Stupid dreams.

I am SO SICK of dreaming. I'm not kidding. Every single time I stop and close my eyes, I start to dream. Even when I'm not completely asleep yet! EVEN WHEN I'M AWAKE!

Am I just really good at sleeping? WHAT IS MY PROBLEM??

Imagination probably has something to do with it, I'd bet. I have an overreactive imagination. I create mental pictures all day long, scenes for stories and such, imagining the annoying girls from school falling down into bottomless pits...

But seriously. This is getting ridiculous. My involuntary dreams are getting more and more interactive with my everyday reality--waking me up, moving me around, mixing dangerously with intentional thoughts and ideas to form a strange world where I'm not sure what's real and what's not.

Take yesterday for example. I was tired after the Tigers game [we lost, of course--every time I go to a game, the team I'm rooting for loses] so I decided to take a rest. I flopped down on my bed and closed my eyes and

BAM! Dream!

It was REALLY annoying. But I patiently endured, knowing that if I tried to resist it I would wake up and whatever dream was floating through my subconscious would come back later to make its presence known. I watched as nameless and faceless people ran around screaming about some impending doom [nothing new] and then stared in curiosity as some huge, hairy guy began to open a safe.

Makes hardly any sense, I know. But that's how my dreams are. Loosely connected plots, strange details, barely any common sense in the decisions my dream-self makes... Anyway.

Then, between the screaming and the warnings from the faceless peasants, a deep voice said my name.

Clearly. Deeply. With a sick satisfaction to it, as if he'd been searching for me for a long time and now finally got the chance to torment me. Invisible hands pushed me away from the scene; I woke up so quickly, I fell off my bed.

I didn't know what to think, so I let my mind work itself out. First, I acknowledged that it most definitely had been just a dream--the sense of conviction in that realization was astounding. Then I listened carefully to the quiet noises of my house, noticing that in my slumber my family has gone somewhere, leaving me alone. Even the dog wasn't making any noise.

It was beyond irritating. Totally frustrating. Here I was, trying to nap, and this stupid, deep, arrogant voice goes and wakes me up. What a jerk. Being the scaredycat that I am, I checked the whole house just to make sure that there really wasn't some deranged murderer hiding behind the water heater. Nobody.

Now completely unable to sleep, I grabbed a pile of CDs from my room and walked down the two flights of stairs to the family room to put them away. Out of nowhere, seemingly from the air itself, I heard a snicker.

A laugh, clear as day. A chuckle, if you will. A condescending snicker that made me feel all uneasy, like I was being watched.

Without warning, the dream came floating back into my memory. I could recall with frightening detail the screamed warnings, the fear I had felt, and even some of the faces in the crowd. There was a deeper meaning there, something I hadn't seen before...

Anyway, I won't trouble you with details of the rest. I called Thena, she came over, and we pulled out some old dream notebooks and tried to figure everything out. No conclusion drawn, but we sure had fun goofing around and watching the storm through my bedroom window.

Can you see what I mean? It's freaky. The people and emotions that I encounter and experience in dreams... Well, it's like they're trying to become a part of my reality. My REAL WORLD.

I'm constantly on edge, daydreaming of strange places over and over again, seeing the same people night after night. I can't stand going to sleep. I love to sleep, the act in itself [because I'm a flipping teenager and sleeping is my favorite hobby, remember?], but the dreams are getting out of hand. I just want to rest, not wander through surreality.

Gah. I'm frustrated. I need a nap. Preferably a dreamless one. Arty's out.