Oops! I did it for real!

Lucy had always had vivid dreams, but incredibly more so since starting her new anti-anxiety meds. The first night she dreamed she was in the grocery store inspecting a carton of eggs for cracks. It was such a mundane subject, yet she felt so amazing checking those eggs. It was as if a cozy, warm light was filling her with euphoria as she turned each egg looking for a flaw. She woke up feeling great, but when she told her colleagues about her fantastic dream, she realized it was actually quite dull with no elements of fantasy. Not so fantastic. But each night it continued with the uber-realistic dreams that made her feel drenched in happiness. The subject matter was irrelevant, she would wake up ecstatic.

Luckily, Lucy didn’t experience traditional nightmares. The added vividness would have made them too real. She did have those embarrassing dreams where you realize you are in the convenience store in a robe or towel, or worse, in public or at work nude. She had a dream where she showed up as her best friend’s maid of honor in a bikini and flip-flops. A screaming fight ensued at the altar when her best friend asked her, “Why the fuck are you standing here half-naked at my wedding?” When Lucy realized it was a dream she woke up feeling slightly disturbed but still experiencing some of that joyful feeling. There were times when the troubling feeling greatly outweighed the cozy happiness, and as she got used to the medicine it decreased more. That was a side effect she had enjoyed.

The company that employed Lucy forbade unnaturally colored hair, but she had always wanted to have bright colors on her head. She also longed to vacation on a tropical beach with crystal clear blue water. Someday she planned to get a dog, but felt like the timing wasn’t right yet. One morning she woke up expecting to be in a stilted cabin in Bora Bora directly over the turquoise ocean with her hair the same color and a puppy she rescued cuddled up next to her. Instead, she woke up late for work in her own bed. She felt her dreams had been tricking her.

“Why so glum?” her work bestie asked.

“I dreamed I had finally died my hair an interesting color and had a puppy. My dream was so real that I thought it was true,” she explained. “I had even grown attached the the dog and it enjoyed swimming with me in the tropical waters.”

“While that sucks,” her friend responded, “Did you forget that the policy on colorful hair had changed? Even visible tattoos are allowed now.”

“No way,” she said. “I don’t recall that at all.”

“Check your email,” she instructed. “Also, you better book your tickets for our flight ASAP, or we can’t travel together. I texted you the info two days ago.”

Lucy had forgotten that they had somehow managed to get their company to send them to a convention in the Bahamas. They just had to submit receipts for their airline tickets for reimbursement. The glum feeling had completely dissipated.

“I can’t believe they got on board with this,” Lucy said while logging in to her Expedia account. The convention was at a resort and included a couple of excursions. There would also be time for sightseeing, sunbathing, and snorkeling.

“I know!” her bestie exclaimed. “My outlook has done a 180. I look forward to work and am so energized when I’m here now.”

“Me too,” she confessed. “I feel like it’s affecting all areas of my life. Obviously, my dream life is onboard.”

That day she stopped by the beauty supply store on the way home to peruse the blue hair dye and selected a sky-blue shade before going to a boutique next door to try on swimsuits.

The next morning she woke up to see multiple missed calls and messages. She had overslept and her boss was angry.

“Oh shit,” she thought. “I hope this doesn’t affect the trip.” There were calls and messages from her work bestie, the mad bride, her boss, and other friends and family members.

“What the fuck is going on?” she said allowed to no one. She grabbed her phone and headed to the toilet for her morning routine. At first, she was startled by the glimpse of herself she caught in the mirror, the shade of blue turned out very nicely though. As she sat on the toilet, she opened her phone and debated where to begin. She decided to start with voicemail.

“We will not be pressing charges as long as the money is returned by Monday morning at 8:00 am. As I stated in my last voicemail, your termination is effective immediately.” Crap! She did have a habit of being late, but it hadn’t been an issue before because she’s salaried and stays until all of her work is finished. She always completes her work on time.

“Wait, what money?” she asked herself. Something sinister was going on, and she felt like she was being used as a patsy. Had someone embezzled money or something and blamed it on her? She didn’t even work in the finance department. She still had that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach but began to feel some hope. There was a misunderstanding somewhere and she would get to the bottom of it. She just hoped it wouldn’t affect her trip. The next message was from her mom.

“Honey, please call me; we are all very worried about you,” she pleaded. “Are you still in Barbados? Your dad and I will help you with everything. Just reach out to us please.”

“Okay, that’s alarming,” she thought. She started feeling panicky and sick.

“I’ve never been to Barbados,” she said to the mirror. Now, she noticed the sunburn and tan combo she had going on.

“Seriously, what the fuck?” As the next message played, she opened her text messages.

“Lucy, I don’t know what the hell you’re playing at but involving me was low. I’m pressing charges because I’m not going down for this,” said her work bestie. She decided to start with her texts first.

Hey girlie what’s up? 🥰

What’s up? Are you

fucking kidding me

right now?

Why so hostile? 🤯

Um…maybe because

you used funds from

work to pay for your

vacation and set it up

to make me look guilty?!

i almost got fired too.

lol what are you talking about? Have you

gone mad? 🤪

bffr i can’t with you rn

Lucy tried to respond but found she had been blocked. She found she had been blocked by many. Her friend Emilia had angrily messaged her as well before blocking her.

u ruined my fucking

wedding, bitch !

no

what do you mean

no? U showed up w

bluie hair in a bikini

tomy FORMAL wedding

B serious. U on drugs?

That or dying is the

only way ill ever forgive u

Go to rehab or something

NO

After that, she had been blocked. She decided to bite the bullet and get down to business and called her mom in tears. Before her mom could answer, there was a knock at the door. It was the police. They had had many calls but were mainly concerned with the repeated reports of indecent exposure in public places.

After weeks of investigation and in-patient psychological evaluation, it was discovered that Lucy’s “vivid” dreams were not in fact dreams. Initially, they were, but somewhere along the line she had been operating in a sleepwalking-type state, but no one was aware that she was not awake. It took months to correct the damage her dream self had caused. However, Emilia included one photo of her and her maid of honor taken before the police had been called on her wedding day. She joked that Lucy had been her something blue.