I Can Scare You In My Sleep

(My father’s side of the family is quite large — he has eight siblings — and they have a lake cottage that is shared between the group. A whole bunch of people gather for some events like the Fourth of July, and other times individual families will go up. My family lives farther away, so we don’t usually use the cottage, but when I am around thirteen or fourteen we go down for a week. I am sharing a room with a cousin my age. One night, at around one in the morning, she is up texting her friends, while I have been asleep for a while. Suddenly…)

Me: *sitting straight up in bed* “Hello, [Cousin].”

Cousin: “[My Name]? Are… are you awake?”

Me: “I am not awake. I am in your nightmares.” *lies back down*

Cousin: *screams*

(Apparently, I sleep-talk.)