Day 4 — This Is What Dreams Are Made Of
Sometimes I feel like I invented the roller coaster.
The very first dream I remember I had of this statement is the one that I had when I was 4 years old. My parents had been separated for as long as I can remember. In fact, I have no recollection of ever seeing them together under one roof. I am the youngest of their three daughters: my eldest sister had always lived with our uncle and aunt. My other sister grew up with our mum down south and my dad and I used to live in the attic of his sister’s (my aunt) house. We did not have central heating or air conditioning to warm the tiny space during the cold winter days.
The night of my first dream was especially cold. My dad had asked me to go to bed but the bed felt cold and I insisted on sleeping with him. He got out of his bed and pulls out the old flatiron from underneath the bed and starts ironing my mattress. It was instantly warm and toasty- he always had the best tricks up his sleeves, I thought. Anyways, I went back to bed, and then I dreamt of my dad and me on a bus on our way to meet mum. The funny thing is that the bus was not on the road nor on any sturdy surface: It was mid-air but there was no sky above us nor any ground below. We were just floating around in nothingness. All of a sudden the roof of the bus was blown away and we were all screaming while the bus just kept moving up and down in loops. That was it. That was the first dream I remember.
Now the reason why I think I invented the roller coaster is that when I was 4, I had never seen a roller coaster nor heard of it. We did not even have TVs back then so there was no way I could have seen it on the TV. In fact, Bhutan had its first TV when I was 9 and my family bought our first when I was 11. We also don’t have roller coasters in Bhutan (I think).
The second dream that I think remotely touches the idea of a roller coaster is the dream I had when I was in 2nd grade and our homeroom teacher had given us 30 mins for a nap. This time I was alone and riding a log mid-air. The log would glide through the rivers and above the monasteries and I could see ants like people yelling and waving at me. Of course, these dreams don’t justify me thinking I invented the roller coaster but it is fascinating to me that my earliest recollection of dreams was of concepts that were alien to me. I don’t think I had even watched my first movie at that age to think that movies and ads could have given me ideas.
Today, my dreams are as vivid as the light of day but I could kill to dream of something that original.
This article is part of the 2021 HENNGE Advent Calendar. An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting down the days till Christmas. 2021 HENNGE Advent Calendar presents one article by one HENNGE member per day for 25 days until Christmas, 2021
