Friday, December 9, 2011

Story-A-Day #393: Black And White


BLACK AND WHITE

I've heard it is fairly common, but I dream in black and white.  It doesn't dull the overall experience of the dreams, in fact, it makes them more vivid.  Honestly, when I dream, it becomes a hyper-realistic version of what really is.  I close my eyes and drift off into the land of nod, and everything finally starts to exist.

It's weird, I know.  Most people think of black and white as something that only applies to old movies and television programs.  There is an inherent staginess to those productions, a sense of setting and placing that makes those older stories seem somewhat removed from reality.  At least from the reality of today.

When I dream in black and white, it is different.  I can sense and feel things on a level that is far more profound than when I am wandering the waking realm.

A perfect example:

Last night I dreamed that I was a zebra.  Before you ask, no I do not always dream about things that are actually black and white in colour.  In this case, I dreamed that I was a zebra in a petting zoo.

The smell of the grass beneath my hooves was overwhelming; the rumble it created in my stomach a deep, vibrating call to feed.

The smell of the dung from surrounding pens was just as ripe in its pungent earthiness.  It was not necessarily a bad smell, but it was a primal one that echoed back through the ages.

I could see the children staring in at me from outside the thick fence, could smell their human smells both sour and sweet.  When they reached out a tentative hand to stroke my course mane, I could feel the electricity passing between us, the bound of discovery sparking to life.  It was an incredible feeling, unlike any I would ever know in the real world.

That was the gist of it.  A small, simple dream, but one filled with more sensation and reality that I experience in any given moment.  Perhaps it is that heightened realism that causes me to dream in black and white.  Maybe I couldn't handle it all in colour...

No comments:

Post a Comment