J's dream:

The dream starts off differently each time. I’ll be involved in something normal, walking through the house, hanging out with friends, when suddenly everything becomes slightly off and I know I’m in ‘this dream’ again. I will suddenly find myself alone, or maybe the lighting will be different, or I realize it has become ‘too quiet.’ The important thing to realize is that I am now fully aware that I am dreaming and I know what is about to happen and I try to wake up but I can’t. From somewhere nearby, a dark corner, an open door, some ‘thing’ rushes at me. I don’t know the nature of this thing, I’ve never seen it. My sense is that it’s something relatively small, child-sized, some sort of evil energy. Whatever it is, just before it reaches me, I wake up and when I wake up, it’s that ‘straight out of REM’ awake where I’m totally paralyzed for what feels like hours but is probably only a couple of seconds.