HEY, BABE, ARE YOU HUNGRY?

“Hey, Babe, are you hungry?”

Who are you?

? ? ? ?

I’d fallen asleep on the couch. There was no good reason for me to feel that tired and yet, I felt that my body just needed to sleep for an hour or two.

It was around 11PM when I went to bed the night before and my alarm chimed at 7:30am today. I gave myself my necessary fifteen minutes of “snooze” time to help wake up my brain.

And yet, I felt the need to drag myself out of bed and into the kitchen for some coffee. Breakfast could wait until my husband woke up, which would be around 8am.

I set my coffee mug on the bathroom vanity and brushed my teeth, then turned on the faucet for the shower.

Finally, clean, I picked up my mug, checked on my husband, then left the bathroom.

“What’s wrong with me?” I suddenly felt so tired. My husband was still sleeping and that encouraged me to take a quick nap. It wasn’t quite 8am. I walked to the recliner in the living room, sat, and raised the footrest.

I must have dropped off quickly because I don’t remember a thing, and I never heard my husband get up and walk out towards the kitchen.

There was a gentle nudge of my shoulder and a voice that said, “Hey, Babe, are you hungry?”

All I could manage to say was, “M-m-m” indicating that food sounded good.

Then, as quickly as I could, I sat straight up on the couch. I felt as though my entire system went into shock. While I didn’t utter my thoughts aloud, my brain screamed, “Wait! Who are you?”

More alert now, I looked around. The couch wasn’t mine. It wasn’t in my living room. The clothes I would have sworn I’d put on after my shower weren’t the clothes I was wearing now.

I quietly arose and walked the perimeter of the room. It was definitely NOT my house. So, where the hell was I?

As quietly as possible, I peeked into the kitchen. The man at the stove was definitely NOT my husband and he wasn’t in MY kitchen!

What the hell was going on? And where was the coffee I’d made earlier for myself?

I walked into the kitchen and, trying to sound casual, “So, ah, what’s for breakfast?”

This handsome man smiled at me and said, “Breakfast? Oh. Uh! I guess if you want breakfast, I could scramble up some eggs or pancakes or something but since it’s 8PM, I thought you’d want dinner.

WAIT! EIGHT O’CLOCK IN THE EVENING? WHY IS IT STILL SO BRIGHT OUTSIDE?

He saw the look on my face and offered an explanation. It’s summer and the sun doesn’t set until around ten at night.

OH NO! THE SUN DOES NOT SET AT TEN PM!

Where the hell was I?

Not having any idea where I was or who this strange man was, I feigned a headache.

“Uh, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll lie down for a bit. I have a raging headache. Give me about an hour.”

I thought if I lay down, perhaps I’d fall asleep and awaken – where I was supposed to be – at this point, I had no idea where that even was.

He turned off the stove, handed me a cup of fresh coffee and pulled the drapes closed to block out the bright sun.

It felt like I’d only slept about ten minutes, when I felt a nudge on my shoulder.

“Hey, sleepyhead. We’re burning daylight! Breakfast is ready and it’s time to get up!”

After producing a huge yawn as I stretched, I opened my eyes and looked around.

WHAT? AGAIN? WHAT NOW?

This was not the room where I sat only a few minutes before. The man who stood in front of me wasn’t the man who was cooking my dinner, only a few minutes before.

WHERE WAS I NOW?

“Uh, what time is it?” I asked, hoping that I’d at least be in the correct hour. It would be a start!

“It’s only nine o’clock. The sun is out, there’s no call for rain. It’s going to be a beautiful day.”

I decided to play dumb. “I had the weirdest dream but can’t even remember it. Where are we going again?”

“Jack and Carol are taking us for a ride on their new boat. It’s a honey and I’m really looking forward to it. In fact, you and Carol made all the plans. We’re going down to Key West for lunch. We’ll walk around a bit, then we’ll head home. It’s going to be one long but fun day! We need to be at their dock in 30 minutes.”

My brain was scrambled. Who the heck were Jack and Carol? Where was I. Who was this man posing as my husband. More importantly, I couldn’t help but wonder, who was I?

Not knowing what else to do, I walked into what I hoped was the bedroom that had an adjoining closet. If I’m going on a boat, I’d need to get out of my slippers and hopefully, wherever I was, I could find a pair of deck shoes that I owned in my own life – wherever or whenever that was.

As soon as I walked into the bedroom, I stopped dead in my tracks.

In the bedroom putting on clothes suitable for a boat ride, were the three men I was supposed to be married to: MY actual husband, husband from dream #1, and husband from dream #2.

The room spun wildly. I don’t remember much after that except waking up in my own bed, with my “real” husband on the phone. I heard him say: “That’s right Doctor. She walked into the bedroom, and down she went! Before she fainted, her face turned as white as a sheet. No, I have no idea what happened. Okay, we’ll meet you there.”

“Come on, Babe. Doctor Bennett wants us to meet him at the hospital.”

In too much shock to argue, I allowed Brian to help me to the car.

In the ER’s little cubical, I almost fainted again when in walked Dr. Bennett, husband from dream #2.

Still not having any idea what was going on inside my brain, I now wondered, where and who is husband from dream #3.