[00:00]
<v Audio Descriptions> A soft intake of breath.
[00:02]
<v Audio Descriptions>
The heavy ticking of a grandfather clock starts. It continues marking the seconds.
Nikki Reimer:
The thought of dying while awake is seen as concrete and eventual. One day, unfortunate circumstances will befall everyone, whether it be being hit by a bus or expiring from some natural cause, it is accepted. Whereas the idea of dying within a dream, by some cause of the dream, seems absurd.
We are in control of our own reality, and something that isn’t real is just…a misfired synapse, a thought, nothing. Almost everyone has experienced a dream so vivid that to wake up was a shock because of the seeming reality of the experience. Very often, these dreams will linger in the memory for some time, and can prompt uneasy feelings towards someone that was part of the dream. So, dreams must exist on the same level as thought.
[00:56]
<v Audio Descriptions>
The heavy clock ticking continues, increasing to two ticks per second.
Nikki Reimer:
Or as memory, which can prompt action as well. When an individual has been harmed emotionally or physically, the harboured resentment towards the antagonist can cause negative action after a very long time has passed.
[01:07]
<v Audio Descriptions>
The heavy clock ticking reverts to one tick per second.
Nikki Reimer:
So then, what is the difference between an adverse reaction based on a dream, or that of one based on a memory of an actual event? They both have a similar outcome. Even if a dream of a holiday is hazy, it can be the same as the memory of being intoxicated …
[01:26]
<v Audio Descriptions>
A faint deep clock bell begins chiming approximately every three seconds and increasing in volume with each strike.
Nikki Reimer:
… on said holiday. So, if dreams and memory have the same outcome and residual effects on relationships, what separates them? The fact that memory is believed to be real. One could have vivid memories of their childhood that could have never happened. If the family tells them enough times the same story, they’ll come to believe it. Lies become real. Thoughts become action.
Everyone who has died in their sleep hasn’t made any substantial claims to prove it wasn’t because they died in their dream.
[01:58]
<v Audio Descriptions>
The clock bell chimes a last strike, then slowly fades out. The ticking ceases.
