(Male, 30’s) The first strange thing about this nightmare is that it’s about winter and and being cold and right now, it’s July and I’m anything but cold. The second thing that’s strange is that I didn’t realize it was a nightmare or really even a dream when it first started.
It was winter, a gray overcast day, rather late in the day because nothing was very bright. There was a good cover of snow on the ground, though it wasn’t fresh because the roads were well traveled. I was in a rural area, not a farmer’s field because it was more rustic. There was brown scrub poking up out of the snow in places, brush and a enough clumps of trees that I couldn’t see the horizon. There was no one with me but I didn’t get the sense that I was alone. Maybe I heard voices of other people yelling to each other. At this point, I thought it was just folks having fun in the snow like I was. I was beside a gravel road. It hadn’t been plowed but there were several sets of tracks. During this part of the dream I wasn’t afraid at all. It was rather fun to be outside with the fresh crisp air.
I had cross country skiis on. I haven’t been cross country skiing since I was a kid but it was something I really liked to do back then. I looked both ways and crossed the road to a slightly more open area. I began gliding along in that peaceful rhythm of skiing. Then I angled slightly to pass through a small area of underground and cross into a more open area. At this point I realized that the voices I’d heard were people looking for me. I don’t have a sense that they wanted to do me harm but still for whatever reason I didn’t want to be found. I kept pressing on, not entirely sure of where I was going. The undergrowth seemed a lot thicker that I expected, thicker and more difficult to traverse. But I paid most attention to the voices that were behind me. I was able to get a bit of speed going despite the brush. I was pushing forward, forward, forward and then I looked up and saw this terrifying patch of darkness. I suppose it was shaped like a bush but it was nothingness, just an ominous hole. The tips of my skiis were already gliding into it. There was no way to avoid it but it was clearly not something that belonged to this nice rustic winter scene. I decided in an instant to be brave so with my heart pounding I ducked and slid into the dark.