Over the past three weeks, something very strange has been happening to me. I've never had a thing like this happen, and I have no real clue what's caused it. I've been remembering things long forgotten - dreams I had years ago. Every day, it seems, I remember at least one part of a dream that has laid unnoticed in a dark corner of my mind since the day I woke up after dreaming it, however long ago that may have been. These are dreams that I've never thought about before, and now, they're all coming back to me at once.
Most of what I'm remembering is visual - places, spaces that I've created and moved through in my mind. Most of them are based in some way, shape, or form on areas of downtown Ottawa. It's recognizably the same sort of space - it has that feeling of familiarity in my mind, but the physical specifics are often very different. And sometimes, of course, this non-Ottawa serves as a sort of gateway within my dreams to places far removed from any sort of world that I have ever known.
I remember one quite clearly. I was moving alongside that stretch of land just south of Ottawa University, where the Transitway and the Rideau Canal are side by side. Yet, it was a blasted red wasteland of old brick buildings. A few surviving walls or sections of houses poked stubbornly out of the rubble, outstretched like refusing fists towards the unearthly sky of blood. And yet... as I walked through this bizarre landscape, it changed before my eyes - a shroud was pulled away and where moments before was desolate ruin, now was a land of unrivalled richness and natural beauty, the kind now relegated to fanciful tales, full of magic and life. But I couldn't stay long...
16 years ago
