A few days ago I woke up from horrible nightmares. They occurred back to back and both were substantially depressing. I don’t remember most of my dreams or nightmares but on rare occasions when my sleep is disrupted (for whatever reason, bathroom, knock on the door, telephone) and I end up going back to sleep right after, that’s when I tend to remember what I’m dreamed about.
In this case, I woke up much earlier than usual because I had to use the bathroom. The next thing I know, I’m in the middle of a street in my neighborhood and standing in a crossfire! Bullets whizzed by, some ricocheted nearby…then…at the end of the dream, I had my hands across my hip noticing that my shirt was damp. I looked down at my hands and see yellow goo matter mixed with my blood. Then…I was dead. I woke up completely startled.
My second nightmare caught me by surprise. I was back home on American Samoa and my parents were having an argument and at the peak of the argument my dad breaks out and starts doing a waltz. It was elegant and time slowed down…then, he collapsed with a smile on his face. I tried to revive him and the rage I felt in the dream woke me up. I woke up crying. Wow…I have to admit, there’s been a few times I’ve had dreams move me so much that I end up with teary eyes when I wake up, and this is one of the most powerful.
I called home but no one picked up, probably because of the time difference. I sat up wondering why I just had those dreams then I realized that they were so powerfully that I was able to tap into them and relive the experience. To say I was a bit frightened would be an understatement but I also couldn’t let the experience go to waste so I dug up a sad monologue and read it while under the effects of the overwhelming sadness. The entire process was something else. I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. Could you?