What dreams may come

I had this nightmare last night. I barely remember the dream itself; what I do remember doesn't seem all that terrifying. But wherever the fear came from, it was there. I woke up absolutely terrified. I don't think I moved for 10 minutes from the moment my eyes opened, because I was just too scared to. Even after I woke up enough to know what was going on, that the terror was irrational, I was still terrified. That kind of fear is something I'm not accustomed to. I guess most fears are irrational by nature, but it still confounds me, that I could be so absolutely bone-shaking scared of nothing. Just...nothing.

After spending the day ruminating on it, I've come to the conclusion that it must have been a stress-induced nightmare. I'm really stressed out right now, and I have a long and distinguished history of not dealing well with stress. I ignore it when I'm awake, so it bides its' time and my subconscious hits me with it when I'm asleep. That explains why what I remember of the dream itself is so innocuous; it was more a stress thing than a straight-up nightmare, brought on by events currently taking place (or not taking place) in my life right now. Knowing that, though, doesn't make me any more eager to fall asleep tonight.