FWUMP, FWUMP, FWUMP I lurched up in the bed the same time my wife rolled over toward me grabbing at my body with her hand. What was that!? The urgent tone of her voice matched the fear in my mind. I dont know But my mind was racing trying to equate the sound with an explanation. Something had brushed up against the bricks of the wall directly behind our bed. And, unless it was my imagination, I felt the house move a bit when it happened. Baby Her voice was pleading for me to do something. I quickly considered all the possibilities as she pulled herself closer to me. Then, the strangest thought surfaced. I remembered I had dreamed of this earlier in the evening. I paused and retraced the events. Yes, some faint thunder, distant lightening, and a steady rain. This had happened before with nightmares. In fact, I had given them a namecontinuation dreams. A dream where you awake halfway through, slough it off, go back to sleep, and then continue where you left off. I hated those continuation dreams! As I consoled my wife by informing her it was a dream, I lay back down and pulled her with me. It was easy for me to do since it was my dream. Its weird to be dreaming and know that you are dreaming. I lulled myself back to sleep wondering just why it was that I never had continuation dreams when I had successfully maneuvered some young girl into the backseat of a car and began unzipping her sweater. Those dreams NEVER continued, much to my dismay. It was only a few minutes later that I realized I was surrounded by silence again. I smiled a smug smile and rolled over. I snuggled into the pillow and discarded any idea the dream would come back. BABY! My upper arm was grabbed at the same time I heard something scrape against the window screen. Somethings out there! She was practically frantic. And though I knew the nightmare was back, her insistence was convincing as hell. And for a moment, I was scared. Repeating dreams can be quite confusing, especially when mingled with half-sleep. Baby, you need to get the gun out of the safe. Her remark was half-whisper and half-hiss. It was then I noticed the glow of the windows go dark. Completely blotted out by a shape big enough to fill both window frames. It was accompanied by a noise like fingernails on a chalkboard as the obvious sound of window screens being ripped filled our bedroom. My wife clutched at me as I measured the chances of getting to the safe that was located beside the very windows I was terrified to go near. I knew I couldnt make it and a low moan, the kind of scared sound that comes from a frightened animal, forced its way from my gut. I had finally realized that the storm, the sound, and shadows were the reality and the silence between them had been the dream! I had them completely reversed and now my wife and I were going to die and there was nothing I could do. I was paralyzed. BABY! BABY! From somewhere, from nowhere, I was being grabbed. Wake up! I opened my eyes and cleared my head as my low guttural cry faded. I was shaking like a leaf. My wife turned my head away from the windows to face hers. Youre dreaming. She wrapped her arms around me and spoke into my ear. Its just a dream, Baby. Slowly, I calmed down. Neither had been real. Both had been dreams. Intertwined and playing against the other. And I was the fool. I apologized for waking her as I lay back down. I hated having nightmares and I hated that they resulted in disturbing her sleep. Its OK. She snuggled closer to me. I just never know what to do when I see you like that. I understand. Lets just get back to sleep. I rolled over and she shifted to be against my back and wrapped her arm over my chest. It would be a while before I got back to sleep though. But not before the pitter-patter of raindrops on the shingles chased away the silence of the night.