The Dream Council

I have an idea for a book for young adults.

When I was in about second and third grades I had a recurring dream of being chased by a witch to a fiery cauldron, where she would call the tall, swarthy guards to throw me in the fire.

That's when I would wake up...in a cauldron. (No. Kidding. In my bed.)

Another recurring dream was discovering a pacing lion under my bed and when I go to look, the animal roars and runs at me. Another is that I go up stairs into the dark and suddenly feel terrified. Over the years my dreams have been so vivid, as everyones are at some point, that I am totally relieved when I wake to find it was a dream. Sigh of relief. It usually had to do with trying to find someone after I drop them off in front of a venue, like a theater, while I go park. Or promise to meet someone at a specific time and a dozen things thwart me.

Premise: Gods of the night and dreams aren't only ictional, mythological beings. Every religion has a divine presence that, according to history, prompts or leads dreams, deciding which are nightmares, and which are not. There are only a handful of humans, I being one, who knows this truth because of dream experiences from early in my life. Those humans have often mingled in one another's dreams, but unless one is conscious of this fact, it's just another mysterious face. In this world, the humans can meet, in their dreams, but those young to the practice, are only briefly able to hold their focus and stay in the meetings, which seem like hours or days in dream life, but are only seconds long, as most dreams that we have are.

The gods are introduced, telling of each culture's preoccupation with dreams and what they mean.

The Dream Council is aware of how one of the gods is determined to change waking life to her best interests. Although dreams are created to power the imagination, and perhaps, inspire life changes. This god wants to not just inspire, but direct, not just for one or two people, but thousands, millions, and she has the power to do this. She must be stopped, along with her Dream Minions who play crucial roles. This power could be life altering, motivating entire populations to dream and, thus, think alike.

How did she acquire this power? Who else among the gods is helping her? Who among the gods also want her to stop? and will that god join with the Dream Council to create the barriers needed to stop her from access to multiple humans?

Other gods throughout history have manipulated the thinking of entire populations, with the holocaust the most vivid example. Others include discovery of America, annihilation of Indian populations, and (possibly, but a stretch) the extinction of the dinosaur.

Dream Council members first discover their powers when a number of dreams actually come true for them, friends, family, even total strangers. Aunt Maggie's dog ran away. Where is it? A member of the Council knows, finds the dog, and brings it to Aunt Maggie. Other actions, such as winning the lottery are foretold, but also the subsequent result of the win (they buy a new car and are all killed in a crash), but can someone on the Council warn of this happening? That is a line that the Council, until now, are prohibited from crossing. The Laws of Dreams prevails.