I realized I was having an extremely vivid dream, a dream such as I had never had before. Although I thought I was dreaming, I also thought it was possible that I wasn't dreaming, that I was awake and merely having dream-like thoughts. In this conscious dream state, I was amazed by the swiftness and vividness of my thoughts, and I thought it possible that I had discovered a new conscious state whereby I had the power of deepened dream-like imagination even while awake. It was as if I had the power to compose the dream itself, a power which even as I dreamed, I realized I had never had before. However, throughout, I debated with myself whether I was really dreaming or only consciously thinking with heightened powers of imagination. If I were dreaming, I would want to remember what was happening so I could record it when I awoke. But I most often didn't dwell on this and gave myself over to the fast-paced action, not worrying about remembering.

My first thoughts concerned how to use this marvelous imaginative state. Two lines of thoughts quickly presented themselves. First I thought about the dream group with whom I had been exchanging dreams on the Internet: Donna, Jacobs, and Barford. I thought of them not so much by name, but more as the personalities with whom I connected the names, especially Donna and Jacobs.

Second, I thought about a theme which had been occurring in some of my recent dreams: comic book heroes. Once I combined the two ideas – my dream group and comic book heroes – I began composing a comic book in which the four of us formed a group of super heroes. It was great fun. Frame after frame of the comic flashed before me as an intricate story unfolded. Part of the story dealt with action occurring in alternate realities. I had always thought the idea of separate time lines to be pure hokum, the idea that the same people could exist in more than one reality. This had never made any sense to me. But now that I was composing the story, and all was in fun anyway, the idea of the super heroes traveling between times lines fit in well with the story.

I kept reflecting how fast the action was, how quickly the frames passed before me, and how I had never done anything like that before. As the action proceeded, two characters – myself and one other – emerged as super heroes with particularly strong powers. In one frame we were standing next to each other on some elevated place, looking out around us. The other character with me was wearing some kind of white super hero uniform, and I noticed how strong and powerful the character seemed. And I felt the same way myself.

In this fashion I composed what would probably be an average length comic book. I more than once thought how well the idea of pictures, such as in a comic book, fitted with the idea of consciously composing a dream. I knew I had considered this before, but I had never been able to imagine anything so vividly as I was now imagining it, frame after frame of action. As I neared the end, I realized I had made a new discovery regarding the relationship of dreams and imagination. My only regret was that I felt I had made a discovery of how to use the power of dreams in my waking state, rather than how to use the power of imagination in my dreaming state. Yet I was uncertain of this, because I was still uncertain whether I was actually dreaming. I reasoned that I wouldn't really know until I woke up. I mostly didn't think I was dreaming, but I knew if I were in fact dreaming, it would only be clear to me when I awoke.

And I found myself beginning to think I was about to awaken. Still I hung onto the dream state, thinking I needed one last point before I awoke. The name Alanis Morissette flashed through my mind. Something about this quirky pop singer seemed to fit the action, as if an enigmatic epilogue to my dream. I repeated her name several times, trying to remember it as I felt myself about to awaken.

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