For a while, I've been reading posts by people who've had dreams related to the 'verse, and been kinda bitter about the fact that I wasn't one of them. Well, I had my first Firefly dream, and it was really something. Essentially, I dreamed that I was watching a new episode of Firefly.

In the beginning, I was sitting in a huge, carpeted room with greenscreens for walls with a handful of other fans. We were there waiting for a screening of a new episode. My dream got a bit fuzzy after that; I wound up in some sort of a theater watching. I can't remember much about the vast majority of the episode; I have the vague impression that they were doing a heist of some sort, and part of the crew was captured.

The last scenes, though, were some of the most incredibly vivid bits of dreaming I've ever experienced.

The part I remember clearly begins with Kaylee alone, flying Serenity. She looks like an inexperienced driver, white-knuckled and nervous. But she's clearly got a mission, and she's determined. She's flying low, in atmo over a huge city. It's dark out, and looking out from the bridge you can see the city lights laid out in a brightly moonlit night. The whole scene is beautiful and has almost a fantasy look to it.

The next scene shows Zoe and River, heavily armed and moving up the stairs of a vast building that feels like a sports stadium. They are in shadow and moving quietly; they are preparing for an assault, but they don't want their presence known yet.

The camera fades out and shows a troubled Simon, carrying a bomb. He's alone and looks uneasy but sure of his actions. He's in the same building, moving between shadows in a vast concrete backstage area. It's not shown, but you know he's part of the plan and that he's going to have to set off the bomb in order to help rescue the others.

Then the camera starts moving slowly as a contemporary song begins. You can't make out the lyrics. It's a woman's voice, and the music is peaceful and sad, but somehow uplifting and comforting and the same time. The sequence that follows is one of the most beautifully filmed and emotionally affecting things I've ever seen.

The shot starts out wide as the music plays, showing a vast coliseum; it is modeled off of the Roman coliseum, but it's all indoors, built with modern architecture. The floor is carpeted, maroon with gold patterns and there is a vast audience you don't see clearly. At the center of the shot, not clearly visible, are several members of the crew, and you realize they are being tortured.

Without breaking the slow motion of the camera, the scene shifts to a series of close-up shots. All of the angles are unconventional and don't show clearly what is happening; they are impressions of each person rather than "documentary" shots. The camera work is amazingly beautiful.

First, the camera pans slowly up to the head and chest of a man you recognize as Wash. As the view sharpens, you see that he's unconscious, his head limp. But the expression on his face is hard to describe; it's almost contented. It seems clear that the intention of the image is to reassure; Wash is okay, it's sad, but don't worry about him, he'll come through this just fine.

The camera moves to an odd shot of a man's knees, and then moves up to show a partial outline of his chest and face. You can't see any truly identifiable features, but you know its Jayne.

Then the camera moves to the clearest image we've seen so far. It's an almost-close-up on Mal's face. He's prone on some sort of table we don't see in the frame. The expression on his face is sad and hurt and brave. We see written on his face that he's in pain and deeply worried about his crew, but there's no fear in his eyes, just determination and weariness. We see just the edge of a silk robe as an elegantly dressed arm moves into the shot, and Mal's eyes widen. We don't see the face, but we know instantly that it's Inara. The music continues to play as she moves past, inconspicuously slipping a white pill into Mal's mouth. Again unexplained, but we know it's a painkiller. As she moves away, so does the camera, moving off into a dark blur.

The scene is over, but as it and the music fade, we very briefly see images of Zoe and River and Simon moving to the rescue fade in faintly before the screen goes to black. The Firefly credits begin to roll, but instead of the theme song, the music ends and the credits roll to a silent theater. I've had tears in my eyes during the whole song, but I start crying and I know I have to see it again.

That's when I woke up in real life, with genuine tears in my eyes. The dream was so intensely moving that it made me cry for real, and that's what woke me up.

Darn thing has been on my mind all day.