I apparently got really cold in the middle of the night the other night while sleeping, because I had a really bizarre--and very scary--dream about something called "The Sleep Time."

California was having severely cold weather and extended hours of darkness for some reason, so there was this period of every day called The Sleep Time where you didn't have to go to work or school.

Sounds like a pretty good deal, right? No work, no school--sort of like a happy fun-time snow day holiday. Yeah....*nope*. Instead, even hearing the phrase The Sleep Time in that dream kicked off a horrible feeling of panic and fear. In the dream, I was watching a news broadcast that said something like, "And now, it is The Sleep Time. So, everyone stay in your homes." It was an infuriatingly (and terrifyingly) calm and soothing voice that had just the opposite effect.

Basically, I knew through typical dream logic that during The Sleep Time everyone stayed huddled up in their homes for some reason, and did not go outside. It was clear that if you went outside, Something Bad Would Happen, but my dream never elaborated on that. It was just: The Sleep Time. *shiver*

I think this kind of dream screws with my head much worse than dreams where you're being chased by, say, a clear psychotic murderer, or are in a spooky house, or the nuclear missiles are hanging in the sky over your head and you know any second those bitches are going to fall and you'll just be atomized particles rising on the mushroom cloud (don't judge my dreams ), or something along those lines. The dreams where there is just a free-floating feeling of fear and panic that you can't attach to anything specific (or something that should be distinctly *unscary*) are much more nightmarish.

I think I dreamed this b/c of a combination of taking Melatonin that night (which gives me SEVERELY vivid dreams), watching The Purge: Anarchy, and seeing the Ted Koppel interview on The Daily Show where he talks about his new book re: the power grid going down and everyone starving to death in the cold.