Sue me, I don't want this topic to die.
Okay, I had a doozy the other day. I dreamt that I was in some sort of house that was fairly old. I don't know why I was there, but I had a sense that I was either working there, or at least helping out in some way. I had heard the place was haunted but didn't pay much attention. After all, I'd worked or been to places like that before without any incidents. However, I went into a large room that looked like it was part dining room, part living room, because there was a big table in the middle, but I also saw couches.
Anyway, I was opening up the curtains when I heard a high-pitched "Hmmph!" and the curtains aside of me shut by themselves. I whipped around and a white figure comes stomping through the door. (I mean, literally
through the door.) I slumped down on the couch I was standing on as the figure became the pale image of a young girl of about 10-12, who was dressed up to look like Shirley Temple. She was clearly upset that I had disturbed the room, and wanted me gone, hence trying to scare me. Even though I was very scared, as I've never actually seen a ghost before, I found myself saying, "Well, look at how dark and dusty this place is! Don't you want it to look nice?" She looked at me, then looked at the room as if seeing it for the first time.
She faltered for a moment, then begrudgingly gave her consent. I then chided her gently for scaring my brother, and said that we weren't trying to take anything away from her, but wanted to live there and have everything look nice. I got the distinct impression that she knew she had passed, but she didn't want to let go, namely, she didn't want to let go of the house. She frowned but it was clear she was very lonely. She wanted to think it over and asked me to leave, and I did. But before I left, I turned and said, "Are you really Shirley Temple?" in such a tone to let her know that I knew she wasn't. She answered with a sly smile "We don't talk about that." And the door shut by itself.
What made this dream different is that I was actually playing myself, and I was actually scared. Usually in a dream like this with a realistic plot, I am me, but not me. It's like I'm a character in a movie or play.