This is not scary, update 5

The previous update, and list of previous posts for this, are here

Sorry for the slowness to update, but the combination of... whatever this is... plus life during the holidays turned out to be kind of overwhelming.

Things have taken a kind of odd, sideways turn for me. My apartment seems to be protected now - nothing has happened here since the last update. Everything seems to be limited to the dream state, and I got at least one night of total peace there, too.

Then this happened

Upon waking, the dream and the pain did not fade. Writing about it in my blog was difficult, and it was basically the only thing I was able to get done before work that day. I was, for once, really glad that our manager has been under-staffing us at work. We were so busy, I didn't have time to think about, or feel, anything. The only major problems that occurred all night were mundane; being allergic to some kind of perfume that some old lady practically bathed in, having people mad that I carded them for beer, and slight difficulty with one customer's accent, which made it sound like he was asking if my store sells bags of ass instead of ice. It didn't cause any lasting confusion or delay, but the look on my face got me laughed at by his companions, and the group left razzing him about it.

I was exhausted by the time my shift was over, and instead of having to face people, I just went home and crashed on the couch.

Even with sleep interrupted by my redneck neighbors firing off shotguns, I dreamed again.

Yesterday, I was a bundle of raw nerves all day. It took every ounce of self-control I had to not snap at everyone around me, including random strangers, for no reason. Even as the dream state faded away, and my feeling of connection to the events from the dream waned, I was still really touchy. I spent the entire day fighting the urge to verbally blast someone, something I'm much better at than I'd like to be.

After a rough day, struggling to not take everything out on everyone around me, came another dream.

I woke feeling like I'd ether been electrocuted (something that I do, sadly, know from experience) or run a marathon; totally drained, and sore all over.

As for being a bundle of nerves, was nothing compared to today. For the first time during my many years of experience in retail, I mouthed off to a customer. He was shocked. I was, too. He deserved it, but I never, ever do that, at least not in seriousness.

It's taken me all day, working on and off, first before work, and then after, to write this. Every little sound is distracting, even the sound of the keys as I'm typing. In the meantime, I can't get the sight of that thing, changing from shape to shape, out of my head. The worst thing is that it got away. I don't know where it is, or how I'll have to confront it next. I'm almost afraid to go to sleep tonight.

Continued here