Nightmares run in the family.
Our mother’s moans were so loud it could even awaken our neighbors. It was her way of coping with the nightmares but I wondered about the underlying cause of her bad dreams. Poor heart condition, I learned later, could trigger the rare occurrence of sudden sleep death, but our mother died of traumatic brain hemorrhage and she had no history of heart ailment. However, the true state of her heart could not be ascertained since our mother had not undergone the appropriate laboratory and diagnostic exams – standard and routine procedures in today’s health check up. My wife, who used to suffer chest pains, also suffered nightmares of being chased by bolo wielding amok or being sealed inside a coffin alive. Her nightmares usually occurred after our serious quarrels, so sleeping with a heavy heart, like heavy dinner, could be the culprit.
My younger brother Eddie once told me of his nightmares of large snakes. He did not whine but woke himself up by moving his toes or fingers. Sometimes the nightmares returned when he immediately fall back to sleep so he drunk water to be fully awake.
If you have a bedmate, or when somebody is within a hearing distance, moaning aloud is the best coping mechanism for nightmares. It is a nightmare’s nightmare to be alone with no one to rouse you. For two years, as the Provincial Director in the island province of Camiguin, I slept alone at the two-story building that housed the DILG Provincial Office. In a state of half-sleep, I was quite conscious in my nightmares and my struggles to awaken from it. I would frantically jerk my head, wriggle my finger or move my toes. Half-asleep, I had a hard time willing up my muscles to response. At first, I would try to fall back, relax, and willed for the oblivion of deep sleep, but my desire to wake up would prevail. Fortunately, I discovered that prayers could work magic and I would usually awaken after mentally praying one “Our Father,” “Hail Mary” and “Glory Be.” If not, I would repeat the prayer formula. Fitful sleep is an invitation to nightmares. A tingly arm or leg or uncomfortable sleeping positions could trigger a semi-conscious desire to wake up. A few times, with stomach full of kinilaw and blood dense of rum alcohol, I suffered goose bumps by attacks of amorphous and jelly things crawling under the bed and creeping all over my rigid body. My room at the second floor overlooked the sea so the drafts of cold air and the sound of waves slapping the concrete seawalls nearby could be accessories to these bizarre visitations.
