Article Surfing Archive

Emma could not believe her luck. She walked into the kitchen, and it was spotless. The counter was free of her housemates' dirty, grimy dishes. The oven was sparkling clean, a pristine white. And there was Brad, clad in only sweatpants, flipping blueberry pancakes in one pan, and making eggs in another. The aroma of coffee, baking, eggs, and something' else filled the sunny kitchen.

Brad handed her a full mug of coffee. 'I made breakfast. I hope you don't mind.' He winked at her.

'Mind?! This is unbelievable. I must be dreaming.'

And that's when it dawned on her.

Emma woke up with a vague feeling of regret, but mostly, she was satisfied, feeling content. Some might have written it off as 'only' a dream. Emma preferred to focus on the fact that it happened at all.

The exact nature of dreams is still unknown. It's not entirely clear what dreams 'are.' It is known and it is clear that when we dream, our brains act as if we're awake. One theory is that dreams are a way for our subconscious to work out the things we have to deal with but ignore during the day. But when we're asleep and dreaming, our subconscious is free to play with whatever is lurking around.

But Emma hasn't been dreaming. She had been fighting with her with her 3 housemates over petty, inane things. She's been stressed, drinking too much. She's been sleeping in a messy room on sheets that haven't been washed for over a month.

Without dreams, her subconscious hasn't been able to reinterpret things, or present them in a new way, in a way that might give let Emma see her issues in a different light. She hasn't had any distractions from her stress. That was before last night. Last night was different. Emma cleaned her room. She washed her sheets. And she dreamt.