Do you ever stop to think?

Do you ever stop to think

of the missing steps you've taken,

from the time you went to sleep

to when you reawaken?

A missing state of existence

one known as "dream state",

from when we finally sleep and

rouse again "too late".

What path my last sleep journey?

What language did I speak?

My wife flies in her sleep travels,

while I long footpaths keep.

The stress of old paths journeyed,

retraced in some night's sleep,

refreshed and still so stressful.

with anxieties oh so deep.

Where are we in such moments,

some remembered, some soon forgot?

Who loaned my brain to work so?

I surely, most certainly did not.

Oh, pleasanter ones there've been,

and welcomed ones at that,

reflected on less often,

without a fight or spat.

My mind does seem to wander

at night when I'm asleep.

It seems to like to ponder

such things both light and deep.

It causes me to ponder:

"Where to tonight in sleep?".

__________

© 2014 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.

I have come to the conclusion over the years that our brains marvelously attempt to "tie up loose ends".

In its interrupted moments some thoughts remained incompleted.

The brain is a marvelous organizer, but what does it do with such disjointed moments?

In its quest for order it puts such moments together in the best order it can, even if in a wakened state that "fashioned finale" would seem nonsense.

In combat such moments are piled on top of each other with no time to be completed thoughts because the rush of other thoughts took priority.

In a long combat deployment which can include so many deeply stressful incidents, accompanied by quick awakenings and disrupted sleep, the mind grows overloaded while struggling to, in effect, wipe the slate clean with imagined, acceptable solutions.

At one time in life I was a restaurant owner, and as with any walk of life, owning and operating a restaurant had its own stresses, interruptions, and immediate demands.

While not at all like those of combat, there were moments when even put on full throttle the brain could fashion no fully satisfying solution for the stresses which arose.

In so-called "restless sleep" and "nightmares" the mind still revisits those moments, seeking order and solutions. It tries crazy combinations that to a wakeful mind lack rhyme and reason.

It's how our brains are designed to help us so that the next time we are faced with "fight or flight" situations we can have solutions to draw on.

Why does my wife always fly in her dreams? I don't know for sure, but I can guess that it might somehow be connected with her mother having died in a plane crash. Her mind could be "willing" that the mother's death had never occurred, that flying she could have rescued one of the dearest persons in her life.

Why did I kick her in my sleep last night? I have no idea, for, if I was dreaming, the dream was interrupted by her asking me why I did.

__________

© 2014 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.

Note: This is one of seven or more "Heaven Knows" short stories you can enjoy here on HubPages. If they don't bring a chuckle, they may at least make you think about Heaven.