Somnambulation

Posted by Braden

To say that one of my dormmates sleepwalks wouldn't quite be right. He very rarely just walks. One time he cooked a meal. Another time he held a conversation--in his sleep. Last night he started banging the blinds and yelling for us all to wake up and get out because there was a fire. There was no fire.

The funny thing is that when he's awake, this kid is one of the nicest, most calm and collected boys I know!

I'm not going to lie, it makes for some pretty interesting nights. We never really know as we go to bed what's going to be happening around 3 a.m. We have found a correlation between what quality of sleep he gets and how likely he is to do something bizarre in his sleep. Loud noises, late nights, or bright lights all seem to have an effect. He doesn't ever remember doing any of the things he does, but his poor roommate is absolutely terrified of going to bed after the somnambulist has.

I asked his roommate one night why in the world he was still up so late when he had 8 a.m. class the next morning, and with fear in his eyes, he murmured, "I just don't want to wake HIM!" I told him that he had a right to open the door and go into his own bedroom, and with a strange, far-off look in his eyes, he said, "You don't know what it's like, man! It's scares the bejeebers out of me every time he goes berserk!" So I laughed and went to bed.

The next morning, the roommate that I'd talked to the night before looked terrible. "It happened, Braden. Not once; three times. THREE TIMES he woke me up screaming and smacking the blinds." And I laughed again, felt sorry for the kid, and ate my breakfast.

What's a guy to do?