THE SONIC BOOMER
I just woke up from a really scary nightmare. A lot of people, if they wake up shivering in fright, will shake it off. They will walk to the kitchen for a glass of cold milk and go on with their day.
Not me. I have to share. With you.
Because there’s something you can do about it, right?
Well, never mind. Listen anyway.
I dreamed I was in a grocery store with my husband Mark and my sister, when Mark said, “Those men are kidnapping that little boy!” I asked, “Really?” but Mark was already running after them, so I started shouting, “Kidnappers! Kidnappers!” and a grocery clerk dialed 911.
It seemed to be taking forever for someone to show up. So, strong leader-type person that I am (in my dreams), I somehow rounded up all three bad guys and the boy and got everybody into the car. Mark hopped into the driver’s seat and headed for the police station, but was stopped cold by an unbelievable traffic jam. It was raining, the little boy was scared and threw up, my sister was trying to make small talk with the kidnappers so they didn’t kill us, and my tension level was climbing.
I was nervously looking out the window and biting my nails when I saw one car in the sea of cars suddenly disappear. “Did you see that?” I yelled. “That car was just sucked into a sinkhole!”
Then our own car tilted slightly downward and I, ever the comedian, yelled, “Did you feel that? Our car is being sucked into a sinkhole!” And it was. A big muddy valley opened up between the up-ended car and ours, and down we went.
No more talk, just disbelief — short-lived disbelief, because there was total silence except for the sound of rain and sucking mud.
Nothing could be done.
This was it.
I woke up in a total panic, gasping for air and realizing that a ceiling fan set on high sounds a lot like constant, drizzling rain. I dashed out of the room. Did I get a glass of milk and go on with my day? No, I sat right down here to share my misery with you!
But I was so glad to be alive and breathing that I wondered if artificially induced nightmares could help cure depression.
Hear me out. I was depressed with the “baby blues” after childbirth once, and I know lots of people who have or do suffer from debilitating clinical depression. This condition is nothing to sneeze at. It affects every aspect of your life and everyone with whom you relate. You just don’t care anymore, and you’re resentful about it.
But I sure cared, once I woke up from my nightmare. The air was fresh… the sky was blue… no one was in danger. The world seemed full of possibility now that I wasn’t encased in a metal tomb with dangerous criminals and a limited air supply. Life is good… if you never sleep.
