Bad Dreams

Ever have a dream so real, you had to make sure it didn't happen... or wasn't going to?

I had a dream the other night about a girlfriend of mine. In the dream we were still living at the apartment complex where we 1st met. We've both moved a couple of times since then in the real world. My dream wasn't set in the past, it was current day, only we'd never moved.

The basics of the dream were that we'd been to a product party (like tupperware or something) and our orders had arrived. We were really excited and wanted to take them into our respective abodes and tear the packges open.

It was a warm summer day and there were a number of neighbors and friends milling about. The doors to our 2nd floor garden style apartments were side by side as we ran up the stairs we could still hear one another pretty easily.

As I neared the top, I heard my friend say oh noooooo kinda low and I stopped in my tracks. Then she frantically started repeating 'take it out' 'take it out' 'take it out'. Then the screaming started.

I all my life I've never heard such pain and horror blended into one cry. I was frozen on the stairs, paralyzed with fear.

Everyone that was nearby started running toward the screams and trying to help. I caught faint 'oh dear gods' and other exclaimations as they saw whatever it was that happened. I never felt more sick and afraid. I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything.

The screaming was increasingly unitelligible and boardered on insanity. Suddenly the screams traveled down the stairs, she was running out the door clutching what must have been her hand. My heart stopped beating in that moment and I couldn't bear anymore and I wrenched myself awake.

It was 4:11 am and I was a wreck. Literally shaking and could not go back to sleep.

What was I supposed to do? Convince myself it was just a dream and that I was being silly or call her and make sure she was okay? Well at 4 in the morning, calling (no matter how well intentioned) might be frowned upon. So I opted to get online (she's a night owl) and see if she was there, which she wasn't and instead sent the following email:

re: are you okay?
color me crazy.... had a bad dream and just wanted to check in on you...

When she called me at the crack of dawn I nearly jumped through the roof with joy. Of course she wanted to know what I had dreamed and I really didn't want to tell her the horrible things that had been in my head. It was bad enough that I had to be freaked out by it. But she's into dreams and their meanings so I eventually relented.

I know I'm weird, but I felt so much better after, saying out loud chased the boogie man back into the closet.