I woke up in the middle of the night after a strange dream. I considered writing it down, but this usually interrupts my sleep cycle and the dream was so strange that I thought there would be little chance of forgetting it. So I rehearsed it in memory three times and went back to sleep.
As soon as I woke up in the morning I knew I had a dream to remember, but no amount of effort could bring back the content. I went about my day and at some point I came across DMT elves on my Twitter feed, and somehow this jogged my memory and I thought “apes”. And then, like a rope that one pulls from a dark well, the dream appeared in a bucket:
I was a primitive homo species; half ape, half human. A shaman doctor offered me the possibility of transplanting my brain (and thus my consciousness) to another body, but for this I would need to kill one of my fellow apes with a blow to the head.
I climbed a rocky hill and lifted a large rock, which I dropped on an unsuspecting ape below me. I killed him instantly, and went down to retrieve the body. As I came near the corpse I looked up, and saw another ape hurling a boulder in my direction. For a split second I understood the shaman had offered the same deal to this ape, and I would be the victim of the very same desire that I was seeking to satisfy. The blow hit me squarely in the head and I fell to the ground. I brought myself up, but soon slumped into unconsciousness.
The next scene was an amphitheater. On the floor were two large marble blocks, each with the silhouette of an ape carved in. The shaman carried each body, mine and my killer, and placed them on the marble blocks. He incanted a ceremony and performed the surgery.
When I woke up I was surprised to find myself alive. I had another’s ape brain inside my skull, yet my consciousness was distinctly mine. I looked at myself and saw that I was wearing a suit. I no longer acted like an ape and was capable of civilized behavior.
Though there is meaning behind the dream, it is irrelevant. It stands as a short story on its own and it’s kinda cool I think.
After breakfast I went to the nearest study hall. I couldn’t focus much. Sometimes I suffer from unspecified psychological pain, and I know it alleviates through meditation (and Tylenol too, but I prefer meditation), so I decided head off to the study hall I discovered yesterday, which has a chapel where I wanted to meditate.
On my way there I was laboriously pedaling uphill when three girls in horse riding gear asked for help: they had a flat tire. They must have been between 16 and 18 years old. I let them know I had never changed a tire, but I’ve seen it many times, and I felt confident I could do it. After some googling about the precise spot where to place the jack I was surprised it actually went so smooth.
Some guy appeared thinking I was hit, since I was on the floor. I asked him if he had changed a tire but he sped off saying “every car is different”, which I knew was an excuse not to help, but I just wanted some verification that I was doing things right!
After the change was done they said thanks, and one of them looked at me in a particularly kind and grateful way. I was amazed at the effect: my psychological pain was immediately lifted, I smiled profusely and thanked them. I bid farewell and head to the chapel.
I don’t know how long I meditated, but when I came out I was calm, clear headed and saw that the day was beautiful. I might as well bike some more to the next library. I pedaled an additional 8Km, most of it downhill, and was concerned because I would have to pedal uphill all the way back.
I arrived to a large building where I haven’t been before. The study hall of this library was massive and also packed. I’ve been to 50 different study halls in Madrid, and this was by far the largest. It also had nice large windows and natural light. Should it be closer to home this would be one of my regular spots, for sure.
I was finally able to focus better, got some work done. Then I got hungry, had lunch outside, and head off to a second library which I wanted to check out. It was much more modest and it smelled funky. Not worth it, but worth the exploration.
The way back seemed downhill again, thankfully. I also caught sight of a beautiful sunset.