So I mentioned in my last post that I lost my train of thought that was supposed to be in this post. It still has not returned. So I’ll just write about something else.

I had some weird dreams over the weekend. I can’t call them nightmares because they were exactly scary. I guess they are kinda in between a dream and a nightmare.

I had this dream where I was wandering through Japan during the Edo period. What prompted this, maybe it has to do with my reading a Japanese fairy-tale right before bedtime or perhaps it’s because I recently finished watching a Japanese TV show set in the Edo period.

Anyway, I dreamed I was wandering through the streets of Edo-period, Japan, looking for (of all the things) a place to stay. I didn’t pay attention to what I was wearing but I was pretty sure I was wearing Edo-period clothes. Every place I knocked, I was turned away. I begged and begged but no one would tell me why I couldn’t stay for just the night until I encountered a man on the street.

He said, “You will never find a place to stay, not as long as you have the name you do.”

I was puzzled, my name? What is it about my name that’s making people turn me away from shelter?

“Your name is Arashi, meaning storm. People are afraid of you.” The man said.

Now, I was very puzzled. My name? That’s not my name but my Chinese name does contain the character for storm. It is, however, pronounced, “Lan”. Was that it? My name?

At that moment, I felt my eyes pop wide open. I was back in the warmth of my bed. Did that just happen? What just happened? My arms and legs felt incredibly stiff. Was my body paralyzed? I’ve heard it happen to people in REM sleep but this was the first time that’s happened to me. Perhaps, my mind and body were in suspense of the story and wanted to see it play out but my mind decided I’ve suffered enough.

The next morning, I checked my sleep as it was recorded on my watch and discovered I was out of range for my REM sleep, meaning my dream was as long as I remembered.