AAAAAAHHH!

Most of the time when you tell a story about something that happened suddenly, you can say, "I was walking along when suddenly..." or "Everything was peaceful and quiet when all of a sudden...," but when you are sound asleep, and something sudden happens, it feels like there was no world at all, no you, nothing to pin you to time, before the startling event.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" out of nowhere, from nothingness, and suddenly, I am awake and trying to fill out the edges of a pinpoint of knowledge, that Danny had yelled in his sleep.

From my muzziness, all I could do was say, "Danny, Danny, it's Mommy. You're safe in your own bed." It was all I knew myself. Then conciousness coalesced. I got out of bed and went to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Are you all right?"

"Huh?"

"You just yelled. Are you all right?"

"I yelled?"

"Um, yes. Did you have a scary dream?"

"No, it just startled me." Ah. Danny's startle reflex is legendary in our household. He sometimes throws whatever he has in his arms up into the air and yells like he's being pinched, hard.

"Well, you're safe. Do you want to come into my bed?"

"Yes." He walked blearily to my bed, crawled under the covers, and immediately sank into a deep sleep. I don't even know if he'll remember that.

Mikey never even stirred.