Everyone
dreams. Most people can tell the difference between dreams and real life. I’m
not so good at that. My dreams are extremely vivid. (I would have been a great
architect in Inception.) So when I
wake up, I’m often very confused. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shaken
Cal awake and said, “The police are pounding on the front door.” His response after
many such episodes is, “I’m not getting up. The police can beat down the door
if they want in.” Now before you wonder if I’ve committed any felonies, the
answer is no. I suspect these dreams may be the result of the stories of Nazi
soldiers breaking into my mother’s home and chasing after my grandfather. But
these dreams make sense. I have an existential reason for them.
But
I have other nightmares. These are worse. They wake me up and leave me
breathless or hyperventilating. They’re claustrophobia dreams. Which would be
understandable if I was claustrophobic, but I’m not. Closed in spaces don’t
bother me in the least. You need someone to creep on their tummy down the
crawlspace and put up insulation 100 feet from the floor opening, I’m your
crawler. The idea of inching my way through air conditioning ducts to break
into an evil lair sounds like fun to me. So why do I have these claustrophobia
nightmares? Is there anyone else out there who has psycho dreams too? I’d love
to know I’m not the only one.
