I can still to this very day remember night terrors I had as a kid. Those are some of the memories that never fade...blankets crawling up the wall inchworm stryle, shoelaces crawling like snakes and wrapping theselves around my throat, pants and shirts coming alive and crawling out of my closet and marching around the room a la Sorcerers Apprentice. Yes, also walls melting and the bed turning into a pool of hot lava...
It was the most commonplace and mundane things that seemed to turn against you and conspire to tap into the darkest fears deep down in the psyche. It was quite a while before I thought Monsters Inc. was actually funny
When my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer back in 1991, he was given about 6 weeks. We all knew what was coming, but he was still a monument of a man to all of us, it was hard to deal with. He died around 4:30 in the morning, I woke up and definitely did NOT hear, more like sensed him say exactly "Goodbye Peter, I'll always love you..." complete with the native Rhode Island accent (you know, as in "pahk the cah"). I'm as certain of that as I am the color of the shirt I'm wearing. I was awake the rest of the morning.
When my mom called later to tell me, without thinking about it I beat her to the punch. All I said was "I know, about 4:30 this morning. When's our flight?"
Of the total seven grandchildren, 5 of us had the same experience, 2 wouldn't talk about it. We were spread out across the continent.
I think he just wanted to say goodbye one last time. Whatever strings got pulled to let that happen, I'm forever grateful.
OK, pass the flashlight, I'm gonna make some s'mores now.