That night I woke up to drinking a glass of water. I was very thirsty and my mouth and throat were completely dry. So dry that I thought it was midsummer, though it was just late April. It was late, but not too late. It was almost dawn, to be exact. I got up from my bed, went to the bathroom first, and then back to the kitchen. There I emptied a big glass of water and went back to my room. On the way back, I met my sister who was getting ready to go to her college. We greeted each other, and I walked to my bedroom. When I dived back into my warm bed to sleep, I noticed it was still very dark outside and only a little light was present, but it was already time to wake up.

I tried to sleep... but it didn't work. I was feeling very tense and I think I felt that something was wrong. It was a constant feeling that I only felt a few years ago during the war. It is sad, but the country where I live is very often in the epicenter of wars. But this time, the tension arose between the countries for months. Just like that, I faded back into sleep, but not a deep one.

About 10 minutes passed, and the loud and disturbing sound jolted me out of my light sleep! It was a warning sound made by air raid sirens. Sirens howled and warned of impending air attack danger. It was super loud and disturbing. I even thought my ears might bleed. I panicked. Even though I know what to do in those situations, I couldn't do anything because I didn't believe that such a thing was possible. That sound was very loud, and it was ringing in my ears. My panic was turning into hysteria. Confused, I picked up my phone and tried to figure out what's going on. I looked all over social networks but I couldn't find anything. Everything is in vain.

The sound of the siren soon stops and I understand that the most terrible moment has to come. The moment of silence. I did not know what had happened or might happen. In that silence, I wrapped myself up and went under the blanket.

It was already dawning outside. I was still wrapped up under my warm blankets, panicking and thinking of all the outcomes. After the loud warnings of sirens, 5-10 minutes passed, and I heard the sounds of heavy equipment being transported. Near our place, there was a military base from which heavy equipment was regularly and more often during war transported to the border, probably as an additional force. And tonight I heard how they were moving heavy equipment. As if the whole floor was shaking from those sounds. I even felt the vibrations. The picture frames were also vibrating and slightly hitting the walls.

I wanted to do something. I wanted to wake up my family. They were also sleeping and only my sister was awake. I wanted to know what she was doing? Is she scared, is she brave, or is she buried under her blankets as if that's the safest place now... I want to warn them not to turn on the lights. I want to warn them not to make a noise. Gather some necessary stuff and go down to the basement. But my body froze. I was aware of what was happening next to me, but no matter how many attempts I made to get up, I failed. I was paralyzed.

My panic continued. I thought about my family and friends. I was thinking about how to save them because my body was no longer obeying me and if I could use the phone before that, now I couldn't. The night seemed too bitter to me. After a few minutes of agonizing effort to get up, I could no longer fight to move my numb body. I gave up.

And at the moment of my surrender, I opened my eyes. Turns out it was a dream and I woke up. All of this was part of a dream. A terrible nightmare. But how? Wasn't I awake when I heard the sounds of sirens and used my phone? Those questions tormented me. I checked my phone at that very moment and actually found the browsing history. I indeed used the phone and searched for the news to find out what's going on. My sister also remembers greeting me. But how could such a thing be a dream? It was so real... Maybe part of it was hallucinations and the rest... sleep paralysis?

The questions worried me a lot, the answers of which I probably don't have yet.