Somehow, as ashes began to erupt in wider and wider columns of smoke from the mountain, the snow on top of the mountain didnt melt, instead being propelled with the ashes into the sky. In fact, as they rained down upon them it was hard to tell the difference between the two. Choden held out his hand. The ash that fell in his hand looked every bit like a flake of snow. Was the volcano erupting in snow? The snowflake felt cold, but didnt melt. He held it between his fingers and looked at it more carefully. The snowflake was iridescent as he moved it in the light. Choden sniffed the air. What had looked like smoke was apparently fog. The one danger the volcano could pose was by burying them in unmelting snow.<br/>By now Choden was too impressed by the surreality of the dream to ascribe any reality to it, and despite all the chaos around him, or perhaps because of it, he ceased to fear for his life. He resumed his meditation within the dream, trying to concentrate as hard as he could to get back to the real world, but couldnt. Just be patient, he thought to himself, and decided to go with the flow, trying not to focus too much on what was happening in the dream.