Last night I fell asleep on the couch with my eyes perfectly open. I fell into a dream as soon as I was asleep, and in the dream I was in the exact same place I was in the real world: on the couch. There is a reoccurring event that I dream about that happened last night. It feels like my jaw is trying to rip itself from my face, and I fight back, trying to keep it still. The struggle is usually quite painful and my teeth often shatter under the stress and fall out. So while that was happening, I tried to stand up, but my torso and legs wouldn't respond. Whenever I tried to sit up, a wave of horrible pain would wash over me. My arms still seemed to work so I flailed about and found a phone, but I couldn't talk because of the war in my jaw. In the dream I could feel my body being moved by my arms, but my vision never changed. I was still seeing what my open, real eyes were seeing! Then in the dream I tried to move my arms in front of me, but I couldn't see them. I could feel them waving frantically in front of my eyes, but I couldn't see them! All of my senses except my vison were in the dream. I didn't know I was dreaming at this point, and I was frightened. I couldn't move anything except my arms, and even then, I couldn't see them so I suspected that they didn't work either and I was just feeling "phantom movement." No one would give a second's thought about me until Monday when I wouldn't show up for work. I hoped I was dreaming, so I did what I do whenever I suspect I'm dreaming and want it to end: I open my eyes as wide as I can.
It always works. My real eyes always open and I break out. The problem was my eyes were already open! My trick wouldn't work, which scared my even more. It just confirmed to me that I wasn't dreaming. I was stuck inside my locked apartment, staring at the couch and wall, unable to move and in pain, until someone finally decides check on me. Probably at least four days later. Then I realized that there was no way I could have reached the phone. It was on the other side of the room. And what I felt under me was impossible to feel in the apartment. It felt like I had fallen onto a bag of chips. But the chips, too, were nowhere close to the couch. So I just had to wait until I woke up. When I did wake up, the transition was seamless. What I was seeing in the dream was the same as what I was seeing in reality. I couldn't really tell if I was awake or not, so I moved my arm a bit, saw it move, and was relieved it was over.
The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes. Now that I think about it, wonder if I was actually asleep and dreaming. Maybe it was a hallucination or something. I was extremely tired at the time, though, which I figure could lead one to fall asleep and dream with open eyes.
-Seth