Dream Waking

I've gotten unstuck! Pretty thrilled about that - only wrote about 5 new pages, but the story now has a path out of the spot I was stuck. Even if I re-write/re-think it all later, at least I'm MOVING the story forward again.    

For the first time in the novel, I'm attempting to incorporate a dream (really a nightmare) into the story.  I'm also thinking a lot about world building for the story. A large portion of the story will happen in an underground city and I need to balance futuristic technology with the realities of space, energy and resource limitations in a circumstance where above-ground is mostly not available to the people anymore.  

A small example is beds. Beds take up quite a bit of floor space in a dwelling.  I'm toying with ideas of beds that retract into walls, suspended hammock-like beds, inflatable beds that deflate when not in use, or beds built into the floors that have sliding covers so they can be walked on in daytime. 

Here's the dream and wake transition I'm working on...(very first draft, no edits yet!):

"The sand burned her feet as she walked. She should have worn her sandals, she thought. Then her feet hit the cool wet sand. She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and watched her daughter’s blonde curls spray sea water as she jumped and chased the waves to shore with some new little friends. The sky was a deep, perfect cloudless blue and the air was filled with the sound of ocean waves, seagulls and the happy shrieks of children. Miranda stepped back to take a photo and realized she had lost some of her light. Looking up, she saw a single ominous cloud blocking the sun. As she watched, that one cloud seemed to grow in all directions, sending the beach into sudden darkness. Goose bumps sprang out on her arms and she began to shiver violently. Something was wrong - the sky was dark green - not the muddy gray of storm clouds. She couldn’t hear the waves any longer. She couldn’t see the ocean which had pulled back out of sight. Then…the blood curdling screams began. She could see her daughter’s wet hair and skin freeze into ice, while the muddy sand solidified around her ankles…"

"Miranda bolted upright in bed, dripping with sweat."