Many people have recurring anxiety dreams, which are caused by worry and stress during the day. The mind decides it’s not enough to be anxious when awake; it has to invade your dreams too! One of the common situations in an anxiety dream is sitting an exam which you haven’t prepared for. I used this to a rather amusing yet twisted effect in a short story, ‘You May Open Your Question Papers and Begin’, in A Strange Belief: Weird Stories. Once most of us have left formal education, it’s not very likely we’d take more exams, and yet the stress of exam season has left its mark!

The most common anxiety dream I have, however, is that it’s the first day of a new school year and I haven’t got a timetable, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. A variation of this is that I do have a timetable, but I don’t know where the rooms are. It’s probably a reflection of how life is divided into sections for which we must be in the right place at the right time. Mealtimes, meetings, appointments, work shifts, the school run, social visits, shows, deliveries… Every day is lived on the foundation of knowing where to go and at what time. Back to the timetables, I remember you would get one printed out but it soon became worn from refolding and it was best to stick or copy it into your notebook. I remember also the horror of finding out you had the worst lessons at the worst times, such as maths on a Monday morning.