I could hear him in my bathroom, shuffling through my linen closet. I knew that any minute he would realize there was nothing of value in there and come rifle through the rest of my bedroom. He would see my laying in bed, quivering and begging to not be hurt. He was going to pull me from my sheets and drag me outside – I had to get out of there.
I saw one angry eye peek through the bathroom door, it was almost too late to get out. I sprinted to my bedroom door and slammed it shut, still shaking with fear. I pulled on the door knob and used my entire body weight to hold it shut. Oh how I wished I could lock the door from the outside. I knew that if Isaac would just wake up, things would be okay, I would be safe. He was sound asleep in the bedroom across the hall, I had to get to him. Without letting go of my doorknob, I reached across the hall to try to open his door. My arms felt like they were pulling out of their sockets, but I just couldn’t let go of my doorknob. I knew the angry intruder would immediately open the door and capture me. I reached and reached for several minutes with no success.
There was no way I was going to reach Isaac’s door while still holding onto my own. I let go of my doorknob and in one single bound jumped through his door and into his bed. I was shaking from head to toe, terrified of the man who was going to burst through Isaac’s door any minute and drag me outside. He was angrier now that I had tried to keep him locked in my room, he was going to take out his anger on me. I grabbed Isaac tight and he petted my back, comforting me.
And just as quickly as the night terror started, it stopped. I woke up. It was only a dream. Well, I can hardly call it a dream – more of a horrible, realistic, blood curdling nightmare and sleepwalking episode. I remember every horrifying second of my 5 minute door battle with the man in my imagination, and when it was over I’m not sure whether I was more scared or embarrassed.
“But….it felt so real” was all I could say. I stayed cuddled up to my night terror protector for a few more minutes until I stopped shaking and padded back to my own bed. Never a dull moment in our house.
The next night I visited Isaac again in my sleep, but this time it was a much happier event. I simply wanted to say “hi” and see what he was up to in the wee hours of the morning. I knocked on his door, stepped in, and happily waved. I can’t remember if he waved back or ignored me, but apparently it was satisfying enough for sleeping Courtney and I went right back to my own bedroom without a peep.
That same night, I went into Isaac’s room three more times. I don’t remember my other adventures into his room, but by Isaac’s exhausted face the next morning I could tell I was pretty disrupting.
I have a feeling that my recent spike in sleepwalking and night terrors are a result of watching countless hours of The Walking Dead. Seriously – I’ve watched 2.5 seasons in a little over a week. I just can’t stop, and it’s really messing with my head. For example, the other day I pulled into my driveway when it was dark out and I got a little scared to get out of my car (not abnormal for me, I tend to worry that there is a serial killer hiding in my bushes). I looked over and there were a few birds playing in my grass and I instinctively thought “oh good, there are birds playing in the lawn, that means there are no zombies around.” WHAT?! Not okay. I’m starting to lose it. Thankfully I’m almost done with the third season so I can chill out on the zombie shows.
The Other Courtney 
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Every time I come to your blog I reply being all “OMG ME TOO” about one of your recent posts. A few months ago I wrote about my own struggle with night terrors and night hallucinations (night terror and sleepwalking’s evil twin brother!). If you’re so inclined, you can find it here: http://leanerbythelake.com/i-dream-of-terror/
Hope that yous are abating. And you’re totally spot on that the scary show could be contributing. I was in a habit of reading really visceral crime fiction before bed (Dark Place, Gillian Flynn) and it was translating into a not good bedtime routine and sleep cycle.
Happy to have found my way back here again 🙂
-Eileen
http://www.leanerbythelake.com
Just read your post and left you a comment there- OH my gosh so scary. You are right, our night lives are very similar, haha. Mine have gotten a little better for the time being, stopping the scary shows has definitely helped 🙂 I’ve found that whenever I watch TED talks or other documentary type shows/speeches before bed I sleep really soundly. Or just reading before bed, that helps too 🙂 But as you and I both know, we can do all the relaxing, calming things in the world before bed and sometimes still wake up screaming haha.
Wow … you are sleep walking again….hmmm. Are you going to sleep right after watching? Or it does not matter when you stopped watching?
That sounds like it must make you tired too…not just the husband. (I so like typing ‘husband’ to you now *smiles*)
Sometimes yes, going to sleep right after but I try not to!! I have discovered that if I watch Ted Talks or wimp.com before going to sleep, I sleep a lot better! Not as many nightmares! Going to keep doing that 🙂
Yep, we are both tired! The husband (heheh) and I both!
OOhh! Ted Talks! I am addicted! You should listen to Brene Brown’s talks! Loved them! Also, I’m sorry to hear about the night terrors! How horrible! Hopefully they settle down soon!
Okay I’ll look her up!! I love me some good talks.
I’m so sorry that you still get night terrors. My two year old gets them and I really hope he outgrows them. They’re scary for me, so I’m sure they’re even more scary for him!
Oh I hope he grows out of them!! They are no fun.
I can’t imagine what you go through.
It’s definitely a little weird, but I’ve gotten semi-used to them. During the night terror it is horrifying, but the bright side is the extreme relief I feel when I wake up and realize I’m just fine and nobody is trying to kill me, LOL. I mostly feel bad for my poor husband who gets woken up several nights a week due to my sleepwalking. He is such a trooper though, never complains.
Reblogged this on Filestlopper's Blog and commented:
canaryslands
thanks 😉
great story
Thanks!
welcome your blog is awesome!
Oh I appreciate that!! Thanks for reading along 🙂
I am going to buy you tickets to the premier of World War Z.
YES PLEASE!!!! 🙂
My daughter is a sleepwalker. I hope she doesn’t get the night terrors later.
Oh boy, me too! They are awful. This was by far my worst night terror
https://theothercourtney.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/the-intruder-2/
I never want to have one like that again! But then again, almost giving myself my epipen in my sleep was pretty horrifying too haha!! NEVER a dull moment.
I would definitely limit the amount of scary shows she watches, they contribute to the craziness.
She is pretty scared of any scary shows so that takes care of that. She is a fragile girl in a teenager’s body, so people think she is lot older than she is. I am very protective of her.
I was the same way as a teen. She is lucky to have a protective father like you!! Teenage girls need dad’s like you. I am thankful to have had one myself 🙂
She is actually only 8, but she is so tall that she is in like 12-13 years girl clothes.
Oh gotcha, wow tall girl! She can send some of those inches right on over here 🙂
She is 5’1 and almost taller than her mother.