The scream not only made Ronnie jump; she felt her hair attempting to stand up straight on her head.

By the time she recovered sufficiently so as to have her wits about her, Tim was awake and turned on the light on his nightstand, having been rousted awake by his own scream. Both were shaken; Tim by the actual act of crying out and the preceding dream, Ronnie by this audible invader crashing into their otherwise tranquil and routine night.

She looked at Tim for a long moment, still somewhat stunned, still incredulous. Moving closer and wrapping her arms tightly around him, Tim reciprocated with his own wrapping of affection. A hug that conveyed said affection, but also relief a horrible event was over, fear over the lingering memories of the dream, embarrassment over his high decibel outburst that grew more intense when Addison and Serada hurried through the half opened door.

“What was that?” the daughters excitedly asked in unison while jumping onto Ronnie and Tim’s bed, one after the other. Naturally, their dog would not be denied his place in the family gathering, and sure enough, within two minutes he made the bed a temporary haven for five.

Tim painfully looked back through the dream seeking his answer for rest of the mobilised family. His presence in the here and now was diminished by the forced concentration on something that only existed in his mind.

“I… it was just a nightmare. Just a dream that I was chased down and caught, causing me to scream.”

“What was chasing you, daddy?” Serada was a very inquisitive child who looked for answers and persisted until a satisfactory answer was sent her way.

“Just some monster from a movie I watched, and the title of which I no longer remember. Boy, do I feel stupid, because we know there is no such thing as monsters.”

Addison took a turn hugging her dad, and Serada wished a piece of that action as well. For her part, Ronnie thought a family hug was a great idea, and found openings for two more arms with which to encircle Tim.After the four of them talked for close to an hour – they knew the girls were too excited to crash very readily – both had finally calmed. Ronnie called the family back to reality, with a pronouncement the second bedtime of this night was nigh. Tim sprung into action and off the bed, reaching back down to grab and carry Serada into her room and onto her bed. When he came back out, he whispered instructions in Addison’s ear.

Ronnie came into Serada’s room to give a sealing kiss to her daughter’s return to bed, only to find Addie in sleeping bag on the floor, right alongside her younger sister’s bed. Smiling and recognising this was fait accompli, she bent down and gave a good night kiss to Addie on top of her head, then reached across Addie and gave out one final kiss, offering ‘good night girls – and please… sweet dreams!”

Returning to her bed, deferred fatigue found her, pulling her down into the sheets. Stooping before she was fully immersed in linen, Tim came out of the bath and watched with amusement as Ronnie predictably grabbed her pillow and fluffed it, set it back down in just the right position. Ritual completed, Tim moved toward his own place in bed, finding just the right spot under the covers, ceased moving, and sighed.

“That scared the shit out of me, Ronnie” he half laughed while rendering this remark. Unaware that there was more to the dream than the basic monster scenario, Ronnie said nothing, just reached over and turned out the light. In the newly returned darkness, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. Looking up at the stars of a clear and moonless sky twinkling through the large skylight, she rolled on her side, draped her left arm across Tim’s torso, and contentedly returned to sleep.

Little did she know this night’s unusual and uncommon event would in coming months prove to be both usual and common.