This morning my brother was in Chicago, one of the destinations on his cross-country road trip.
But last night, his dismembered body was found on the street in a bloody cardboard box. Somehow, I identified his murderers and befriended them. I found myself at a fancy party in a red cocktail dress and diamond earrings, smiling at the people who murdered my brother but shaking with rage and fear inside.
I saw Frankie Muniz and knew that he wasn’t one of them. I pulled him into another room and told him that these people were dangerous killers. He said that they had done the same to his brother and he was there to get revenge as well. I was elated to find someone who shared my pain and motivation. Suddenly, I realized we were being watched. And I woke up covered in cold sweat.
I tried going back to sleep, to help us escape, call the police, anything. But couldn’t.
When I was younger and had nightmares, my mom told me to share them with someone and they wouldn’t come true. I got out of bed and looked for my roommates, but no one was home. I texted my brother. He was on his way to Mt. Rushmore. I told him to stay away from groups of young, blonde men in white tuxedos.
There was a 2.25 mile run on my 5K training schedule, and I ate my pre-run snack in total silence. It felt so real.
Piece of toast with PB & raspberry preserves + a cup of coffee.
I ran the 2.25 and didn’t want to stop, so I ended up running 3 miles. With the blinding sunshine and sweat pouring down my face, I finally snapped out of it. It was just a dream. Just a dream.
I knew I was finally calm when I laughed at the back of my running shirt. Doesn’t it look like a face, sticking its tongue out? Take that, stupid nightmare.
Gross
The funny thing is, this happened to me before. When my brother was away on another trip, I had a horrible dream about him that felt so real, I didn’t know what to do with myself. Whew.
I had breakfast, which was actually brunch:
Stonyfield vanilla yogurt, banana, Kashi Good Friends & flax.
For an early dinner, I had a version of a taco salad. I cut up and toasted a TJ’s whole wheat tortilla into chips and had a combo of black beans, red cabbage, carrots, leftover brown rice, red onion, diced tomatoes & spices on a bed of lettuce. Of course, cheese was involved too:
For dessert, I had some wheatberry pudding, courtesy of Leslie’s Whole Plate. It was so delicious!
I’ve stopped wondering why Frankie Muniz decided to be my co-conspirator. But I’m still curious to know if he was talking about a real-life brother or one from the show.
Either way, I hope we got our revenge.
Do you have siblings? What are they like?
My brother’s 24 and totally fearless. Maybe that’s why I have worrisome nightmares about him.
Oh I hate bad dreams that feel sooo real. Glad you could come here and share with us, that’s actually a good idea from your mom, I think telling someone usually helps me when I have scary thoughts/dreams.
I have a younger brother, he’s 18 and trying to transition into his freshman year at college. We FINALLY get along now that we are both college students! haha
Oh my gosh!!!! The beginning of this post terrified me! I’m so sorry about your nightmares– I got a lot of those in the beginning of the year when I was alone in my apartment. They’re horrible.
I have a younger sister–she’s 16, ridiculously smart, and we’re really close. I hope you have sweet dreams!
Aagh…your post scared me! I don’t have any siblings but wish I did.
I saw part of a Malcom in the Middle episode the other day where the dad was playing shuffleboard with his baby – the baby was the disk.
geez olga. i read this at 2:00am last night after having some wine. and i had to read it multiple times before realizing that it was a dream. glad it was just a dream!
Oh my god Olga, that freaked me the f out. I can only imagine how you felt! My poor angel.
I have an older brother named Jack. Always been one o my closest friends. He’s turning 30 this year, is married, wears suspenders and a fedora, has two dogs, a cat, and a wife, and works at a James Beard nominated resto in PDX. He broke his finger five days ago when he fell off his bike. Silly Jack!
that is one crazy dream!
i have two brothers, younger twins at the awesome age of 21! i miss them a lot since we get along really really well!
Whoa that’s a serious dream.
I hate when that happens, and you just can’t shake the dream feeling. It’s a weird feeling all the way down to your core.
Goodness, you really scared me with the start of this post!
I still have nightmares a lot that sound ridiculous later but really scare me at the time. I hope you were able to shake off the icky, creepy feeling!
Oh my gosh, the beginning of your post scared the crap outta me!
I have two older sisters: the eldest is 28, married, but still never grew out of that adolescent stage when you can’t control your body parts. She is obsessed with HGTV. My other sister is 25, also married, and works as a nurse; she really likes monograms and black toile. That about covers it.
dreams can be so scary, cant they! i have had some very real dreams in the past
not fun.. one time I dreamed my sister wasnt in our family portrait , so I woke up and went to her room.. she wasnt there, but in the hospital, due to a bad low from her diabetes 
so scary
i have two sisters. a twin sister, who is very to-herself, joyus, and fun.
and my older sister, who is seriously a ray of sunshine
Ugh, I hate nightmares like that seem so real. I never can go back to sleep after having one like that.
As for siblings, I have a brother that is 41 and is the exact opposite of me. He has a hobby farm with cattle and goats and all kinds of animals, whereas I’m totally a city gal.
Aww sorry about your bad night! I hate when they seem that real. I used to get nightmares every single night when I was young until we finally figured out it was because I had a huge ice cream sundae every night and for some reason eating sugar before bed would cause them. Weird right?
My brother’s 26, married, and has a 8 month old so I don’t really have to worry about him getting attacked unless it happens on the way from his house to work. I’m definitely thankful for that!