Date: 15-01-2024
Last night early in the morning I dreamt I woke up next to D, and had to go to work for the Sinterklaas celebration. We would be travelling by touring cars, departing from school, to a mystery location. The school was VSC, and it was unclear whether I was the teacher or student. Our house was situated near the school, the window of our bedroom would overlook the school courtyard. Our house looked differently, but elements were the same. It looked kind of fairytale-ish. As I laid there waking up I saw a figure being projected on the wall. It looked like someone had edited the “greedy Jew” meme with Sinterklaas attire. I knew they (friends from school) were doing this, perhaps playing a prank on me knowing I sleep near that window. D had noticed it too, and I explained to her what I thought was going on, but then noticed that our wall paper also sported a figure that with squinted eyes looks like that. I wasn’t sure what I had seen now.
I got up and went to the other room. It was dimly lit by decorative lights D had put there, in decorative bottles. It looked quite nice honestly, and it meant I could move about without having to switch on the bigger light, allowing my eyes to get used to light slowly. I looked outside through the bathroom window and saw the front porches of all the houses looked very different. Where the kitchen window is normally now were large glass sliding doors. The neighbour opposite to us on the corner even had hers opened just slightly. The weather must’ve been warmer than expected. I put on my clothes and went to go to school. But to go there, I had to crawl under cramped holes in wooden walls a few times. And every time I made it through, I realised I forgot to bring something from the other side. I was running late.
And the travel time was apparently at least half an hour by bus, and I know why. After I had found my way to the next room, I had to traverse a distance of about 50 metres through what I can only describe as a magical forest. This magical forest was inside my house, but once inside you were in the outside with this forest and its many creatures. I then had to find my way towards some wooden tree house, climb in through the many small doors and rooms, and eventually would end up in my parents’ old house in Amersfoort. I would end up in the kitchen should I succeed. From there I had to journey to VSC with public transportation. But I never got there. I tried though but I needed to take a very specific route to the tree house, and inside I too needed to enter the rooms in a specific succession. And I didn’t know the right order at all. It didn’t help I also felt rushed because I was running late.
I walked back and forth towards the tree house and was occasionally bullied by a group of magical lizard crows. They were shiny black. Their feathers were thick and had lizard scales. They looked quite fascinating actually, but they were bullying me, flying at me, picking me with their beaks. But they were a minor nuisance, I didn’t really pay too much attention to them, and was actually focussed on my task. Whenever they came back, I just squatted them away as if they were flies. They would retreat to the low treetops, even those on the tree house. But I just couldn’t find the right sequence of route. I climbed over and through thick bushes, even though there was a path. But I already tried that path a few times now with no success. And after a while, I gave up. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it. There was no way I was going to be on time. Now these scaly birds got my attention. Maybe the answer laid with them? This was a magical forest after all. So I approached the tree house again, and pretended to give it another try. But I was actually positioning myself in such a way I could gain height fast and jump them.
I climbed the tree house from the outside, and noticed the trees themselves in this forest had reptilian properties. The leafs were scaly too, and they looked dark greenish. Spikes and thorns also were scales. It was actually very beautiful. The biologist in me was truly curious about how this works physiologically. How did this evolve? What does ‘the tree of live’ of this reality look like? But I had other things on my mind. I wanted to figure out how to get out of there. The urgency was gone. I was too late. The touring cars left without me. I had accepted this ‘defeat’ if you will. But in order to get back home I too needed to fulfil some quest and I thought these reptilian birds held the key. Oh, by the way; there was no panic or danger or any thing. I felt fine. So, I got near the top of the tree house. I could hear the birds squeak loudly. They had no idea of my plan. As soon as I jumped up on the treetops they froze in place for a second, just to disperse in panic.
“Hahaaaaa!” I exclaimed, and grabbed one of the birds that didn’t get away quick enough. But nothing happened? Meanwhile the other birds were still in the process of fleeing, and were tumbling over each other to get into a flight position. So I grabbed another with my other hand. Nothing. Another, now holding two birds in one hand. And another with the other. Still, nothing. I started collecting birds as if they were logs laying on the ground. They didn’t even try to get away once I held them. I collected them and kept picking them up, carrying them on my arms, and under my armpits. I really got carried away with it, but I noticed some of the birds were smarter than I thought. Much smarter. They evaded me and even tried to communicate with me telepathically. But I didn’t allow it and was very emersed in my game. Until I discovered why the birds were so easy to pick up. They laid piled up in front of me to keep me from finding something. There was something under the pile of birds from which I was collecting them. It was in stealth mode, and it de-cloaked when I picked it up. Some of the birds (the smart ones) looked at me and contacted me again telepathically. What I held in my hand was a big black leather glove.
But this was not a glove made for a human. It clearly was alien. It had more digits, and some digits even had more digits themselves. I distinctly remembered the thumb and pinky both had 3 more digits. The smart birds tried to encourage me to put it on, but I still somehow blocked two way communication. Still, I was curious. I put my hand in, and tried to find a way for my fingers to settle in one of the pouches in a way that seemed most fitting. It was a bit awkward but eventually I found a way, but then I felt a little pinch in my right pinky. I pulled out. There was a little caterpillar that was eating its way under my skin. I pinched it between my nails and pulled it out. It was a white caterpillar with a reddish brown head, and was otherwise quite featureless. I was a bit shocked, but still a bit in a playful mood. What was this? Could this be some alien parasite? Is this why some of those birds are so smart and telepathic? I wasn’t sure. Somehow I thought this could be a parasite that would turn its host into a being that would fit that glove. But it could also be an innocent larvae that was hiding in the glove. Should I kill it?
I didn’t want to kill an innocent creature, but if this was in fact an alien parasite I thought it be better if it didn’t find a host. So I decided to end it. Take no chances. If it was innocent it would’ve died eventually with all these birds everywhere anyway. And it did after all try to crawl under my skin. In one swift move I squashed it under my feet. I was now somehow no longer in the trees but on a concrete floor in a featureless white alleyway, with the occasional window and door here and there. The intelligent telepathic birds were still there looking at what I was doing with interest, still trying to connect to me, but I was still not acknowledging them. Because I didn’t want to risk another caterpillar incident, I checked all the finger pouches, and in one of them I felt a blockade. There was something lodged in there, which I started to try to push out. It felt big, filling the pouch. But it were random items; a toy car, a piece of glass, random things of no interest. I cleared out the pouch and tried on the glove. When I put it on, I found the best way to fit it quicker. And as I had it on, I saw two more laying cloaked near where the smart birds were. I could see through the cloak, and I think that was because of wearing one such glove.
I am not entirely sure but I think in the dream the birds were under the control of the gloves, or the gloves excerpted some kind of influence over them. In the dream it wasn’t evident but looking back I think this is why they got to be so seemingly smart. The glove I had was a right hand. With it on I seemed to be able to control certain things of reality. The flow of time could be sped up or even slowed down, I could erect force fields, things like that. Though I knew I could do those things, I had no idea how. Through pure luck I found out that if I were to signal someone to come to me, time would slow down and come to a halt for a few seconds, just to speed up faster to catch up with the time around it. It was amazing, but I could not reproduce it. But what if I had two gloves? I turned to the birds and picked the up the glove that was a lefty. Through the power of the first glove I could see there were no caterpillars or other surprises waiting for me inside. I put it on. There I stood with these huge things on my hand, like I was a young boy who tried on daddy’s motor gloves. I now felt like I had a better understanding of how to wield this alien technology, but I still was untrained.
It seemed to require a certain level of skill to master these abilities. I was able to better perform my ‘slow down time’ trick, and I started pranking people on the street with it, slowing down time, placing things around them somewhere else, releasing my hold on time, and then watching on as they stood there all confused. The smart birds had now turned into people and they stood there as if they were having fun, clapping their hands with every new trick I performed. It was a really delightful and fun situation and I felt like I was a child with a toy. I woke up because of the noise of hail on the bedroom window.
