People say that listening to other people talk about their dreams is boring. Freud found them interesting, but there’s a reason psychiatrists now listen to their patients for ten minutes before asking “How’s your supply of pills?” and finishing with “I’ll see you in three months”.

I don’t especially enjoy hearing other people’s dreams either. The ones with lots of strange things happening can be especially hard to follow. 

Still, dreams aren’t the most boring topic of conversation by far. Most of us understand that the most boring topic of conversation is “home improvement”, as in “here’s what we’re going to do with the windows in our living room”.

It should also be noted that some dream conversations are better than others. For one thing, the short ones are better than the long ones. Or if a co-worker says “I dreamed that you and I were in a space station orbiting the earth”. That might be of interest. Or if your spouse tells you about a recurring dream in which he or she sets fire to your hair. 

All of which brings me to a dream I had a few years ago. It was quite short, but also quite scary. If you want to hear it, keep reading.

All of a sudden, the world ended. Everything disappeared. Not just for me but for everyone. Realizing that I was dead but still conscious, I said to myself something like: “Oh no, they were right!”

Which meant that the stories about life after death were actually true! 

Then I woke up. It was still dark but not as dark as the void I’d escaped.

Being back in the world was a tremendous relief. The idea that I was going to be eternally alone in the darkness, doing nothing but thinking and remembering, was truly terrible. Because it wasn’t going to be for a very long time. It was going to be forever.

I can’t think of anything I’d want to do forever, except sleep. That’s the point of resting in peace.