Scariest.Dreams.Ever

Last night, I had a nice, long chat with my brother's girlfriend, Crystal. Maybe chat isn't the right word...perhaps marathon gab-fest would be more appropriate since we talked for four hours. We didn't hang up until 2:30 in the morning and by that time, I was so freaked out I couldn't fall asleep until 4:00am. The majority of our conversation revolved around supernatural happenings, ghosts, nightmares etc. I wasn't as scared as Crystal was because at least I had Joel in the house and I could have climbed into bed with him had I needed to. Crystal, however, was all alone. Talking with her last night brought to mind the two scariest dreams I have ever experienced. Allow me to share them...

Scariest.Dream.Ever.#1

This dream happened when Mike and I were living in our first place together in 2000. I was sleeping on the couch in the living room after some little tiff that we had. Mind you, in the beginning of a relationship, every 'little' fight seems like a huge deal. But that's not what this post is about. In my dream, I thought I had woken up and was sitting on the couch, debating whether or not enough time had passed for me to snuggle back in to bed with Mike. As I was trying to decide, I turned and looked out the living room window and there, on the lawn, were two little girls in their nightgowns. They were staring in through the window at me, only they had no eyeballs. They had long, dark, scraggly hair, and pock-marked skin. Their arms were pointed out in front of them, palms facing up and they were beckoning me to come out and play with them. Their mouths were opening and closing, much like the genie in the movie "Big".

Obviously, I was freaked out and tried to call out to Mike, but I couldn't scream. At this point, I realized I was still dreaming and started pleading with my sleeping self to wake up. And I did. I felt so relieved as I sat up on the couch and took a couple of deep breaths. I decided to climb back in to bed with Mike. For good measure, I decided to take a quick peek on the lawn to see if the little girls were there...and they were. Still in their nightgowns and still beckoning me. I repeated the process of urging my sleeping self to wake up and again, I did. Again, I took a few deep breaths and decided to look on the lawn. They were still there. This process repeated itself four more times before I finally did wake up. Let me tell you, I did not look out the window that final time. I high tailed it back to our bedroom and almost suffocated Mike by clinging so close to him. As far as I can tell, I was dreaming within a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream. I had never been so terrified in my life...until 2006.

Scariest.Dream.Ever.#2 (I realize these titles are oxy-morons...how can it be the the scariest dream ever and be the number two. The 'Ever.' is simply there for effect.)

Fast forward to summer 2006 to just a few weeks before our wedding. The boys were at their mom's house and Mike was working night shift. I called Mike to say good night, hung up the phone and looked at the clock. It was 11:47pm. Normally, it takes me at least 30-45 minutes to fall asleep and that's on a good night. I laid in bed for what felt like a while, letting all my thoughts whiz around like they always do. Next thing I knew, I felt hands coming up out of our mattress and they began to gently stroke my hair and my skin. Without counting, I knew there were approximately 500 pairs of hands. They were all very, very lightly touching my arms, legs, neck and head. It almost felt like a massage and it was somewhat enjoyable in the beginning. Suddenly, the mood in the room changed and these hands became a little more aggressive. They began to stroke at my sides a little rougher and I started to sink into the mattress. The harder the hands touched me, the deeper I sank. I started to panic and the thought came to me that if these hands succeeded in pulling me underneath the bed, I was going to die. I was conscious enough to realize that calling out would do me no good since no one was home. I was racking my brain to find a way to trigger my body to wake up, but I knew I needed help from the conscious world. And that's when it hit me that I needed to whistle. My white cat, Sophie, loves it when I whistle and she always comes to me. So I began to whistle some untknown tune and within seconds, I felt Sophie jump onto our bed. That was all I needed to wake up. I was so freaked out and I wanted to phone Mike at work to tell him what had happened. As I reached for the phone, I looked at the clock. It was 11:53pm.