Secret Origins of the Man-Beast

Okay, I've promised to reveal more about my dreaming, and how it connects with who I am. This will be a little weird, but I'll have to channel the Real World Self to talk about this. *ahem*

Hello everyone. I used to have your standard dreams -- flying, nudity, running in slow motion, teeth falling out, etc. -- until around the early 90s, when one night changed all that.

I dreamt that I was walking toward my house in Honolulu, at night, looking out through my eyes. After a while, I noticed that my viewpoint was suddenly a lot closer to the ground than it normally is, and that I was moving a lot faster. In fact, I'd gained an incredible agility and strength -- to the point where I was bounding along the street of my hometown, virtually free of gravity, making prodigious leaps up to treetops and flipping, rolling, and tumbling all over the place. The sense of freedom and exhilaration was incredible.

The next thing I knew, I was hiding in the foyer of my house, looking out the screen door at some strangers who were partying on my lawn. Still night, with the full moonlight outlining everything in a pearlescent glow. I felt an amazingly strong sense of territoriality and anger. Before I knew I'd done it, I was out the door and amongst them, attacking them, ripping them to pieces in my righteous fury to get the invaders out of my home. Again, the strength and speed I felt were utterly unlike anything I'd ever experienced before, even in dreams. I felt no remorse, no horror at what I was doing, only a sense of justice.

From that night forward, with extremely rare exception, I've dreamt only of being that other self. Powerful, able, calm, and somehow right.

Hi, Akela here. As you've already guessed, he's talking about being me. I'll continue this tomorrow. Jess, will this do?

Oh, incidentally, I've been remiss in not giving proper credit to those who've written the fine lyrics I list at the end of my posts, so I'll correct that with this one, and be good about it going forward. See you all tomorrow.

All around me darkness gathers,
Fading is the sun that shone;
We must speak of other matters:
You can be me when I'm gone
-- Neil Gaiman