Hovering In Egypt

Dream Info: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Realism Intensity: 4 (out of 10)
Content: G

I stood in a deep courtyard, the building’s walls towering above me. The sun bounced down and the floor was brightly lit. There was a small ornate pond in one corner and some palm trees. Several lounges were out, but currently vacant. I was alone in the courtyard except for one man. In the warmth of midday, in the quiet of the courtyard, he stood with back to me. He spread his arms and slowly fell backwards. I flinched as he smacked the ground. Only, he didn’t hit. There was no noise, no impact. He suddenly stopped falling inches above the ground. I gasped, realizing he was floating. He leaned up, as if reclining on one of the lounges now, and moved his arms. He spun to face me.

“I did not know you were present,” the man stated in a thick Arabic accent.

We introduced ourselves. Through a brief conversation, we became friends. He said he would quickly teach me the art of hovering, a long and closely guarded Egyptian secret. It would aide me in my travel around the world. But I must teach no one.

I learned. It was quite easy. Hovering depending completely upon your faith: doubt not, fear not. Just let yourself float. After the man had left, I climbed upon a small tool shed roofed with red tiles, in a cornet of the courtyard. I figured I’d leap on into my practicing. I ran and jumped off the shed. I panicked momentarily, then remembered all it took was faith. No special muscles, no years of practice, just simple, true belief that you would hover. I leaned back and hit the ground. I was hovering, but my lapse of faith had left me with too little time to focus and stop my fall. My tailbone hurt, but sure enough, I was four inches above the ground gently spinning.

I grabbed my backpack and ran out the door of the hostel. I jumped down the stairs, leaned back, and never hit the ground. I just slipped forward, several inches above the ground, and shot off towards the train station.

As I toured Egypt I learned the art of controlling speed with hand and arm positions. I zipped through crowds, floated lazily through museums, and my legs never got tired. My abs were another story. Keeping my torso up, in a sitting or reclining position was an incredible work out, especially with my heavy backpack on.

No one asked any questions. No one even seemed to notice that I was moving along, sitting down, without walking. And slowly I started noticing more and more people like me: hovering through the crowds with head at waist level. Gradually I learned to hover higher and higher. When focusing, and not too physically tired, I could hover a foot and a half above the ground.

Several times, while in a museum, or along a road, I had my backpack stolen. I would be zipping along one moment with forty pounds on my back, and the next it would be gone. I went out and bought a new, cheap, backpack, but after this happened two more times I was out of money. I was also very frustrated. A cute, young, tour guide noted my sudden plight the third time I lost my bag in some pharaoh’s tomb and pulled me aside. She said that by hovering certain types of thieves would target me. Hovering opened me to a new realm: a realm that few openly discussed and fewer honestly believed. These thieves had powers to, say, remove objects from my back, without even being present. I gathered she was hinting at magic of sorts and though I felt uncomfortable with the notion, was I not the one that was touring Egypt by hovering on my rear?

She continued: Not far from where we were there was another tomb. It was closed to the public. In its deepest tunnel there was an old door. I needed to go through that door.

I did so. As I hovered down the narrow, dank tunnel, a light appeared in the distance ahead of me. It grew brighter and I sped forward. Suddenly the tunnel widened. Other tunnels merged with mine. I was no longer alone; several other people hovered along my tunnel. And ahead, carved out of the stone was a vast series of pillars and arches. Behind them, a vast sand field in the sunlight. But I was far underground…

People hovered all around the field. As I exited the cliff face, blinded by the strange sun, I saw hundreds of them. Beautiful buildings stabbed into the impossible blue sky. And there was the keenest sensation in the air. I knew that I was no longer in Egypt anymore.

Then I woke up.