Nighty Nightmare

I didn’t sleep all that well last night. I had a prolonged nightmare that involved someone trying to kill me. It’s someone I’ve written about before (for eerily similar reasons), but those of you too lazy to click on the link will have to wait a minute to learn who it was. First, I think I know why I had such a miserable dream. Before going to bed, Melanie and I watched a movie that involved someone dying at the end. Then, as I lay in bed, I finished reading a biography of Joseph Smith, including all of the details surrounding his murder. Those facts may explain the theme of murder in my dream. Additionally, at some point before the horrible dream began, Peter had climbed into Melanie’s and my bed and was sleeping right next to me, wearing his arm cast. Broken bones also factored into my dream, so I assume Peter is responsible for that. Anyway, here’s what I can remember of the dream:

I was in my parents’ house. The house wasn’t based on any particular house I’ve seen in real life. It was unique to the dream. It was on the large side, with lots of windows, especially in the kitchen area. At some point, I was talking to my sister, JoAnna, who was lying on her bed in her room upstairs. While I was talking to her, our next-door-neighbor, Mr. Schulz, who was inexplicably in the room (and who in real life was both JoAnna’s and my fourth-grade teacher), lay face down on top of JoAnna. (I’m so sorry that you just had to read that, JoAnna.) I pulled him off and asked him what in the world he thought he was doing. I can’t remember exactly what he said in response, although I remembered it for a while after I woke up from the dream. Anyway, I know the response was rather pompous and didn’t really explain what he was doing. Whatever he said, I think it implied that he had the authority to do whatever he was planning to do. I was pissed and ended up shoving him forcefully down the narrow stairway right beside JoAnna’s bedroom door. The fall broke his arm. I believe the dream basically skipped ahead at that point, and I knew Mr. Schulz now planned to kill me. He had friends who were going to help, too. Dreams never sound as scary when you recount them, but realize that my dream self was experiencing all of this in a very real way. I felt trapped in my parents’ house and had to figure out how to get out and flee to safety, all the while knowing that Mr. Schulz was probably outside with his henchmen, waiting and watching the windows. I ended up in the kitchen, ducked down behind an island counter, thinking that if I peeked out at all, I would probably be shot right in the face. I was basically doomed.

The dream lasted a lot longer than my description suggests, particularly the part of my dream with me trying to stealthily maneuver around my parents’ house and find my way out. A foreboding sense of Mr. Schulz waiting and watching for me, probably just around the corner or right outside of my view, accompanied my every move. It wasn’t pleasant. What a way to kick off the Halloween season.