Gonyaul's Lucid Dream

Gonyaul saw nothing but darkness. Everything around him was formless and empty. He was standing … no, hovering … in a void that he could not even distinguish where he ended and it began. Directionality was hard to grasp until a slit in the space began to appear. It began to dilate wider the longer he fixed his gaze upon it, until it resembled the shape of an open eye in the fabric of nothingness. Its event horizon dazzled like the sun and the interior was the color and intensity of molten iron. It continued building until like oil paints mixed with too much thinner, began spilling over the edges and cascading like waterfalls outward in three dimensions.

The darkness was separated from the light until all around him was dripping with the hues that resemble a molten glow; yet he was still as black as tar. Those hues cooled in temperature at differing speeds creating a variety of oversaturated colors that resembled a visible ultraviolet radiation spectrum seen mainly to insects. It was then he felt his foot touch something solid, like the ground, and the scene all around him continued to morph into what resembled the meditation ring of his Vauxian home in the Kr'ull jungle.

It looked familiar; however, all the colors were inhumanly vibrant. In addition, there was a whisp of ethereal threads trailing all the edges of everything in sight. It was sometimes hard to distinguish depth as their forms were shifting upon one another. He noticed that wherever his bare feet touched, or his hand reached out to touch, the area would radiate a glow that would ripple outward until it dissipated. Strangely enough, he could consciously touch something directly in front of him, or with the same reach touch the edges of things that also looked like they were way in the distance.

He heard people talking nearby and his curiosity got the better of him. He ambulated closer, however, it felt more like swimming while walking through the space. He saw a little Vauxian boy in the meditation ring wearing nothing but the lower dress-like part of the Arisha Ikeburer. He was shocked at the sight. It was him as a seven year old.

Gonyaul as well could see one of his elders, but he couldn't make out the face. He knew the elder was there, but it was more of a presence and a voice. And he heard the voice say,

"Gonyaul'vaux? You have reached the end of your meditations today?" The voice was deep and full of bass that shook the objects in the space like ripples in the water.

The young boy replied, "Yes Orohc."

"Really, then tell me what your learned from the ten values you were tasked to bring into balance today." The Elder requested doubting the child. The child Gonyaul closed his eyes and began to recite:

"Gratitude. We live with and express gratitude. We do not take for granted what we have experienced and the people we have experienced it with. Excellence. We care about wisdom, preparation and attention to detail. What we do and how we do it matters to us and those we serve. Generosity. We lead the way in generosity in all things: time, talent, attention and resources. Vulnerable. We dare to try, taking risks because our time is short and too much is at stake. Honorable. We communicate honor in all our conversations, attitudes and actions. Humility. We embrace modesty for it prepares our minds to receive knowledge and hearts truth. Obedience. We submit to the authority out of love. Praising. We are are intentional with our words because life-giving words come from a life-giving heart. Effort. We do common things in an uncommon way so that every opportunity will become an advancement. Truthful. We are hope peddlers of truth, living in the real."

By the time the young boy finished speaking. Gonyaul realized that it was not the young boy sitting in the meditation ring anymore but himself. It was not the young boy's voice anymore, it was his own. Nor was he in the presence of just the elder. While he had been listening and ending up speaking, the tree trunks around them were folding open, like origami done in reverse, to reveal doorways with individuals inside. It was Alexis, Islana, Boyce, Nicolaus, Hunter, Wim, and someone else that he couldn't make out because they had disappeared into the beyond of their doorway. They all mirrored the same expression of the Elder. That his answer was not satisfactory.

The Orohc spoke with a commanding voice, "A nice start, but you have more to discern. Close your eyes and continue. I will check back when the sun kisses the tree tops."

Gonyaul watched as the Elder moved away. His curiosity kept getting pulled to the one individual he couldn't discern. To the tree with the empty threshold. He began crawling out of the seated position and became aware he had transformed into a bunny rabbit. Looking back he say his nine year old self still seated and meditating where he just left. He turned back to the empty tree and cautiously went inside.

He came out the other side of the tree human again. Himself perhaps? But there was no jungle in sight, no trees in any direction. It was, as far as the eye could see, plains of tall grass in all directions. The person that he was hoping to identify was no where in sight.

The way the reeds of grass moved made the plains look like an ocean. Fireflies were turning on and off their lights in a syncopated rhythm. The glows continued to float upwards higher and higher until those same fireflies seemed to form into the stars themselves. What he thought was a firefly close to his face, was actually a campfire far in the distance. He took a step and the grasses parted to form Vauxian lettering that continually altered with each new step. He looked to his left to see his horse Amu shaking its head sadly at him. Should he keep going?

When he arrived the camp fire was empty. Deserted? He took another step and found the grasses behind him had ensnared his ankles causing him to fall. He braced for impact; however, didn't hit the ground. Instead he was suspended above the earth by about a foot, immobilized. He was in the jungle again, a bit in his mouth made out of wood. Older this time and it was very obvious that it was tattooing that was taking place. He could see the colors around him heating up and melting back into the sunlike glows. They began snaking like tracks of lava, pooling together around and behind him. Everything was dark, but he could feel the light behind him. Then he could feel the presence of the Luger and in that instant he was once again outside his own body.

Gonyaul was looking at his teenage self pinned down by strands of light with a Luger directly behind him. The Luger was conducting itself very anthropomorphically and held in its paws the items to administer the tattoos. The process began and the pain burned into both versions of Gonyaul's back. The darkness continued to grow more powerful with each strike of the needle spike. He could see that it wasn't the normal tattoos that he was receiving, but what appeared to be a claw mark across the upper back.

The pain shot out from the wound in the lucid dream, like a flashlight beaming from inside him and escaping from those open claw wounds. The darkness though, like water, drowned any light trying to escape and filled every orifice of his being. He gagged on it. And then ....

Gonyaul woke up.