Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Eaten by sharks

I have this strange recurring dream where I am eaten by sharks.  It used to be the case that I was swimming in murky waters and I would encounter a shark around the size of a tiger shark.  I would defeat it with my Bowie Knife, and it swam away, leaving a trail of blood.  As it swam away, the water would clear, and 25 feet away, looking right at me was a Mako shark that would make Jaws look like a porpoise.  It would swim fairly leisurely up to me, open its mouth and down I would go.  I wouldn't wake up quickly either, so my soul would leave my body, and I would be able to watch the shark finish eating me, and there would not be any pieces of me left in the water, but there would be some blood.

This was mostly inspired by a fear of sharks put there by Jaws and Deep Blue Sea, I'm sure.  If this wasn't the sole source, it was at least a contributor.

Now, more often than not, I am fed to a pair of large sharks, usually Makos or Great Whites, but there have been Hammerheads and Bulls as well.  In tonight's version of the dream, it was Great Whites.  I was thrown into the water (I have no idea from where or by whom, therefore it is just as likely that I fell in accidentally from an unknown place) and set upon in short order by one of them.  I fought with my first assailant with my fists, knowing that I was only prolonging the inevitable, when I was grabbed by the other one.  With that part of my body immobilized, the other one clamped onto the opposite limb.  Short work was made; first I was crippled and, very soon after, torn apart.

The funny thing is, my adrenaline gets going, but I am not afraid when faced with this inevitable.  The sharks are going to win, but I never let them take me down without a fight.  My normal mind panics at the sight of real blood, and I will get light-headed; from there, the room may spin and I will often need to sit down.  In these recent dreams, the ocean gets filled with blood and parts of me are strewn about in the best YouTube-quality shark-feeding-frenzy way.  However, when I wake up, I am not light-headed or terrified, just charged with self-defense adrenaline.

Dreams are funny, but not always laughable...