Sleep and Chocolate Cakes

You know what's the worst? Ok, maybe not the "worst" thing possible, but it's still pretty bad. Sleep paralysis. That thing when you're dreaming but you're eyes are wide open surveying your room. Your body can't move. You see and hear things. Utterly creepy.

This has happened to me twice in my life. Both times in college.

The first time, I thought I was going to die. I never experienced it before nor have I ever heard of it. It was just another night during my freshman year. Hopped into bed and fell asleep like a baby. In the middle of night, my eyes opened. I remember I was facing the wall, which was all I could see. My body felt numb and cold. I tried to move but I couldn't. That's when my body started going into panic attack. You know how your leg feels when you lean or sleep on it too long? Yeah, that's what my entire body started to feel like. I kept praying to God to not let me die just yet. I had so much more in life I wanted to go through. Who wants to spend their entire life in school? I would go into more vivid details, but that's as much as I can remember.

The second time just happened two days ago. It felt like I just got into bed, but apparently I was already asleep for two hours. My body felt like a constant current of electricity was flowing through. I tried to move, but once again could not. I saw this chocolate cake. Yes, a chocolate cake. Then this paper plate would appear right next to it and scrape off the side of the cake. Every time it did that, it sounded like nails scratching a blackboard. The sound would get louder and louder. Then it would stop for 5 seconds. The plate would start scraping again and the torture began once more. Every time the sound was at it's highest pitch, my lungs would feel like it stopped working. I remember trying to gasp for air. I looked over at the curtain in my room and saw the silhouette of an old lady hunched over. After a few rounds of the scraping and staring at the old lady, I finally wrenched my arm off my body and I could move again. I sat up in cold sweat, but knew this time I wasn't going to die.

What did I learn from my most recent sleep paralysis attack? Don't go to sleep hungry.