The dream starts off with my parents and I at a very modern looking train terminal. My parents look the same as they do now, but I look like I did at about age ten. The station we are at sits on a narrow plateau on the side of a snowy mountain and overlooks a wide valley. The valley itself is entirely surrounded by high mountains and there is not way in or out. The train encircles the edges of the valley and the station my parents and I are at is the only station that is located on a mountain; the rest being located on the valley floor. The train itself is silver in colour and very sleek. The engine looks like a traditional steam engine, but it to is silver and has a very modern/sleek look to it. There were no dining cars, only flat cars. The first two flat cars had metal canopies that were supported by curved beams on the car's outer four corners, and the rest of the cars were uncovered, with railings running down the middle.
Despite the snow, it is bright, sunny and very warm. We are dressed in winter clothing, but nothing too heavy and I do not recall feeling overheated, even though I had on a wool hat and scarf. My parents are talking with two people near the train's engine, one of whom is a smiling woman in a red sweater. I do not know who she is, but she keeps looking at me and nodding. While there is nothing unusual about her demenor, I feel anxious under her occassional gaze. While my parents are busy, I am looking at a row of machines near the platform's edge that look like ATM machines. They are either gambling videogames or real gambling machines, but I cannot remember which. I played the middle machine and lost two thousand dollars. I recall being confused in the dream about whether or not I had actually lost money or if I had just played a game, but before I could figure it out, my parents called to me because it was time to board the train. They were on the train's first covered flat car and I had to climb onto it even as the train was already moving. No one bothered to help me climb on, but I was able to pull myself up without any help anyway. I glance over at the train's engine and can see the smiling woman in the red sweater looking at me again. I go and sit by my parents and enjoy the scenic view as the train starts down the mountain.
There is no snow at the valley floor. The train first travels through a thick temperate forest, which soon thins out to an open, tree-speckled countryside. It appears to be autumn as most of the deciduous trees have lost their leaves, and those that still cling to the branches are brown and crumbling. There are no signs of towns or civilization along the way, though after travelling through the countryside for a while, the train suddenly slows down and stops at a brown brick building that seems to sit in the middle of park space. There are no roads or paths, but there are benches and empty flowerbeds. It is not a train station however as I discover when we are let off the train for a stretch and a washroon break. The building is like a kennel and it houses many cats, most of which roam freely about.
I am petting random cats when I see a cat that looks very familiar. When I pick her up and hold her, I realize that it is my old cat Bambi, and she appears as she did when she was a kitten.
I almost instantly become lucid, because I know that Bambi is dead in waking life. While I am aware that I am in a dream, I do not have any control over anything other than myself. I am happy to play with and cuddle Bambi but very soon we are called back to the train. It is sort of an unspoken rule, but the cats are not supposed to leave the kennel, but I decide I want to keep my cat and board the last, uncovered flat car of train with her in my arms. The train begins to move and I can feel a tugging, as if some unseen force is pulling at Bambi. I do not have the strength (or dream control) to fight the invisible force and I carefully lean over the edge of the flat car and drop Bambi down to the ground. She disappears for a moment and I panic because I think she has fallen underneath the wheels of the train. I attempt to stop my dream by holding my arms straight out and imagining everything to 'pause,' but nothing happens. The train slowly continues on its way and my parents come up to me, roll their eyes at each other and ask me what I am doing. I tell them that I am trying to stop the dream so I can save Bambi, but they just look at each other again, in annoyance with me, and point out that Bambi is fine, even though they don't look anywhere else but at me. I do not believe their confidence of my cat's condition, but when I turn to look in the direction of the kennel, there is Bambi playing with some other kittens by the brown building's front doors.
I try to stop the train several times by saying "train stop" very forcefully, but it just keeps on going. I cannot gain any control over anything, though my awareness of being in a dream does not fade at all thankfully. I even try to jump off the flat car but an invisible wall keeps me from doing so. The train doesn't travel very far before it stops infront of a large stage. It is damaged and looks as if it has not been used for a very long time. For the first time since my parents and I left the station on the mountainside, we see other people. They are gathered in a group in front of the stage and eave to my parents to join them, but I am too interested in finding my way back to the kennel so I can see Bambi again, even though I know she is just an image from my subconscious. I am also kind of annoyed by the lack of control I have in my dream.
The dream gets fuzzy and cannot remember that next part. I lose my lucidity somewhere along the way, but I do end up back at the kennel. My parents are long gone with the train and I am stuck at the kennel until it returns, and I have no idea when that will be. I play with Bambi and the other cats to my heart's content. Though it has only been one day, it has felt like I have been there for much longer. The sun begins to set and the train finally returns. My parents are very upset and tell me that I have been gone for a week. I try to argue otherwise, as it has only felt like one day to me, but they will have none of it. I do not care that they are upset with me because I am still cuddling with Bambi and she is purring and kneading me at the end of the dream.
LEGEND:
BLUE indicates side notes and personal thoughts written after the fact
BLACK indicates a normal dream
RED indicates a lucid dream