This dream starts at a beach that is like any in Australia. I am walking along the promenade and I look up to see a huge mountain just next to the beach. I don't recognise where I am but I start heading towards the mountain. I turn off the road into a small track which is not signposted, and the track starts to wind up the mountain.
Suddenly I see someone I recognise - a family friend's son that I met many years ago just on a few occasions. He is on a side path and walks towards me, waving. I stop and he says that he wants to climb the mountain too, but he knows a shortcut.
We go towards the side path that he is taking and soon it begins to descend. I am puzzled by the road heading downhill when we are trying to climb the hill, but he tells me to be patient. We come to an impossibly large boulder which blocks the view of everything beyond it. With great difficulty, I climb up the boulder and when I am standing on top, the other side is a crevasse dropping into a dark murky depth. He reaches down and pulls on a rope which is secured to a bolt, then starts to climb down the rope.
I follow him on the rope and we descend slowly, first down the other side of the boulder, then down many other rocks until the sky disappears and we are completely surrounded by darkness. I realise that we have no source of light, and feel rather anxious. Nevertheless, the man I am with is very confident and tells me to be patient again.
With a thud my foot hits something solid. It is the sandy ground - I stand on with my feet on the firm surface and look around in vain, straining to see something. Slowly I make out the shape of the man and he seems to be about a metre away, feeling the rock surface. I shuffle towards him and realise that he is grasping metal anchors in the rock, which serve as a makeshift ladder up the rocks.
Why must we climb up the rocks when we just climbed down them? I think, somewhat confused and angry.
The man is already gone though, so I quickly reach for the same metal anchors, climbing with all fours slowly up the rock. Each anchor is spaced just so that it is quite easy to find.
Suddenly, the anchor I am holding gives way and comes loose in the rock. I feel a sudden overwhelming sense of panic as I am already many many metres from the bottom. I clutch at another anchor, terrified that I will fall to my death. As I pull myself up further, more anchors start to fall away, randomly from any of my limbs but only one at a time so I cling terrified to the rest. I experience a complete utter helplessness and despair, as if my life was coming to an end right there. I cannot see the man anymore, in fact I can make out nothing around me.
Still, I have no choice but to keep climbing, so I persevere even though I am slipping every few movements. After an infinitely long time, I see a light in the distance which is not on top of my head (where the sky should be) but across the way as if from the mouth of a cave. I am excited and start to think about how I can get there. I move my hands and feet sideways to try to edge closer to the light.
Then suddenly everything gives way, I fall and wake up.
Suddenly I see someone I recognise - a family friend's son that I met many years ago just on a few occasions. He is on a side path and walks towards me, waving. I stop and he says that he wants to climb the mountain too, but he knows a shortcut.
We go towards the side path that he is taking and soon it begins to descend. I am puzzled by the road heading downhill when we are trying to climb the hill, but he tells me to be patient. We come to an impossibly large boulder which blocks the view of everything beyond it. With great difficulty, I climb up the boulder and when I am standing on top, the other side is a crevasse dropping into a dark murky depth. He reaches down and pulls on a rope which is secured to a bolt, then starts to climb down the rope.
I follow him on the rope and we descend slowly, first down the other side of the boulder, then down many other rocks until the sky disappears and we are completely surrounded by darkness. I realise that we have no source of light, and feel rather anxious. Nevertheless, the man I am with is very confident and tells me to be patient again.
With a thud my foot hits something solid. It is the sandy ground - I stand on with my feet on the firm surface and look around in vain, straining to see something. Slowly I make out the shape of the man and he seems to be about a metre away, feeling the rock surface. I shuffle towards him and realise that he is grasping metal anchors in the rock, which serve as a makeshift ladder up the rocks.
Why must we climb up the rocks when we just climbed down them? I think, somewhat confused and angry.
The man is already gone though, so I quickly reach for the same metal anchors, climbing with all fours slowly up the rock. Each anchor is spaced just so that it is quite easy to find.
Suddenly, the anchor I am holding gives way and comes loose in the rock. I feel a sudden overwhelming sense of panic as I am already many many metres from the bottom. I clutch at another anchor, terrified that I will fall to my death. As I pull myself up further, more anchors start to fall away, randomly from any of my limbs but only one at a time so I cling terrified to the rest. I experience a complete utter helplessness and despair, as if my life was coming to an end right there. I cannot see the man anymore, in fact I can make out nothing around me.
Still, I have no choice but to keep climbing, so I persevere even though I am slipping every few movements. After an infinitely long time, I see a light in the distance which is not on top of my head (where the sky should be) but across the way as if from the mouth of a cave. I am excited and start to think about how I can get there. I move my hands and feet sideways to try to edge closer to the light.
Then suddenly everything gives way, I fall and wake up.
