Progymnasmata

I had a crazy nightmare last night -- woke up mumbling to myself.

So, I'm in an unfamiliar place. My two daughters (ages 5 & 2) are with me. It's dark. Bedtime. So, I find this old hospital gurney, sort of like this one


only it has a raised curtain that completely encircles it.

Driven by some unknown urgency, I know that I have to put my daughters to bed. And this gurney is the only place to do that. So, I do. I tell them everything will be alright, and I draw the curtain closed. Something doesn't feel right, but I don't know what else to do.

Then, I find a place for me to sleep somewhere near by.

Then I wake up (in my dream) to the sound of barely audible whispers. *pshh shhheh hsss phss hss* I feel afraid. More whispers. And suddenly I know that the curtain on the gurney is whispering to my daughters. Somehow I know that it's telling them evil things. I don't know what specifically, but I know it's very bad, corrupting.

I get up and see the gurney with the curtain drawn. The curtain is whispering horrible things to those girls. I hear the whispers intensify, but I still can't make out the words.

Then I wake up (for real). I sit up. My wife says "are you okay? you were whispering so loudly in your sleep".

Crazy.