Dreamwalker

I stare at Jeremy for a few moments, trying to collect my thoughts.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I manage to say confused. He shakes his head.

"Listen, I'm going to explain everything. It's going to take a while so why don't we find somewhere comfortable to sit?" I look around, and quickly find several hammock-like chairs swinging by a wooden castle. We both sit, Jeremy leaning back in his chair and tapping his finger against his knee as his eyebrows are pulled low over his eyes. After about a minute of thinking, he begins to talk, slowly at first.

"I guess I should first explain what a Dreamwalker is." He pauses to contemplate, then continues. "A Dreamwalker is someone who is naturally good at lucid dreaming, they're a natural at creating dreamscapes and falling into theta sleep. Theta sleep, is the state your brain is in when you begin to dream. Once we fall asleep, our brains produce different frequencies than when we are awake. Delta brainwaves are produced when we are in a deep, almost comatose sleep. When our brain produces Theta brainwaves, it also creates REM, or rapid eye movement. This is what happens when we dream, this is when we are able to dream, and lucid dream. You following?" I nod.

"Okay good. Now, when the brain is producing Theta brainwaves, and when we have REM, we have the ability to dream, once we're dreaming, and we know we're dreaming, it is possible for the dreamer to become lucid, to realize they're dreaming, and take control of what happens in the future of the dream.

Lucid dreaming can be difficult without constant practice and starting habits such as reality checks, looking at a clock and then checking it again to see if it displays the same time, looking into a mirror to see if you can see your reflection, flipping a light switch, that sort of thing. Now, Dreamwalkers naturally have the ability to dream lucidly, we can fall into Theta sleep if we concentrate hard enough, and we have no problems becoming Lucid the instant we are in our dreamscape.

Now dreamscapes are what the Dreamwalkers create, it's their world, their new reality, their escape. For you, it's this park." I look around at the peaceful park, then I turn to Jeremy.

"What's your dreamscape?" He smiles slightly and shakes his head.

"That's another story. Let me finish explaining everything." I nod, and settle back into my hammock chair. Jeremy takes a moment to collect his thoughts then begins again.

"Now an experienced Dreamwalker can create entire worlds for their dreamscapes, change them with the blink of an eye, or even change someone else's dreamscape. Now this is where we get to the complicated part.

Experienced Dreamwalkers may be able to enter the dreamscape of other people, and they are able to change it if they want. Most choose not to, but there are some who seek to destroy the dreamscapes of others, to conquer them for themselves.

You called me a Dream Wraith when I first showed up. How much do you actually know about them?" I'm surprised by this question, but I do my best to answer.

"From what I've learned, a Dream Wraith is a creation of your mind, something that dwells in your subconscious thought, it could be a fear, something embarrassing, a hidden desire, something that you would try to keep locked deep in your subconscious. Wraiths appear sometimes in your dream, most of the time all on their own, and they can cause lucid dreamers to lose control of their dream." Jeremy nods.

"That's good information, but it's only part of the truth." He rubs his hands together and then rests them on his knees. He takes a deep breath and continues.

"Dream Wraiths do appear in your dreamscape, most often as some repressed memory or thought, but they aren't a creation of your mind, they are actual beings. Wraiths are Dreamwalkers gone bad, they started out creating mischief in other peoples dreamscapes, and then to actually cause harm.