but the past two nights, i've woken up, ignored an alarm, gone back to sleep, and had what can only be labeled something like "guided interactive storytelling" or something like that. the first night wasn't as good (zombies and military conspiracy things, and clearly my brain was working through something).
but last night was super weird and feels like the kind of thing I'd have had the energy to turn into a full story in the past. i'm putting some of it under a cut, so check tags and make sure you're ok with things before you click through.
the story works in three "seasons," like it's a television show or something.
season 1:
we've been sent to a observation base somewhere in the ocean, and are going to be left there to take care of the place and run the observations (of something, idk). i arrive early, with an actual friend from work (we're going with "Beth" for her name here, b/c it isn't). we get the initial training, and know that we have to constantly keep an eye out for people trying to break in, and also there are sirens (from mythology) who want to break in as well, and can disguise themselves. those are the basic rules, so when everybody else arrives, we try to explain it to them, but clearly the other people don't understand.
the first night, someone knocks on the door and claims that they just missed the first boat, and someone let's them in, but they cause trouble, and i realize that this is one of the sirens, and i tell everyone to keep everything locked and closed, and and try to chase them away, eventually driving them into our storage chamber, which somehow has four outside walls, and all the walls have doors, and the doors are all open. i quickly go around closing and deadbolting all the doors, which are all different, and have different mechanisms, and i shout to Supergirl (from the tv show) to close and lock her door, thankful that she's helping, but she doesn't do anything except stare at the wall, so i push her aside to lock the final door. a ferret sized pink dragon tries to hide, but i smush it into a corner while taking Supergirl back so we can call someone to come take her away, because she's completely catatonic. "They" tell me that they'll send a helicopter, and can land it on a ship docked "next door," but we have to cross the ocean to do that.
i woke up a bit here, and when i went back to sleep, it was now
season 2:
same kind of situation, but the base is now like a giant house, and there's a pool and spa area to one side that we can use, but we have to keep an eye out for the sirens still. there are also a lot more people here, and i'm still some kind of manager. i try to keep things organized, but in one of the downstairs bedrooms, somebody is tied up on the bed and wrapped up in the sheets and blankets (probably because i was all wrapped up in my own sheets; i spin in my sleep). in any case, i try to help release her, but we keep getting turned on, and despite the fact that she's married at home, we have sex, and i eventually get her untrapped.
i head back upstairs and there's a package for me, and i open it up and it's weird and confusing, but there's a bunch of cardboard that i have to fold and build into some kind of display case, and there are a bunch of paper slips that are supposed to go on display. i read them, and they're super passive-aggressive notes that are like "i hate you and what you did, so this slip is equal to -12 points." this is weird, because we already have point system, and there's a giant box of board game tokens that anyone can grab a handful of whenever they want to hand them out if they like what people do. i want to make sure i'm not confusing myself, so i track Beth down to a narrow "booth" like room, where she's watching something on tv, and the booth is like one in a museum or something, where you can watch a video without disturbing other people. i show her the slips, and she's doesn't understand why they'd be there except to try and cause drama between people.
next, one of the teens that are here show me a weird box of socks, and as i'm looking them over, i realize they have squishy "paw" treads that are actually gummy fruit candy things in like condom wrappers sewn on the inside of the socks. it's weird, but i can at least toss them at people and tell them they're a snack.
it starts to get late, and i try to get everyone to come in from the pool, because we should get inside to avoid the sirens, but one person won't move, and is doing the same catatonic thing from earlier and staring at the wall, and i try to get everyone to help get her inside. when we do, there's an alarm because somebody is trying to break in, and i have to deal with that. once that's done, the teen comes to tell me that it's dinner time.