Have you ever had a dream that stuck with you?

Over the years, I’ve had multiple dreams that I barely remembered when I woke up, but I found it much easier to recall if I wrote it down. Even years later, I’ve found random post-it notes with a brief description of something random, then, suddenly, the dream would come flooding back into my mind’s eye. It’s a fascinating, if occasionally disturbing, experience.

I’ve actually had a couple that I wished I could forget, and I’m going to be working those into my first book series. I’ve largely based the first character off of me, though he will definitely be his own person. This first book will be much more grounded, even though it is a supernatural mystery/thriller. I’m not sure about the thriller part, but we’ll see.

One thing about dreams that people have considered over the years is the possibility of precognition: the ability to perceive the future. I’ve had dreams in the past that made zero sense until I caught up with the moment. And I’m not talking about something that happened at work, then suddenly happened again: I’d dream years prior to an assignment that I was in that office, but didn’t recognize it until I caught up to the moment I was doing something. Ironically, because those moments were so mundane, I never seemed to bother writing them down. I wish I had; the second I’d resolved to start writing them down to see if precognition was real, they stopped happening. Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t take to drawing when I was younger; the chance to draw what I was seeing might have helped me years ago to determine if I was actually seeing something in the future or just crazy. Maybe I am just crazy. I like to think I have a gift I’m not allowed to use; it exists to use me. But that would require something important to happen; which is why I’m exploring that idea in the safe setting of a book.

Have you had a dream that felt prophetic or connected to something more than just a fleeting subconscious exercise? Once, when I was younger, I was struggling with some nightmares. I’d lost my beagle, Piper, to a stroke and I was sleeping alone for one of the first times since I was a boy. I had a nightmare about a snarling beast chasing me, and I even woke up to feel like its breath was still on my neck. I must have been half-asleep, because I could have sworn it was standing right at the side of my bed. I quickly closed my eyes and pictured Piper, trying to conjure her to take the beast’s place. After a bit of time, I must have fallen asleep. Instead of being chased by the beast, I remember finding myself in an open field, where Piper was laid out napping on a bed of flowers. They were obliterated; she was always choosing destruction like that. I curled up next to her and held her again, and afterward I woke up fully rested and fear-free. I saved a picture of her to my camera, and would use it as a background image whenever I felt lonely. I think keeping her around in this way helped me to cope with her passing, and it helped give me a few more nights of peaceful sleep. I’m not plagued so much by nightmares nowadays, but I am curious to see if I can start taking my mind on more adventures when I lay my head to rest at night.