My Annual Nightmare

It's that time of year again - the approach of the Big Local Music Festival - so naturally I'm having Those Dreams again. Actually, they're late this year; usually I have them around the beginning of April. I'm guessing that we've been so busy with other stuff that they got delayed.

What dreams are these? Well...

I was in an old house; I don't know why. But the rest of my housemates were all getting ready for Final Exams, and it occurred to me that I didn't know when my exams were scheduled. Or when my papers were due. In fact, I really hadn't been doing anything, including going to class, all semester. (This may actually mean that I'm getting older; at least in this dream I was in college rather than grade school, and at least I was wearing my pants.)

So I started looking around, and of course I couldn't find the schedule which would have told me what classes I was supposed to have been attending. And then I couldn't find the registrar's office to get another copy of my schedule. Somewhere in there I was walking up a big stone staircase - the college was a wonderfully gothic structure, sprawling across at least one massive hill. Not quite Ghormenghast; think of some of those medieval abbeys, instead.

At the top of the stairs, I helped Firstborn up over the ledge to the top; then I handed up Secondborn, and Firstborn pulled him onto solid ground. No idea why this was necessary, let alone why I thought it was a good idea, but this clearly wasn't a children-falling-from-high-places nightmare, since they handled it just fine. The top of the ledge/hill had a little lakeside area with tables, where people were (of course) studying.

At this point - just after four in the morning - I woke up, got some water and used the restroom, and then went back to bed.

...Where I landed right back in the same NFBSKing dream, still not knowing what tests I was supposed to be getting ready for, what papers I was supposed to be finishing, or whether I was meant to be taking a final exam right now. This time I was trying to figure out if I could take an Incomplete on everything, and either try again next semester or finish up - by which I mean, do an entire semester's worth of work and take all the tests - during the break. I distinctly remember wondering whether I could learn enough to pass just by sitting down and reading through the entire textbook, and whether I had time to do that. Especially since there was more than one class involved.

This continued - I am not making this up - until the alarm went off at a quarter after six.

Note to the denizens of my Anxiety Closet: I'd rather be chased by monsters. Thanks.