When I was very young (about 4 years old), I used to feel as if I was falling through the mattress, or coach or chair, just as I feel asleep. I would say, "uh-oh, falling again!", feeling as if my awareness was falling right out of my body, and then fall asleep instantly. Waking up, if I'd been dreaming, there would be a patch of blue sky and clouds seeming to pass over me in a shush of wind (so it was moving, not I), and then I'd be aware of entering our house and myself floating just under the ceiling. I'd slowly rotate 'til I was looking down on me sleeping, rotate to face the ceiling again, then feel myself descend into my sleeping body, and wake up.
I changed bedrooms when I was 5, to one farther away from the living room, and instead of the "falling out of my body / re-entry 'OBE''s" started having night terror / "alien" visitations (not exactly aliens: I remember them as luminous detectives, gumshoes -- hats pulled down so you couldn't see their faces and loose trench coats -- glowing bright pink, yellow, green or orange). They'd circle the bed for what seemed like hours never meeting my gaze or each other's, though occasionally a couple would skulk off to a cornerand appear to be conferring about something. Sometimes one would sit down at the foot of the bed or even crawl into bed beside me, curl up and have a bit of a nap (no wonder, parading around my bed all night must have been exhausting!) It sure was terrifying at first, but less so as it happened so often; finally, I got to kind of like the company. After we moved away and the visitations stopped... I kind of missed them.
"
Où sont les nuages, les détectives brillants, d'antan?" (- apologies to F. Villon)
