Last night's dream

Most nights, if I remember my dreams at all, they take place in generic locations. Houses that don't exist, pathways, hillsides, restaurants, stores. Nowhere recognizable to my waking mind. No so last night. Last night the dream took place where I laid. In reality, I was asleep on the couch in my mother's living room. So too in the dream. I "awoke" in the still of the night to see vague and ghostly outlines of people sitting in the room, near a window that faces the street. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and watched the apparitions shimmer. They remained quite vague, mere echoes of people, or perhaps just tricks of the eye when rubbed too hard. There was no communication of any kind. No "sense" of presence. Just shapes.

Rising from my sitting position, I moved toward the shapes and the window, waving my hands with the idea that I'd see if there was anything there with a substance that could be felt. I stumbled and lurched forward quickly - almost running, and shouted in panic at my lack of balance. It was then that I noticed someone walking a dog out front on the street. (Yes, it was the middle of the night, but doesn't everybody walk the dog at night when you're dreaming?) And the stumbling, noise and hand waving frightened the dog, which took off running down the street pursued by it's walker. Apparently they thought I was chasing them off, trying to keep the dog from crapping on the lawn or something similar.

A moment later, I was no longer dream-awake, I was real-awake. Skin tingling, I realized this time it wasn't a dream. The noise of the nearby fan droned on. My hair lightly rustled in the cool breeze as I drew a deep breath and sighed. It was 3:30 AM and silent outside. Eerie to wake in the same place twice in a row.