Dreams can be very stressful if you ask me. Some mornings I wake up thanking the dear and fluffy lord that all just didn’t happen. Other mornings it’s the opposite, cursing at the sky that it was only in my mind. Regardless of a dream or nightmare sometimes you’re not going to remember what it was about. Even if you did, it can be tough to figure out why you dreamt what you did.
Last Sunday night I found myself up late after being on the phone with Trish. Monday was a long workday and again I found myself on the phone late but this time with Sam. When I finally did fall asleep I ended up in a bizarre dream which I remember vividly. It started on one of the top floors of the Comcast Center, say 55 stories up.
I was in what seemed like a hotel room towards the inside, far away from the windows. Even from there I could see the great view that looked like this:
I continuing doing whatever I was doing before taking a look at the view again. Except this time something seemed off. I walked all the way up to the window and noticed to the left the skies were very dark and there was something coming. Even if I new it was a dream I would’ve still not believed what I was seeing. Coming towards the city was a massive tidal wave.
In real life the biggest tidal wave ever recorded was 1,720 ft tall in Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958. That’s about equal to 159 stories if it were a building. The Comcast Center is 90 stories tall to the roof, but this wave was at least 200 stories tall. I found myself amazingly calm but I guess I already knew nothing could be done. After first spotting the wave I had about 15 seconds before it got to me. I just calmly stood at the window and watched as this wave got closer. I could tell it wasn’t going to break by the time it got to me but I was pretty sure the force would knock the building over with ease. I was scared and anxious but not panicking. But instead of the worst, something else happened. The wave hit us and continued on but the building stood firm. I was 55 stories high looking through glass windows into what now looked like an aquarium.
After a minute or so the water died down a little and I was above the water level. While I could see some dark skies the residual water from the wave rained like a torrential downpour. For some reason I felt out of danger, now more on the side of excited. I remember thinking how cool this was. And then I saw another wave approaching, identical to the first one. It hit the building and once again I was at Sea-World before it moved on. Once it passed I looked to the left ready for another. But this time I didn’t like what I found. It was a third wave but I immediately knew it was going to break right on top of the building. I immediately felt scared and thought this was going to hurt. I stared up at this giant wave as it crested and started to head straight down at me. I remembered being in the ocean when I was little and seeing a wave a few feet taller than me break. When it hit me it was a little painful and I’d get tossed around for a few seconds before coming up to the surface. Based on that I didn’t think this was going to go well. But amazingly the wave hit and the building was okay. Either the Comcast Center was built with adamantium or my dreams were taking liberties with physics. I didn’t mind as it kept this a dream rather than a nightmare.
I woke up shortly after that and thought all morning about the dream. It was intense and a lot of fun. It wasn’t like the movie 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow where you know everything you’re seeing is computer generated. Since it was a dream it all appeared entirely real and I was in awe of that vision.
As you know first hand, dreams don’t always make sense- you can’t justify why you think or act the way you do. Based on that I had to write off the fact I wasn’t at all concerned with the people on the ground or any of the massive damage that just occurred. I didn’t feel guilty but while thinking about the dream I noticed how I wasn’t paying attention to anything else.
On Tuesday I was talking to Sam again and she asked if I had any strange dreams since I was so overtired. I couldn’t wait to tell her about the tidal wave. She laughed at me and the ridiculousness of it, asking where that all came from. I told her I had no clue but started wondering why I dreamt of a tidal wave. As the week went along I soon forgot about trying to derive the inspiration.
It was Thursday morning all of the sudden. It was still dark as I got ready for work, arriving at the Spring Garden El station around 7am. The sun was peaking as I went up the escalator to wait for the next train. I was still half asleep and checking news on my iPhone when I looked up at the city skyline.
I almost had a heart attack.
It all came back to me in a flash. Rewind back to Monday and how I said it was a very long day. I left work at 4pm and was so tired I could’ve fallen asleep standing up. I got on the El and took it from City Hall to the Spring Garden. Between 2nd and Spring Garden is when the train goes from a subway to an elevated train. On Monday as the train emerged from the tunnel I looked to my left to see the city skyline with a strange arrangement of clouds above it. My first immediate thought was “Man, that looks like a tidal wave.”
I didn’t think anything of it as all I wanted to do was go home and collapse. But on Thursday morning as I waited for the El, I saw the city with that same cloud formation over it. And everything made sense. I took a picture to show what I have been describing:
The sky was completely clear near me but right above the city they just ‘began’ and went back as far as I could see in the horizon, appearing like a wave. A two second glance and a quick passive thought is all it took for that crazy dream. It was a nice conclusion considering it’s hard to get the dream, the recollection and the explanation.
