Sleep Lab

“Oh my God! It worked! I was there! I was actually there!!” Aaron leapt from the bed and tore off the sensors attached to his head. He raced over to the EEG machine and tried to look over Sandy's shoulder as she ripped off the readout and started pulling at the pile of paper that had accordioned on the floor behind the machine.

“What did it show? Could you tell? I wasn't dreaming, I'm sure of it. It was just so real.”

Aaron's friend Tim was hunched over his laptop, fast-forwarding through video of Aaron asleep on the bed. “I don't think so, but it's so hard to tell. We didn't pick up an eye movements, though.”

Sandy had her high-lighter out and was starting to put yellow marks on sections of the graph as Aaron paced around the room. “We're definitely seeing more cortex activity than would be typical during REM and I'm not picking up the spikes in the temporal lobe we saw in your baseline, but people can dream anywhere in the sleep cycle, not just during REM. How much can you remember? Dreams outside of REM tend to be fleeting and less vivid.”

Aaron plopped down on the bed. “That's just it. This wasn't like any dream I've ever head. It was, like, I dunno, I can't even explain. The colors. The sensations. I mean, I smelled things! Does that even happen in dreams?”

Tim adjusted the cam to point at Aaron and hit record. “Wait. Tell us everything you can remember in as much detail as possible before you forget. What happened? Where were you exactly?”

“It started in a forest around dusk, maybe a little before. I was on a dirt road. It was winding so I couldn't see too far in either direction and I didn't know which way to go. I just stood there trying to get my bearings. It could have been a forest around here, but it just felt different somehow. I could smell pine and peat and a hint of wood smoke. But it wasn't just that. It was, I dunno, more vibrant. There was moss that was greener than any I've ever seen.”

“So it was a pine forest? Were there other trees? Plants?”

“There was undergrowth on one side of the road. Almost like a hedgerow, but wilder. And it wasn't just pine trees. I should have studied the leaves more, I guess, but there was so much to take in. There was one tree, an elm maybe? It's leaves started rustling but I didn't feel any breeze at all and none of the trees around it were moving. There was a little break in the hedge, so I pushed through and went over to it to get a better look. That's when I heard a horse coming. It made me scared. I don't know why, but I hid, crouched down behind the tree. I remember thinking I would stand out like a sore thumb if anyone saw me but I wasn't wearing this.” He waved his hand over the jeans and tee shirt he had on.

“You weren't naked, were you?” Sandy asked. “That might be a sign you were dreaming.”

Aaron turned toward her, but his eyes stayed focused on some middle distance. “My pants were brown, rough, maybe wool. They were a bit scratchy. My shirt was similar, but I had something softer on underneath. I didn't really have time to check. I could hear the rider getting closer, so I was scrunched down as much as I could, trying to stay out of sight. My heart was pounding. I could feel the vibrations of the hooves through the ground as the horse came thundering around the bend. And then it started to slow down as it got closer. I've never been so scared in my life.”

Sandy was high-lighting another section of the EEG. “That was probably happening here. Your amygdala was going haywire.”

Tim looked over the top of his laptop. “Why were you so afraid of this guy? What did you think he could do to you?”

“Seriously, I have no idea. I even thought about standing up and calling out, but if I'd tried, I think my knees would have given out. I heard the horse snort and I almost bolted. It sounded so close. Then way off in the distance a horn started to blow. The horse whinnied and they took off.”

“Horn, like from car?”

“No, man, like a HORN horn. Like some Norwegian viking shit. Arrrrrrrr-OOOOOOO. I managed to get a glimpse of him before he got around the next bend. That horse was massive. The rider had on a cape or jacket or something that was billowing out. It might have had a hood, or maybe he was just hunched forward.”

“What color was it?”

“What, the horse or the cape?”

Sandy said “The horse” as Tim said “The cape” in unison.

“Both dark brown I think. Horse may have been black? It was starting to get darker so I can't be sure. I remember being worried about being stranded out there in the forest over night.”

“Did you have any weapons on you?” Tim asked. “A sword? Bow and arrow?”

“No, nothing. Not even a hunting knife.” Aaron flopped backwards on the bed. “Do you think if I'd had a knife with me when I went under, it would have carried over? We should try that.”

“So what did you do next?” Tim asked as he readjusted the cam to keep it focused on Aaron.

“I crept back to the road and headed toward my right. I know I was following the rider but that's where the horn had come from and I just had this sense that going the other way would have been deeper into the woods and I was starting to get cold. I really, really didn't want to spend the night out there. I started to jog, partly to warm myself up. I must have gone maybe a mile? It couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen minutes when I rounded a bend and could see the edge of the forest. It opened up onto rolling fields with an enormous hedgerow in the distance, like a wall around a medieval town. There was a wagon on the road ahead of me, heading toward the town and I could see a couple of farm hands working in one of the fields, cutting hay. Somehow, with people around, it seemed safe so I left the cover of the forest and followed the road into town. It didn't take long to reach the hedge. There was small house and a gate, but it was open and I didn't see anyone standing guard, or, I dunno, checking papers, so I just went in. The hedge was really massive. It must have been ten feet wide and twice that tall. Inside, the town was bustling. Did I mention the smells? In here it was different, stronger. There was thatch and hay and horse manure and smoke and cooking smells. It was almost intoxicating. I seem to remember that better than anything else. The rest is getting fuzzier. The road I came in on wound it's way through town. I think I went to the right. I was still nervous about being spotted and called out, so I wanted to stick to smaller roads. I don't think I had crossed any streets yet, so I must have been following the hedge row. I don't remember exactly. Fuck. Could it have been a dream? Why can't I remember the town as well as the forest? It was all so real!”

Aaron sat up and stared out the window, trying to concentrate. Tim started to close his laptop but Aaron stopped him.

“Wait, there's more though. There was some noise coming from a side street. I remember crossing the road to take a look. It was narrow, almost like an alleyway. And around a turn, it opened into a small square. I can still picture that – there was a tavern. That's where the noise was coming from. It seemed to be doing a rowdy business. It was very old English looking. Exposed timbers, thatch hanging thickly over the eaves, a couple of chimneys. There were more smells here.” Aaron closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to remember it all.

“It smelled like pipe smoke and beer and, and baked bread and apples. There was a sign hanging out front.”

Sandy jumped in. “Was there a name? Lettering? Did you recognize the language?”

“No. It didn't have any words just a picture. A horse, or maybe a pony, I think. It was a rearing up on its hind legs.”

Tim's eyes grew wide. “Oh my god, Aaron. Do you know what this means! You were in Bree! At the Prancing Pony?!? Oh my god. Oh my god. This can't be happening.”

Aaron sat up on the bed and looked back and forth to his two friends. “It really worked, guys, right? This wasn't a dream.”