Dream Journal Ultimate
Date: 6/4/2026
By leusid
(This waking dream was an exercise called Dreamscore in a performance class I was in for an art form called Action Theater. It's meant to be an improvisational emulation of a dream. I was the dreamer, and the other performers were my classmates who came in to offer whatever their inspiration evoked.) Stillness and quiet while I laid down my head. The forms and figures danced past me as I began to wake. I enjoyed the spectacle and puzzled over its nature, but the Others soon shined a light on me. So I woke to my body and joined in the dance as the Others went on taking shape. One of them offered me the pages of an unknown record and pointed to a brief passage. She nodded and encouraged me to read, but the forms and figures on the page would not hold their shape. Sometimes they looked familiar, but would change on re-reading. Sometimes they didn't resemble shapes at all. I heard a sound and glanced to my right. There I saw another One, digging a hole in the ground with a shovel. His eyes met mine, and I felt my first fear. Looking back to the Archivist, I noticed her encouragement had become more urgent. Try as I might, this passage was unreadable--I broke free from the archive and stumbled toward the Excavator. "Here's your hole", he said and indicated with his shovel. I spoke, though not for the first time, "You want me to... Get in there?" "You need to grow", he said, gesturing again, and my fear slightly softened. "Ohhhhhh!" I affected nervously. "You want me to grow a tree or something? Sure, that sounds great! But--oh, wait.. I didn't bring any seeds..." SomeOne else offered me something in passing. I received it, hoped it was seeds, and tossed it into the hole. The Others seemed to be growing in number. Their dances and interdances grew loud and drew close, and I felt that their focus was all on me. My grasp loosened as I was knocked out of stability and into mobility. I hurried with split focus from one event to the next, then from it in turn. I noticed the hole remained empty. One cut through the chaos with hypnagogic musings, which offered a comforting perspective and again helped me soften as I listened. But long past were the moments when I was only an Observer as the Others danced and took shape. Now their forms and figures blurred once more into the noise of the setting. Becoming unreadable. I had no choice but to dive into the hole. Another brief passage of stillness and quiet and darkness and cold. Of course my curious head popped back up before long, and of course the Dance continued. In the faceless crowd, I recognized the Excavator again. "Time to grow" he said and began to shovel dirt onto me. "I have to stay here?" I protested. "What is this?" "Water" he replied as he hydrated the soil around me. It must have been the Giver who emerged from the crowd then as well and began to pour pre-packaged soil nutrients straight from the bag. I heard the voice of the Archivist once more. "Here, come this way. You should come over here" she urged and repeated, indicating toward the archive. Forgetting my previous failings, my curiosity led me toward climbing out of the plot, but my roots had already begun to take hold. Try as I might, I could not escape this position. When I turned to face the Excavator once more, he took a new shape over me and said "sunshine!". Now high above ground level, he shined light down on me, and my tension was relieved by the warmth. I released a deep sigh. "Yeah, okay, I could be a tree", I conceded, content. My animal faded and my body went dormant. Soon, slowly, the tree began to grow. I felt its trunk expand at a pace I would have once considered stillness. I felt its branches outstretch and its leaves unfurl. Finally I felt its flowers bloom as the Dance rejoiced.