.

I was in the building where prizes for good patients were kept, except it seems like some of the things in the room had a bit too much potential, so perhaps this was actually storage or sorting of donated items before patients got to have a look at them, if they ever did. Maybe the doctors chose prizes from this room... there were several other patients in the room as well, and we were grabbing stuff as fast as we could. Some of the items I grabbed were meant as trade items, there was a lot of girly stuff like decorative soap, makeup, glittery bath oils and body lotion in soft plastic tubes, that sort of thing.

There were items that I intended to keep as well: gel pens, notebooks, and something I can't remember anymore that I knew could make a good weapon with some work. I think I found a somewhat kiddy version of a world atlas, which I thought might come in handy, along with some other magazine I'd have to look at closer later... stuff patients were no doubt never meant to see, because it would hold major clues about the world we were trapped on... assuming it wasn't planted to confuse us. It was getting difficult to hold all this stuff, but then I found various plastic bags and even tote bags made of more durable fabric. I snagged a tote bag before several other people near me went bananas on the rest. I threw what I had into the bag and I think there was some candy or other sugary snacks I procured next.

Then we heard the intercom announce that morning was about to arrive. And right at that moment the sun rose, and the sunlight now streaming through the windows made me feel really, really drowsy, as if I'd been hit by a tranquilizer dart... but I knew nothing specific had happened... and I also knew this always happened at the end of nightshift. I fought it hard tho, I didn't want to lose my bag of stuff. The guy next to me was managing to stay awake so far as well, I think several other people fell asleep right on the floor... but I really didn't care, I was forcing my feet away from that room and towards my assigned bedroom.

I had to cross open lawn to get there, and my room was one of many in a set of cabins all attached in a long line. I made it into mine, knowing at any second I was going to black out or get found by a nurse. The room was in semi-darkness but I stumbled to my bed and took the books out of the bag, hiding them first under the mattress as they were the flattest things I'd stolen. I stuck the frustratingly large bulge of the rest of the bag under where I'd be sleeping, and crawled into bed with that big thing underneath my chest area. I tried to lay so that it wasn't noticeable there was stuff hidden with me.

I'm thinking a nurse came in? And now I realize the beginning of dayshift hadn't put me to sleep like it should have... but it doesn't really matter because...

Then I woke up.


( dream symbol analysis and thoughts )