Dreams...

I was having a decent night's sleep, for the type of sleep I normally get at my age. From 55 on, I don't remember sleeping through the night often, except for the night of my 60th birthday party when I indulged in a few too many Frozen Mudslides, ones I had mixed myself and with a heavy hand...

It was around 3 a.m., two hours from wake-up, that I became a conscious participant in the dream I was having. I was walking down a wide, crowded sidewalk in a major city, and not in a good area. I seemed to be walking with everyone near me, but no one in particular, when suddenly there were gunshots fired at the upcoming intersection.

I followed those near me into a dark, narrow alleyway just to our right and we all hustled through it, fearing for our lives. As we approached the end and were back in broad daylight, someone yelled "Watch out, he has a stun-gun!"

I immediately became concerned about my Atrial Fibrillation and the possible ramifications of being zapped by a stun-gun. I had no choice but to exit the alleyway, make a U-turn with everyone else, and jump over a short brick wall and head towards safe passage. I could see the guy sitting on a wall nearby just aiming his stun-gun and zapping people as they ran by him. I hoped he would skip me because of my age...

As I hustled past him and my back was turned, he reached out and nailed me in my left calf. I felt the electric charge, and I immediately awoke from the dream, gripping my cramping calf.

It was a disabling muscle cramp like no other. I imagined the frog I dissected back in 1975 as a Freshman at Boston University, its gastrocnemius tightly balled up close to the crease of its knee. It was dead, fresh out of a Formaldehyde bath and unaware of me and my lab partner 's scalpel and intentions.

My own calf continued to tighten in a way it never had before. I've experienced muscle cramps, but nothing like this. The intensity caused me to roll out of bed and onto the floor, grimacing in agony. I was unable to walk for several minutes and when I thought I could, I attempted to walk it off, but to no avail. I went back to bed.

A couple hours later when my alarm went off, my balled up calf was still useless. I hobbled towards the bathroom wondering how this happened. Had I crossed the line between dream and reality? Would it happen again? Running for my life through a dream and then back to reality with injuries sustained in the dream was more than just surreal, it was fucking crazy...