How to Confuse Dreams and Reality and Freak Everybody Out Along the Way
If there’s one activity I partake in more than any other, it’s dreaming. Conscious or unconscious, it doesn’t matter. I think there’s nothing so valuable as a dream. Except maybe being able to distinguish said dream from reality. You'll see.
Spring break of my sophomore year of high school, I travelled to Italy with my European History class. The trip was plopped right in the middle of track season (which, at the time, I was a lackluster participant in), and since a few of my teammates were also on the trip, we decided we would go for group runs at 6:30 AM, before setting out to explore the sites (foods) of Italy. But the first night there, I had a little trouble differentiating dreams from real life when it came time for the early-morning run. And when you mix those two things up, you freak everyone out who’s living comfortably in reality. Here’s the How-To:
How to Confuse Dreams and Reality and Freak Everybody Out Along the Way:
1) Set your watch alarm for 6:15 AM, so you'll be ready for your 6:30 AM team run. Do not request a wake-up call from your hotel.
2) Succumb to the utter exhaustion of a 30-hour travel day and pass out in your rickety twin bed as early as possible.
3) In the middle of the night, dream that the phone is ringing, wake up, and assume it’s the wake-up call you never requested. Start getting ready for your morning run. Let thoughts like “man, it’s dark in Italy in the morning” and “I’m SO tired! I won’t be able to keep this up all week at this rate” drift through your mind. While thoughts like “I didn’t set a wake-up call, so maybe that was a dream” and “let me just check my watch and see what time it is” are nowhere to be found.
4) Once you’re in full running attire, mosey down to the lobby to wait for your teammates. You’re right on time. 6:30 on the dot! (Nope. It’s 12:30 AM. Details...)
5) Wait an undetermined amount of time before investigating where everyone is.
6) Once back on the floor where you’re staying, listen to see if you hear anything. When you hear giggles in one of the rooms, knock on the door and let the fun to begin.
7) When they open the door and see you standing there in your running clothes at 12:30 AM, allow for a few quiet moments of confusion. Then coolly ask if they’re ready to go running. Allow for more confusion.
8) If they are very kind people, they will ask if this is a joke. (This is only if they are very kind, because honestly, it would be a super weird and unfunny joke to show up at someone’s room in your running clothes in the middle of the night and ask if they were ready to go for a run). If they ask this, look back at them as dead serious as you are about going for this run. You’re as serious about this run as you are about the fact that it’s morning. So serious that you might even get them to wonder for a second if they’re the crazy ones and accidentally stayed up all night.
9) It is only after they show you three watches and an alarm clock all reading 12:30 AM that you will finally be convinced it’s not 6:30 AM.
10) Go back to sleep! Woohooooooo!!!!
11) Wake up at 6:15 AM, go for one final run before you quit the team and die of embarrassment.
Keep dreaming, kids. Just know when you are doing it. Or else you’ll be some version of the crazy person ready to go for a run in the middle of the night. And nobody wants that.
Love Love Love,
Kat
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