Dream Journal

3/14/19 Beluga

I was a Beluga whale in an open outdoor aquarium with other Belugas and penguins. The aquarium wrapped around like a moat the enormous building that housed the remaining sea life. The water wasn't very deep, but it was so blue and clear, like a pool in the warm sun. There was also a platform covering a fourth of the surface between opposite sides of the moat where the employees would do shows. Part of the building hung over a bit of the platform like a balcony.
I was chasing someone, which is the most confusing part of the dream because I don't know who it was or why I was following them. But as I swam around the circle, I passed a show that was going on with my fellow Belugas. For a moment I was worried that I was supposed to be with them, but nobody stopped me so I kept going. I then happened upon an employee who was standing in the pool holding a tablet under the water. I assumed she was making a live video for the attendants inside the building. I felt obligated to stop and play with the camera for a bit as the girl naturally talked about Belugas.
I then carried on, gliding through the clear water, glancing at the penguins who liked to skim along the outer wall of the pool. When I came into the shade of a large sky bridge just above the water, I somehow entered the building.
The interior was enormous and open with carpeted floors, large glass windows and double doors, and a huge staircase that wrapped around the main area, spiraling up to the top floor. A large centerpiece of plate-sized pendents made of jingle shells suspended by strings dangled from the ceiling over the open center of the spiral. The bottom floor (the lobby) held cash registers stationed at the base of the open center. The interior was brightly lit by the natural light that spilled in from the many glass panels.
I could still swim as if the air was water as I chased this person who was now a young boy. I believe at this point I was trying to stop him from doing something bad. As he ran up the stairs, I dove upward through the center space towards the chandelier and glided over the railing on the top floor. He was headed to a set of double doors before I stopped him in his tracks and began nipping at him with my beak, squeaking and crying.
I suppose by now I should've mentioned that the sounds I made must've been solely inspired by the Chinese animated film Big Fish and Begonia, in which their dolphins squealed in beautiful high-pitched cries like eagles. I'd squeak every so often, but this time it was out of distress.
After multiple attempts to keep him back by biting and pulling him down, I swam through the doors and tried to lock them (despite having flippers) behind me via a small switch at the bottom end of the door that closed inward. But the boy watched me do it so he could immediately unlock them.
The room inside was small and a little darker, supposedly for the aquariums that could get by with artificial lighting. But I don't remember anything after that part, because I eventually ended up at the base of the building in the lobby by the registers. My sister Rebekah was working one of them, so I swam up to her trying to warn her of something, but she couldn't translate my squeals. She could see, however, that I was in distress, so she left her register to follow me. As she climbed up the stairs, I swam up the center space again, and upon reaching the highest floor we peered down over the railing.
There was another me down where the registers were, as if I duplicated there and left it when I swam upward. But it didn't feel strange for some reason. In fact, I was sorrowful for it, crying out as it was surrounded by a crowd. There wasn't a genuine reason for me to be sad, as the people were treating it well and being kind. I guess I just felt bad that it was being overcrowded.
We then carried on, but I don't remember anything after that.