Snake!

Bad Dream

I don’t recall that many dreams, good or bad, but I must have had a bad one the other night! I couldn’t tell if I was awake or asleep, but opened my eyes and thought I saw a snake lying on the bed in front of my face! I was on my side, sleepy, and started to close my eyes and refuse to deal with it. I was SO TIRED. Then some other part of my brain or autonomic panic response kicked in and I rose furiously in the semi-dark room like a helicopter or something. Me and all the pillows and covers left the bed in one quick sweep! Staring back at the bed, I saw no snake, nothing. If it was real, it could now be anywhere on the floor, including under the bed stuff I was standing on! With great difficulty I found my way to a light—I’d landed on the wrong side of the bed—and turned the light on. I got a big flashlight and looked all around.

Eventually, finding nothing, it seemed like a lot of imagination might have done me in. Did anything really happen? About this time I saw a big blood smear on the bed sheet and wondered if I’d squashed something. Maybe a large bug or small grass snake (such as the one who was crawling in the hallway a few weeks ago)! Then, it dawned on me to see if I was bleeding. I checked everywhere and finally found a smear of blood on my elbow. Had I been bitten, stung? Or had I just scraped or scratched myself during the night or during the panic? Oh, hell, I was SO SLEEPY and just wanted to go back to bed!

Finally I did go back to bed, but I left the nearest lamp turned on all night. No more snakes. Just the shakes. What a weenie I am.

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