I have vivid dreams.

Sometimes I dream in black and white, sometimes it’s in color and once I’ve dreamt in chocolate. Seriously, everything was made of milk chocolate, including myself and it was really messy.

In the majority of my dreams I’m on the run from sharks, people without faces, witches, zombies and people disguised as my family. Once I had a reoccurring dream that lasted a month. It involved an alien dressed like Santa Claus who wanted to pulverize me with his laser gun. Eventually he and his disguised elf accomplice got me.

The other dreams I have involve my little brother and my dogs. I’m always trying to rescue them. Never in the same dream though. Usually my brother is about to fall off something or bigger dogs are preparing to eat my wimpy dogs.

I think my dreams make me appear to be a very scared and paranoid person. Scared, no. Paranoid, yes.

This week I got up earlier than the sun. It was pretty dark outside and I was wondering what was lingering outside. I had one of those creepy dreams about being chased.

I walked into my garage and pushed the button to open the garage door. I was kind of expecting dozens of flesh eating zombies to be waiting for me and quickly flood my garage with their rotting bodies. I waited by the door just in case I needed to retreat back into the house for protection. But there was nothing except the creepy noise of blowing leaves.

So I walk to my car to start it. As I’m bending down to put my key in the lock, I can’t help but look over my shoulder for zombies. They’re still not there.

I turn the ignition and shut the car door allowing it to warm up.

As I am walking back to my house door, I hear those leaves blowing again. Sounds like scraping across concrete.

I think to myself, “Would it be weird if I ran back to the door because I think a zombie is going to jump out and bite me?”

Yes. That would be weird. So I walk.

I get in the house and I am secretly relieved. Once the relief wears off, I realize I am a weirdo.

It never happens the other way around. I’m never worried I will walk into a room filled with delicious milk chocolate. If only I opened my garage door and was flooded with chocolate.

I rarely dream about frightening things that could really happen. It’s always based on a fictional movie I watched or a story I read.

But just in case you see an alien dressed as Santa Claus, a witch, zombies or any other monster, you tell me so I can hide.

Candice Boutilier is the Columbia Basin Herald assistant editor. She watches far too many horror movies and continues to enjoy them despite how much they affect her dreams.