Dreamtime

I found myself surrounded by a cold, white fog. It seemed to stretch out for miles in every direction. I shivered, rubbing my arms briskly to keep warm. I was clad only in the underwear I was wearing when I went to bed.

Where am I? …Didn’t I go to sleep? Where is Hideki?

I yelped as a hand suddenly clasped onto my arm.

“Michelle!” an irritated male voice snapped. “It’s me!”

I turned to stare at Hideki, who was rubbing his own bare arms. “Where are we?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Beats me.“ he answered. “The last thing I remember is falling asleep beside you. And then ending up here.” he glanced at the swirling fog, still rubbing his own arms.

“You’re in the dreamtime.” a female voice spoke faintly in the distance.

“Who is that?” I asked, unable to see anything or anyone beside us in the swirling fog. I stepped forward, trying to locate where the voice had come from.

The fog cleared abruptly. I found the two of us standing in a room. I looked around at my surroundings. The walls were painted varying shades of pink, with a large stone fireplace at the far wall. The room felt very welcoming, and strangely familiar though I couldn’t place it. A brown suede sofa was nearby, and I saw somebody reclining gracefully on it.

…Shao Len? What was *she* doing here? She seemed to be wearing the clothing of a Japanese priestess, a white wrap top and flowing red pants. Her long hair pooled behind her on the seat. Whereas Hideki and I were clad only in our underclothes. I gasped, and raised my arms over my chest, quickly trying to cover up.

Shao Len giggled. “There’s no need for that.” she reassured me. “Do you remember seeing my body earlier?”

I nodded. That incident had embarrassed the hell out of me.

“Your body is similar to mine. Therefore it’s nothing that I haven’t seen before.”

I kept my arms raised over my chest. “That’s all well and good, but where are we? Last thing I remember is falling asleep.”

You don’t recognize it?” Shao Len prompted. “I would think the pink walls would be a dead giveaway. You are in the house of a friend that you practice meditation with weekly. I thought this might be a good place to start your training.”

“What training?” I asked suspiciously. Have I completely lost my mind?

“Your first lesson will be learning how to quite your mind through meditation.” Shao Len explained. “Which I know that you’ve done before. This is just more practice, to help you deal with negative emotions.”

I nodded. I may be dreaming, but what she said made sense. And I could use the practice. “But..” I had to ask, the question was driving me crazy. “How did we get here?”

“Have you ever heard of a theory called ’dreamtime’?” Hideki spoke from behind me, making me jump. I shook my head no.

Hideki had settled onto the couch, and looked perfectly at ease in his underwear. Am I the only one who feels a little weird being in her underwear in this place?

“The dreamtime theory is that our spirits are not anchored to our physical body. Our ghosts, if you will.” Hideki explained. “Our.. Souls leave our body during sleep to go to different realms of existence. And there are purportedly an unknown number of realms. For example, the spirit realm, the celestial realm, the demon realm, and so on... What people would normally decipher as dreams are actually their subconscious mind remembering these trips out of their bodies.”

“And that has to do with this dream how?” I asked skeptically.

Hideki groaned. “This isn’t a dream. At least, I don’t think it is. How familiar are you with the idea of astral travel?” He gestured for me to come sit next to him, and he pulled me close to warm me.

“Lost me there. I’ve never heard of it.” I buried my head against his bare chest, enjoying the warmth of his body and the sound of his heartbeat.

Hideki paused a moment to consider his answer. “Astral travel is.. Similar to the ‘dreamtime’ theory in the fact that both involve spirits leaving their physical bodies through deep meditation or hypnosis. You’ve tried hypnosis, right?”

I nodded. I had tried it with Hideki and Kenji, one of his friends. I had felt so relaxed afterward, so at ease. It was so different from me having to be constantly on guard around my family and friends. Hideki was one of the few people I felt I could be myself around, that I didn’t have to hide anything from.

“Astral travel occurs through a similar experience.” Hideki continued, watching Shao Len. She nodded her encouragement, motioning for Hideki to continue. “A person has to be in deep hypnotic trance for astral travel to occur. They would have to be willing to temporarily cut their connections to their physical body to even be able to move.”


“Why are you mentioning this?“ I asked. “Is this what has been happening here? Is this real?” I raised my head to look around the room. Shao Len smiled and nodded an affirmative from her position on the sofa. She seemed content to let Hideki do the talking.

I kept my arms up over my chest, shivering in the air conditioning of the room. Why is it warm weather always prompts people to turn their air conditioners down to zero? Hideki pulled me back against his chest, rubbing my arms.

Shao Len rose gracefully from the sofa, her red pants flowing with the movement. Taking a firestarter from the mantle of the fireplace, she carefully lit one end of the closest log, moving it into place with fire tongs. I started to relax as soothing heat began to fill the room.

“You’ve done a lot of meditation practice in this particular room.” Shao Len explained. “I thought that bringing you to this particular house would be suitable for what I am about to teach you tonight.”
She rose off the sofa, walking over to the fireplace where logs lay stacked and waiting. Picking up a firestarter from the wooden mantle, she lit one end of the log carefully, moving it into place with a pair of fire tongs. “You’ve never gone into a really deep meditation, correct?” she asked me.

I nodded, curious despite my earlier skepticism.
“Tonight, I’m going to teach you to sense the underlying energies that coexist beside us, but are invisible to the human eye. This is in addition to learning to quiet your mind.”

“Quick question - won’t the people that live here object to strangers lighting fires in their home without their consent?” I pointed out.

Shao Len chuckled. “Don’t worry. They won’t see us. At the moment, you are away from your physical body, as Hideki explained. You are a pure spirit, pure energy. Being creations of God, that is essentially what every soul is before ever inhabiting a physical body. Your teacher once told you that the physical body was only a shell. That the soul was far more than that. Remember?”

I nodded in confirmation, no longer bothering to ask about Shao Len’s extensive knowledge of my past. This has already been strange enough.

“Your teacher was right.“ Shao Len continued, settling back into her place on the sofa, wriggling to get comfortable. “The body truly is only a shell. But a person’s identity is linked to it. Before I go too heavily into more philosophy, let’s get started. Focus on the flame in front of you. You don’t have to chant a mantra or anything, but you’re welcome to do so if it helps you concentrate. Many monks chant mantras to boost power. Just focus, try to quiet your mind, and feel the stillness within.”

I obediently moved off the sofa to settle on a cushion in front of it. I began to stare at the crackling flames, forgetting completely to cover my breasts for the sake of modesty. The soothing washed over me, and I sighed in pleasure. The room was now pleasantly warm. Hideki settled down beside me. I took a deep breath, trying to focus on the flames. After about ten minutes of nearly nodding off, I noticed a faint voice calling my name. I blinked sleepily. Did I just imagine that?

“Who was that?” Shao Len asked, blinking owlishly herself.

“That felt like Kenji.” Hideki answered thoughtfully. He sighed in irritation. “He always does pick the worst times to contact me.” He was silent for a moment. “Hang tight, I think we have a visitor coming.”