Some surmise it is dangerous to do so, but I doubt it is mentally dangerous, only physically dangerous due to how much force would be needed, because I know sound alone won’t do it. At least not in my family.
Yesterday I helped a Japanese with an interview she would have to do in English and after we had enough I gave her the listening part of the exam which somehow got into sleepwalking. I assured her it s very rare for me, especially these days. And then it happened last night. I have come to share my stories and to allow others to share theirs.
Today I awakened to find my microphone plugged in—something I would only do for a Skype call. And indeed Skype was blinking orange with a new message. I checked it to find that I had had a very long conversation with the woman I love. She was offline or not responding, so it was only me “talking”. Here is a small excerpt.
[4:31:34 AM] L. Spiro: IMSasASas
[4:33:35 AM] L. Spiro: My Japanese is not working.
[4:34:30 AM] L. Spiro: I can't yu[e Japanese.
[4:34:36 AM] L. Spiro: Type.
[5:11:22 AM] L. Spiro: Are yuu hsppy rghit now?
[5:30:19 AM] L. Spiro: Thiia was nor part ofthwen of yht yld\.
[5:31:15 AM] L. Spiro: Irara.
[5:31:45 AM] L. Spiro: I sincerelh asologivr.
[5:33:02 AM] L. Spiro: I sm very glad it is you;
[5:35:45 AM] L. Spiro: What i yoyr replay?
[5:39:17 AM] L. Spiro: Yoyu
[5:39:44 AM] L. Spiro: Your replay is what?
SKIP A LOT
[7:51:07 AM] L. Spiro: SUR{RISE ga arimasu
[7:52:58 AM] L. Spiro: ????????
I almost managed to type “???????”, off by only one letter.
Even in my drunkest of drunkest states I do not type that poorly. This “conversation” lasted until 7:52 and had a few failed attempts at voice chat (for the best I would assume—I’m not even sure if I would have been able to speak English or Japanese).
I also found that all of my browser tabs were closed. I tried to get them back via checking my history and found links to sites I had visited during the time covered by the Skype log.
The main one was this:
http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/
That’s right. I sleepwalked in order to talk to my love and to look at cats.
I apparently also snacked on popcorn, as there was a mess of it all around my room.
My PlayStation 3 controller had moved quite far from where I keep it, indicating I may have also attempted to play BlazBlue: Chronophantasma.
I have already checked this site and thankfully found that I did not post during that time, but I am still going through my various e-mail accounts and chat programs etc. to make sure I did not do anything else retarded.
This case is interesting to me because it is the first time there is a timestamp on my events. It may have started prior to the Skype conversation and lasted beyond it, but the Skype timestamps confirm it lasted at least from 4:31 to 7:52 in this morning. According to Wikipedia this is exceptional, as they say it lasts only between 30 seconds and 30 minutes. Mine was no less than several hours.
Last month I awakened to find things in my room moved around and some things missing. My door was also unlocked, leading me to believe I may have been robbed in my sleep, although I was sure there was a 0% chance I had left my door unlocked. I never do, not even while I am home.
I was just about to call the police when someone rang my doorbell. The postwoman was delivering things to another room and on the stairs she found some things and a postcard with my room number on it. She asked if it was mine and I confirmed. She said there were more things over there and there. I looked out and found the things missing from my room.
Apparently I had sleepwalked and for whatever reason I had taken things out of my room and placed them on the public balcony leading to each room on my floor.
What. The. Hell.
Thank Todd for whatever reason I put a postcard on the things I left on the stairs and she just randomly happened to be taking the stairs to deliver her goods.
In this year I have awakened to find my PlayStation 3 broken, my headphones broken, and my foot bloody with a large inch-wide hole in it, with some of that blood in my carpet (since replaced).
When I was 5, I went to sleep on Friday and awakened on Saturday to watch my cartoons.
My step-dad and mother came from their bedroom and just stood there. He held a hatpin about 2 inches long and asked, “L. Spiro, did you stick this into my ear last night?”
I was completely confused and of course I denied.
My mother asked in a more serious tone, telling me I had better tell the truth.
I denied.
Then they threatened me that if I did not tell the truth I would get a beating.
In a kid’s way, I basically said, “What the fuck already I told you I did not stick that fucking in your ear, so get the fuck off.”
They retreated to their rooms to have a private discussion.
Years later my mother told me I did indeed stick it into his ear.
He awakened because of it and asked me what I was doing. I apparently continued to try and he kept asking until my mother awakened.
She yelled my name with no result.
Finally she screamed my name, and to her account my eyes got as big as plates, I screamed, and ran out of their room (I assume back to bed).
Creepy. She did not awaken from the shotgun blasts in her sleepwalking and I did not awaken (though I reacted) after her screams. Indeed I doubt sleepwalkers truly can be awakened, at least in some families.
Sleepwalking can be harmful or even fatal. I somehow put a hole in my foot and to this day I wonder how.
But I once mentioned here that I have discovered a body.
A short time before leaving America I was riding my bike home at about 1 AM when I crossed a bridge and saw a car parked next to it. The interior lights were on and a small dog was inside, and the door was open. No one inside the car.
I looked around until I came close to the bridge and looked over. A white figure was down below.
I went down to find a young woman in her nightgown dead on the rocks and ice. It was about -10 degrees.
At the time I did not know how or why (and I did have to speak to the police about it, but there was nothing I could tell them except that I found her) but about a week later my mother told me she had read in the paper about the body I found, and they said she was sleepwalking. She had a history.
For whatever reason not even she would know, she scooped up the family pet, got into her car, drove over to our bridge (I call it “our” bridge because it is near where we lived), and in -10-degree weather, no shoes, no coat, just got out of her car and walked off it.
Sleepwalking.
How many of you do it?
What do you think about it?
If you do it, what have you done while sleepwalking?
L. Spiro