HIGH LIFE : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Some People Have Had Nightmares You Could Never Dream of

There is certainly enough going on in our world on a day-to-day basis to supply us with dream material for some time to come. But add the ugly harshness of reality to the bizarre realm of fantasy, and you will have the stuff of which nightmares are made.

Hot Topics wonders, “What was the worst nightmare you’ve ever experienced?”

“That I went to school stark naked.”

David Otto, 16,

junior, Brea-Olinda

“I have a pool in my back yard. I had a dream that an alligator and a whale were swimming in there and they bit me. I was too scared to go into my pool for a week.”

Leona Robbins, 15,

sophomore, Capistrano Valley

“I was driving on the freeway when a big cement truck tried to merge into my lane. There was another truck on the other side of me and I would have been squashed to oblivion.”

Claire Chen, 17,

senior, Capistrano Valley

“I went to school with no shoes on. It was absolutely terrifying.”

Karin Stein, 17,

senior, Cypress

“I was walking toward my bathroom to take a shower and the bathroom was crawling with wasps. I ended up making a feeble attempt to exterminate them with a can of aerosol spray and a match.”

Lance Huddleston, 18,

senior, Cypress

“I was a mute in a house with a strange, growling creature roaming about. There was a group of older girls in the house, and I watched them being killed through a mirror. I couldn’t do anything.”

Sandra Brenchley, 17,

senior, Brea-Olinda

“Falling off the edge of a cliff and waking up just before I hit the ground.”

Robert Van Dijk, 17,

senior, Dana Hills

“My neighbor, who is really a sweet lady, was chasing me around her house trying to chop off my head. She was going to chop it off, shrink my head, frame it, and hang it up with the rest of her shrunken head collection.”

Jennifer Ingles, 17,

senior, Esperanza

“My worst nightmare was the feeling that I experienced when I was driving my younger brother and sister home from the movies. We were in an accident and for a split second I was afraid I would lose them both.”

Becky Morre, 17,

senior, Esperanza

“I got a 53 out of 100 on a calculus test. The scary part is that it almost came true.”

Delbert Chen, 17,

senior, Foothill

“To blow a layup in front of a lot of people in a big game.”

John Oates, 14,

freshman, Fullerton

“My family was in a car and I saw them drive away and they never came back.”

David Berryman, 15,

sophomore, Heritage

“There had been a nuclear war.”

Mary Sanders, 17,

senior, Heritage

“I was in the middle of school at lunch with no clothes on.”

Damon Leach, 17,

senior, Laguna Hills

“I jumped off a parking structure and fell 10 floors onto the back of a Toyota.”

Jack Dietz, 15,

junior, Laguna Hills

“Being chased in a hospital corridor, knowing that there is no way out, and the worst part is that I’m being chased by my parents, who have turned into gorillas.”

Jennifer Yoo, 17,

senior, Lutheran

“Watching my family being killed by terrorists and knowing I was next.”

Andrea Dodge, 17,

senior, Lutheran

“Being in my car and driving off a never-ending cliff.”

Larry Cavaness, 17,

senior, Lutheran

“Coach (Gary) McKnight was yelling at me.”

Sarah Srenczak, 17,

junior, Mater Dei

“Michael Dukakis had won the election by one vote and I found out that I accidentally voted for him.”

Chris Larkins, 17,

senior, Mater Dei

“When I dreamed that my boyfriend was killed in a car accident while his best friend was driving.”

Julie Destie, 16,

junior, Rosary

“My worst nightmare is the world ending as in Revelations.”

Bertha Delgado, 18,

senior, Valencia

“I have nightmares that my friends and family will die.”

Stella Vega, 17,

senior, Valencia

“Waking up in the morning, going to school and then failing an exam.”

Justin Douglass, 14,

freshman, Valencia

“I was poor. Poverty stricken. What could be worse?”

Roland Tsui, 16,

junior, Villa Park

“Flunking out of school. I’ve had that one millions of times. And not getting accepted into a good college.”

Khoren Ouzounian, 17,

senior, Villa Park

“Walking down a hallway seeing a completely awesome looking guy and having him walk right past me without a glance.”

Joanna Garfein, 15,

sophomore, Villa Park

“I dreamed that a crazy man was after my mother. He caught her and was going to electrocute her. I was screaming for someone to help her, but no one came. Finally, I hit him. He died and I saved my mom, then I woke up.”

Stephanie Dotson, 15,

sophomore, Western

“Waking up one day and not knowing what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

Ray Ruiz, 17,

junior, Western

“That I was going to see the devil in a green truck. On the way down to see him, there were people hanging with fish hooks in their tongues. I bounded out of my bed and ran to my sister’s room. Her door was shut and I slammed into it, hard. For 5 years after that, I never slept alone. I bought Pookey, my dog.”

Amy Velk, 16,

junior, Western

“That Freddy Krueger was after me.”

Michelle Orey, 15,

sophomore, Western