I saw the first one yesterday.
I was at the library with my kids. As they picked out their books I meandered around, bored, until something caught my eye. Next to one of those “reading is fun!” encouragement signs, there was a poster, reading in big letters:
ARE YOU DREAMING RIGHT NOW?
Intrigued, I stepped closer. There were instructions underneath, with cute minimalistic drawings next to each step.
1. Look at the time on your phone, watch, or other device.
2. Look away for a few seconds.
3. Look back at the time.
If the time doesn’t match, you may be dreaming.
Remember, “pinching yourself” is just an old wives’ tale. This is the only proven method. Remember to check early—and often!
I frowned. What a weird sign. I glanced around the library; no one seemed to be looking at it, or paying any attention to it at all. The old guy at the desk was glued to his laptop, the librarian was furiously sorting through the returned book bin, and my children were gabbing excitedly in the children’s corner.
Just for kicks, I looked at the large clock hanging above the reception desk. The golden-metallic hands showed 12:08.
Then I looked at the floor. 1, 2, 3.
Back at the clock. 12:08.
I found myself breathing a sigh of relief, even though I wasn’t the slightest bit concerned that I was dreaming. Seriously, if this were a dream right now, there’d either be cat-faced dragons flying through the sky or a very naked Henry Cavill standing in front of me… or it would be that weird nightmare I keep having, about the man who crawls along the floor like a snake.
I turned away from the sign, to the New Releases shelf in front of me. I pulled out a thriller and paged through it for a while, until my kids were rocketing to the reception desk and nearly throwing their library cards at the poor librarian.
“Ava! Benjamin!” I barked, jogging to catch up with them.
“Sorry!”
By the time we got home, I’d forgotten all about the weird poster. I watched the kids play some video games, threw food in the Instant Pot, read more of the thriller. It was a good day.
But then I saw another poster.
The next day, while the kids were at school, I went grocery shopping. As I sped through the empty aisles, throwing bread and mayonnaise into the cart, I saw another poster.
It was stuck to the bulletin board near the checkout lanes. Next to an ad for a local math tutor, there was a smaller version of the exact same poster I’d seen at the library.
ARE YOU DREAMING RIGHT NOW?
“What’s that sign about?” I asked the teenage girl ringing up my items.
She turned around to look at it. “Oh. Huh. That’s kinda weird,” she said with a chuckle. “I have no idea.”
“It’s kind of creepy, right?”
She shrugged. “Maybe that’s the point? Like a prank to creep people out. It was just Halloween and all…”
On the ride home, I couldn’t help but think about the sign. Are you dreaming right now? It was so stupid. Of all things, that shouldn’t scare me. I’m a midwife—I deal with blood and pain and emergencies every day of the week.
I turned up the radio and focused on the kids’ lunches. Turkey for Ava… ham for Benjamin… I’ll have to put the mayo on in the morning for Ava—she hates soggy bread. And Benjamin, I’ll put a yogurt in for him, since he doesn’t like cheese on his sandwich.
Man, my kids are so picky.
My kids…
My stomach suddenly dropped.
What if the last ten years of my life have been a dream?
What if my kids… don’t actually exist?
I couldn’t help it. I glanced down at the car clock. 1:37 PM. I looked up at the road, focusing on the twisted trunk of an oak. 1, 2, 3… Glanced down at the clock again.
1:37 PM.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. Focus, Julia, I told myself, sucking in a deep breath. Breathe. My life was not a dream. My kids definitely existed. Even by that stupid sign’s standards, I wasn’t dreaming. The clock read the same time.
Breathe… breathe…
I pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the car, my legs a little shaky. Went over to the trunk and hauled the groceries out of the back.
For the rest of the day, I pushed all my thoughts about that stupid poster out of my mind.
***
I woke up with a start.
My heart was pounding. Like I’d just woken up from a nightmare—although I couldn’t remember having one.
I glanced at the bedside clock. 2:05 AM.
Not time to get up yet.
I rolled over and closed my eyes.
But something nagged at me. An unsettling feeling, growing in the pit of my stomach. I lifted my head and looked back over my shoulder at the bedside clock.
4:04 AM.
My heart dropped.
I’m dreaming.
Okay. So I’m dreaming. No reason to freak out. I glanced around the room—nothing was weird about this dream yet. No extra rooms, no upside-down furniture, no snakemen. No Henry Cavill either. Just me sitting alone on the bed—
Creeeeaaaak.
I whipped around.
The door to our bedroom was hanging open.
Dammit. It’s this stupid fucking nightmare again.
My heart began to pound. Even though I knew it was a dream now, unlike every other time, it was hard to stop the fear. A lot of dreams are like that—you know? Just raw, powerful emotions. Even if the dream isn’t that scary. Even if you know it’s just a dream.
It’s not real. I sucked in a breath. Just. A. Dream.
A soft rustling sound came from the darkness to my left. From the floor. I looked over the side of my bed to see a shape in the darkness. A shape I was all too familiar with. A man crawling along the floor, trying to be as quiet as possible.
This isn’t real. None of this is real.
See? The clock says—
4:05.
The blood drained out of my face.
No. No, it can’t be.
I looked down at the shadow on the floor. 1… 2… 3. Looked back at the clock.
4:05.
No.
He was real. I must’ve fallen back asleep, after I looked at the clock the first time. It wasn’t a dream. All this time, it wasn’t a nightmare.
I opened my mouth and screamed.