THIS had to take place?
Dear DS diary,
In a sense, I can understand where the marathon bombing nightmares are coming from (see previous entry for details). But last night, said nightmares took an unexpected and unwelcome turn.
The trigger was an impromptu Easter dinner last night. There were eight of us -- all the immediate family plus a couple of others -- and we were just sharing experiences and stories over dinner. Nothing wrong with this, usually...until what was going with my oldest brother, who lives in New York, came up.
Apparently, some really crazy (expletive deleted) can take place in the Big Apple. The brother in question told us about an egg hunt that apparently takes place in NYC every year. But this isn't a "normal" egg hunt; instead, this one was for adults...and one of them happened to be dressed in a life-size bunny costume. The bunny costume actually tackles the people hunting for eggs, looking for his share of...whatever is involved, maybe it's just eggs, I don't know.
This just sounded totally wrong to everyone, and to some hilariously so. But I didn't see anything funny about it. One of the stuffies I sleep with happens to be a plush bunny rabbit. It was the first one I got for myself, years ago at a now-defunct Borders store, because I was feeling lonely at night.
I've always thought of bunnies as relatively peaceful creatures -- some people keep them as pets -- so this was instantly disturbing. And since I did not sleep particularly well last week, having at least one nightmare wake me up a night, I was vulnerable; I was definitely not thinking straight. As a result I couldn't imagine something better than this Easter egg hunt from hell, and my heart let me know this was trouble.
"If I have a nightmare tonight about this, I'm blaming you," I told my oldest brother. Nobody commented about that...they didn't know I was being serious.
Sure enough, last night turned into another disaster under the covers. First, I had trouble getting the thought of an egg hunt of this kind taking place out of my head...and this on a night when I wanted to get some extra sleep because I haven't been sleeping well. Then, after I did manage to sleep for about two hours, it morphed into a nightmare. I had a vision that I was involved in an egg hunt of this sort, and the person in the bunny costume was more than just tackling people...it was armed, too, with a baseball bat (don't ask where the baseball bat came from, I don't know). Then it carried over to me collecting one or two of the eggs from behind...and the bunny sneaked up behind me. Then, before I knew he was there, the nightmare had the bunny hitting me over the head -- and hard -- with the bat. The blow levels me like a rag doll, and I perish a short time later.
Needless to say, this nightmare woke me up and kept me up. Which led to me sending my brother an angry text at 1am demanding to know why he would share something like this. I didn't bother to read his reply, I was so upset (still am this morning), although he apparently did try to apologize.
The damage is done, though...I may never look at my plush bunny stuffie the same way again.
In a sense, I can understand where the marathon bombing nightmares are coming from (see previous entry for details). But last night, said nightmares took an unexpected and unwelcome turn.
The trigger was an impromptu Easter dinner last night. There were eight of us -- all the immediate family plus a couple of others -- and we were just sharing experiences and stories over dinner. Nothing wrong with this, usually...until what was going with my oldest brother, who lives in New York, came up.
Apparently, some really crazy (expletive deleted) can take place in the Big Apple. The brother in question told us about an egg hunt that apparently takes place in NYC every year. But this isn't a "normal" egg hunt; instead, this one was for adults...and one of them happened to be dressed in a life-size bunny costume. The bunny costume actually tackles the people hunting for eggs, looking for his share of...whatever is involved, maybe it's just eggs, I don't know.
This just sounded totally wrong to everyone, and to some hilariously so. But I didn't see anything funny about it. One of the stuffies I sleep with happens to be a plush bunny rabbit. It was the first one I got for myself, years ago at a now-defunct Borders store, because I was feeling lonely at night.
I've always thought of bunnies as relatively peaceful creatures -- some people keep them as pets -- so this was instantly disturbing. And since I did not sleep particularly well last week, having at least one nightmare wake me up a night, I was vulnerable; I was definitely not thinking straight. As a result I couldn't imagine something better than this Easter egg hunt from hell, and my heart let me know this was trouble.
"If I have a nightmare tonight about this, I'm blaming you," I told my oldest brother. Nobody commented about that...they didn't know I was being serious.
Sure enough, last night turned into another disaster under the covers. First, I had trouble getting the thought of an egg hunt of this kind taking place out of my head...and this on a night when I wanted to get some extra sleep because I haven't been sleeping well. Then, after I did manage to sleep for about two hours, it morphed into a nightmare. I had a vision that I was involved in an egg hunt of this sort, and the person in the bunny costume was more than just tackling people...it was armed, too, with a baseball bat (don't ask where the baseball bat came from, I don't know). Then it carried over to me collecting one or two of the eggs from behind...and the bunny sneaked up behind me. Then, before I knew he was there, the nightmare had the bunny hitting me over the head -- and hard -- with the bat. The blow levels me like a rag doll, and I perish a short time later.
Needless to say, this nightmare woke me up and kept me up. Which led to me sending my brother an angry text at 1am demanding to know why he would share something like this. I didn't bother to read his reply, I was so upset (still am this morning), although he apparently did try to apologize.
The damage is done, though...I may never look at my plush bunny stuffie the same way again.
Replies
Oh my friend, this makes me so sad, since I love bunnies! People are effed up, you know? Not in a really bad, scary sense, just...it takes all kinds! The giant bunny at that egg hunt isn\'t really hurting people...hell, people probably WANT to be tackled...it sounds like grown-up version of Hide and Seek, with an Easter twist (unless it\'s something a bit...twisted LOL...odd but still not scary). But please don\'t be afraid of your stuffie...I\'m sure he\'s adorable...this might sound silly, but since this is a \'fresh\' fear, maybe it\'d be a good one to try and take on??? Sometimes they\'re easier that way. And...now this is gonna sound silly too...but maybe a quick, simple way to take it on, show your brain that bunnies are not scary...YouTube \'cute animal\' videos? Cute little videos of sweet bunnies hopping around...on a farm or somebody\'s yard or something? Just an idea, as always....wishing you soft, fluffy peace :)
I agree with Summerwind very good advice.
I hate it when \"stupid\" things get in my subconscious and make me have nightmares. But really I just sometimes know that some things are just said in conversation and I do not have to take the thought/idea and \"keep it\". Its not mine its not my issue. I watched an upsetting movie last night and thought ooh might give me nightmares. So I decided I would let it go and I would watch a comedy and concentrate on that. Sometimes we have to make a choice of what we keep in our minds. Like the above advice but better thoughts in to replace the negative ones.
wishing you sweet dreams of comfort