What Happens When The Monsters Come Out From Under The Bed

I suffer from tinnitus, which is a persistent ringing in the ears. Because of this, I have trouble falling asleep. To combat the problem, I wear wireless headphones to bed that are connected to my computer, where I play “white noise” videos on YouTube. “White noise” sounds like a softer version of television or radio static; people who suffer from my condition listen to it to “drown out” the auditory ringing noise until the brain eventually is trained to tune the noise out.

One day, my wireless headphone set died. I was quite upset, as I knew I was going to have trouble falling asleep. I did manage to fall asleep eventually, but suddenly, at random, I heard music box chimes playing all throughout my dreams, which drove me almost crazy as I had no idea where it was coming from.

I woke up to find that my little seven-year-old sister had taken the little chiming music box that my dad would wind up and play next to her on nights when she would have night terrors, and she had put it next to my head — apparently concerned about me not being able to fall asleep.

I mentioned it to her the following morning and laughed about how I was hearing the chimes in my dreams, and I was looking all over the place in my dreams trying to find where it was coming from.

Days later, I got a new pair of wireless headphones, and this time I had checked in early after a long, exhausting day. I turned on my favorite white noise video on YouTube, put my wireless headphones on, and crashed for the night.

Suddenly, I began dreaming that I was robbing a bank and was in an intense shootout with the police and SWAT! 

Then, the dream changed and I found myself in an anime.

Then, suddenly, my all-time favorite song began playing. I began bobbing my head and started singing along as I woke up… to find my sister at my computer, her body trembling uncontrollably with stifled laughter, redhanded with her fingers on the keyboard. She had several YouTube windows open, and the next one she was aiming for was the classic final boxing match from the movie “Rocky IV”.

Me: “YOU LITTLE MONSTER!”

I leaped out of bed. My sister shrieked and ran off to her room, burying herself under a mountain of blankets while giggling hysterically.

Annoyed, I went back to my room to switch the video back. This kid had quite an interesting night planned for me: the other windows she had open were YouTube search results with phrases like, “You shall not pass,” “car chase,” “Jaws theme,” “[Video Game] final boss,” “Say hello to my little friend,” etc.

But on a positive note, since I had discovered that external sounds could influence my dreams, I went on to create a playlist that would include guided meditations that I would hear in my sleep. It proved to be an EXCELLENT anxiety reliever.

Thanks to that little monster.