Deep dream

Doctor Vasilyev looked at the patient sitting in front of him, and thought that the hospital clothes sitting on him were somehow especially absurd. “Although,” thought Vasilyev, “on whom does she sit well? She is not needed for that. ”

The patient fidgeted in an uncomfortable wooden chair, periodically looking around and trying to get comfortable. Over and over again, he pulled off his shirt sleeves, trying to make her sit straight.

- So, sleep problems? - asked Vasiliev.
- Yes! - The patient responded, focusing on the doctor. - I can not fall asleep in the common ward - there is constantly noise-din, someone snores, someone mumbles. And I have a good ear. And I need to fall asleep!
- Well, everyone needs to sleep, of course. This is a must for health.
- I need to get home!
- Home? Where do you live?
- Not in this place. In this place, everyone stays in bed when they fall asleep.
')
Vasilyev sighed unnoticed. You can try to understand the logic of the patient, but not too deep - otherwise you can get stuck yourself. He did not like this method, but to build a conversation on the negatives, too, will not work.

- In the beds? And where are you from, all lunatics?
- Who?
- Well, people who in a dream can perform different actions, get out of bed, walk around the house.
- No, no, what nonsense. I explained to another doctor. At my home, all people disappear from their beds during sleep.
- Disappear? Where?
- Nobody knows. But we disappear, and in the morning we return.

“Very interesting,” thought the doctor. - This is something new. Basically, all Napoleons and devils in the corners. Napoleon, due to the deterioration of education, less and less, and devils - more and more.

- And you also disappear from bed during sleep?
- Well yes!
- How do you know?
- I was told home. Yes, it's natural.
- And where? Oh, yes - no one knows ... And what, right until the morning?
- Well, who needs sleep?
- I see ... But what about the alarm clocks?
- Who are the alarm clocks?
- Not "who", but "what. Devices in hours that awaken a person at a certain hour. Are your ... relatives disappearing with alarm clocks?
“No ... We don't need devices.” We wake up when necessary.
- Commendable property.

Vasilyev today woke up with an alarm clock — this hated, but necessary for man mechanism. The alarm clock he kept mechanical, with a plant and bells - left from his grandmother. The ticking of the mechanical clock reassured the doctor, and he fell asleep more easily.

- So, your relatives can sleep like Stirlitz.
- Who?
- Soviet spy.
- Soviet?
“Okay, so far it doesn't matter.”
- Not just relatives. All people.
- All people? In the town?
- On the planet!
- Oh, on the planet. And what is it called?
- Who?
- The planet is yours.
- Land.
- Hmm. And ours too.
- Yes, this is amazing. I fell asleep yesterday and woke up here! Something went wrong. Everything is different, everything is not at home, and people are sleeping and lying in beds here.
- Yes, indeed, an amazing thing.

"Displaced," which means - understood Vasilyev. I fell asleep and woke up in the wrong world. It happens to everyone. The desire to escape from problems, forget them and imagine that they do not exist, or they are very far away, in another city, on another planet, in another world. Phase of denial. But you can’t run away from problems like this - and if you really want to, the brain comes up with rather strange defense mechanisms. And as a result, a person becomes another problem more.

Vasiliev rubbed his eyes and looked at the case history again. According to the patient, he is 52 years old, although he looks younger. He called himself Konstantin Vorayev (a rare surname is Chechen? Bulgarian?). There were no documents with him, out of clothes - pajamas. The police picked up the street. He looked confused, could not remember where he lived - or rather, issued a non-existent address. So far, no request for missing people has coincided. There were no prints in the police database.

- Tell me about your world.
- What to tell? People live, they stand at home.
- What is your occupation?
- Accountant.
- Family Children?
- Wife, two daughters.
- The name of?

The conversation lasted for quite a long time, and Vasiliev managed to get tired. The slender, consistent picture of the world, painted by the patient, differed from the normal one only by the disappearance of people in a dream. Accident? Abduction of a loved one with an unpleasant outcome, triggering the onset of psychosis? Or did someone just die? So the man came up with the idea that his loved one would come back ... when he wakes up.

- Oh well. Let's finish today. I will not prescribe any medications for you until ...
- Medicines! I do not need drugs, I'm not crazy! And you pushed me into a psychiatric hospital!
- You need to relax, gain strength. You may get better tomorrow.
- I'm not crazy! It will be better if I just fall asleep!
- Yes, this is exactly what I want to offer you. We have a single room vacated, we will determine you there at night. Wake up, tomorrow and talk.
“Well, thank you,” the patient got up. - Can I go?
- Go, - said Vasiliev and called the orderlies. - All the best to you, and rest.

“Everything, everything, for today is enough,” the doctor decided. - Home, dinner, and sleep too. Tired like a dog. ”

Placed in the ward, the patient, sitting on the bed, listened to the environment. Behind the window with a grate was a park, it was quiet there. The sounds of the neighboring rooms could not be heard through the walls. He sighed with relief, and lay down, covered with a blanket. “I want to go home,” he said faintly, closing his eyes.

On the morning round, the duty doctor found that the new patient's room was empty. The bed was dismantled, but there was only linen, a pillow and a blanket on it - the patient along with the hospital clothes disappeared without a trace.