It’s been over a month since Anna Bray, a 30-year-old single woman living in Manchester, England, noticed some very strange signs in her dreams. She dreamed that someone occasionally whispered in her ear: “Wake up, wake up Anna“. She would then get up, feeling very odd and disoriented.
Decoding the Mysterious Call at Dawn
The call was very clear. Anna was not mistaken; it seemed the whisper came from the wall inside rather than from the window. Anna might not have paid much attention to this if nothing strange happened upon waking. Psychologists have shown that single individuals often experience hallucinations and hear their names called in dreams. However, Anna’s case had something very peculiar about it.
Upon waking, she found her bedding neatly folded; the goldfish bowl was as clear as if someone had just changed the water; her work clothes were neatly ironed and hung up; the window was wide open… These were all tasks she typically did upon waking. This made Anna increasingly anxious. Could someone have sneaked into her room while she was fast asleep and completed all those tasks?
It sounded like a fairy tale. Anna was even more horrified when she thought that it might be her best friend Brige who returned to help her with those tasks. Brige had died in a car accident a long time ago. This fear immediately haunted Anna’s sleep, and she heard Brige calling her name. Eventually, Anna sought help from psychologists.
It was suggested that Anna was heavily impacted by Brige’s death, leading to a disruption in her mental state and unreliable memory. The tasks that were completed when Anna woke up could very well have been things she had done the night before. Anna insisted that she never changed the goldfish water in the evening. However, she admitted that she sometimes ironed her clothes before going to bed to have more time to sleep in the morning.
The doctors maintained their conclusion that Anna was experiencing memory disruption due to her friend’s death. She had been in the car with Brige but was fortunate to escape unharmed. To avoid these haunting memories, the doctors advised her not to sleep alone. Anna called a girlfriend to come sleep with her. On the first night, the two friends stayed up talking. That night, Anna fell into a deep sleep, and in the morning she was pleased to find that her morning tasks were untouched, her clothes still draped over the couch, and the goldfish bowl still murky…
However, everything started again on the third night. Her friend was still sleeping over. Anna dreamed of someone whispering her name again, and the next morning, her clothes were once again “prepared by someone”. Anna returned to the doctor. They advised her to return to her normal sleep routine, and they would find another method of treatment. That night, the doctors sent someone secretly to monitor Anna’s bedroom.
Anna wakes up, eyes closed, and performs her daily tasks precisely. (Illustration: fogato.com)
The room was bathed in the soft, pinkish light of the night lamp. Anna Bray and her friend were still fast asleep. The wide bed was surrounded by many small pillows. The window was slightly ajar. The night sky was quiet with no stars. It was after three in the morning when Anna’s window softly rattled. It was nothing but a gentle morning breeze entering the room. Suddenly, Anna sat up. She quietly moved without disturbing her sleeping friend.
She turned on the light, stretched lazily, then opened the window wide and went into the bathroom. A little while later, Anna returned to the room, took the iron to press her work clothes, hung them up, and then changed the water in the goldfish bowl. Finally, Anna arranged the remaining pillows on the bed, careful not to disturb her friend. After finishing, Anna lay back down and fell asleep again.
This Discovery Amazed the Doctors
They decided to secretly send more people to observe and get closer to Anna’s room. Eventually, after informing the police, a doctor managed to sneak into Anna’s bedroom and hid there, waiting. He noted that Anna got up, eyes closed, but her movements were very precise. She worked and moved around without bumping into objects in the room. Even when she stepped out of the bathroom, Anna still kept her eyes shut.
Anna’s case exhibited symptoms similar to sleepwalking. However, sleepwalkers usually just get up and wander around for a while before going back to bed; they cannot walk for an extended period or perform multiple tasks, even personal tasks like bathing. Psychologists confirmed that Anna was not the only one exhibiting such strange behaviors.
In the rural areas surrounding London, there was a woman named Merey, 34 years old, and another woman named Dlune in New York, USA… About a dozen people with symptoms like Anna appeared in the USA and England. Strangely, they shared a common characteristic: living alone and being over thirty years old. Even more remarkable is that despite their age and living in a society filled with temptations, these women maintained their lives as if they were still young. All of them had never slept with a man.
Sleepwalking or a Desire for Love?
According to scientists, those who suffer from sleepwalking often suddenly get up, moving around with their eyes closed while mumbling something. This phenomenon is caused by some autonomic nerve being stimulated, waking up before the conscious nervous system. Consequently, a person’s limbs may move completely unconsciously for a brief period.
However, there are many opposing opinions to this view. Some psychologists argue that the patient’s memory is too flexible and sensitive, thus excessively retaining their daily actions. Nonetheless, sleepwalking remains a mysterious, unconscious behavior that science has yet to explain in detail…
There are also cases where sleepwalkers perform some activities and then lie back down to sleep. However, most of these actions lead to undesirable outcomes, such as water spilling on the floor or clothes getting burnt while ironing. When studying sleepwalking, it is suggested that there is a connection to a disruption in brain function.
Typically, when sleeping, the human body creates a “gap” that prevents signals from the brain from reaching the muscular system, helping us stay still. However, if this mechanism of creating a “gap” is disrupted, it can lead to actions, and the person experiences sleepwalking.
Most sleepwalking patients usually appear in their teenage years, and they often outgrow the condition upon reaching adulthood. This is why scientists find it challenging to categorize patients over thirty like Anna. They began to compile psychological profiles of these patients and made a very significant discovery: they had never truly felt attracted to any man in their lives.
Image of a sleepwalker. (Photo: anarchitetto)
Moreover, medical tests showed that they were completely healthy and had no congenital defects. The estimated time (later confirmed by external observation) when they heard the call was around three in the morning. Thus, this was the time of the deepest sleep, and the body’s “sleep state” reached its peak. This is the mysterious key to unlocking this condition.
Scientists believe that for those who have never experienced love or who have never had a genuine desire for someone of the opposite sex, there exists a constant anxiety of loneliness within them. These individuals tend to work quickly, fearing that time is running out. This persistent fear of solitude gives rise to a unique reflex in their souls; they are afraid to fully engage in any situation or emotion. But why is that?
In ordinary people, love instills a strange sense of courage and confidence. This confidence is inherent in the life reflex of each individual. Furthermore, they do not hesitate to make decisions to “venture” into a certain emotional experience because they are clearly “dependent” on their partner. However, those who live in solitude and have never loved do not possess that feeling.
Anna reported that after hearing the call, “Anna, wake up, wake up,” she felt extremely unsteady. She did not feel as if she was walking or flying; instead, she felt her body was limp and aimlessly drifting in a large circle. Just as she was about to touch that large circle, she jolted awake. What astonished scientists is that patients who experience sleepwalking often cannot recall what happened during their sleep. In contrast, Anna had a feeling of “unsteadiness.”
It is explained that Anna and those exhibiting similar behaviors have accumulated a subconscious reflex that prevents them from “going” fully into every life experience. Thus, this subconscious reflex remains “awake” even as sleep approaches. It acts like a “watcher” over all their life actions. As natural sleep gradually transitions toward morning, the human body begins to “drift” into the most “perfect” state of sleep. The “watcher” immediately intervenes, obstructing the perfect sleep by creating a call.
When natural sleep is interrupted before reaching its peak state, a person finds themselves in a state of half-awake, half-asleep. A portion of signals will be transmitted to the muscular system. This system then performs familiar tasks that have been repeated over a long period.
Although consensus on these observations has not been reached, scientists agree that these patients can only recover when they have a man in their lives. Love or cohabiting with someone of the opposite sex helps individuals cultivate more confident life reflexes. This underscores a very “practical” aspect of love that is essential for single individuals to understand.
