Disturbing dream

I know that everybody dreams, but I have never met anyone who has such bizzare dreams as I do. I think my brain gets bored at night and conjures these things up for entertainment.

However, sometimes he goes overboard and produces visions that are either scandalous or horrifying.

Last night, I had a confusing and complicated dream that had me back at my old job as a reporter, while still clinging to my current PR job. I did a bunch of odd things during the dream, involving bridges, looking for shoes and visiting a restaurant. Then the dream drew to a close with a very disturbing twist. I was supposed to investigate a building or a treasure deposit in a certain city and a child in the neighborhood showed me where it was.

She went in before me and was bitten by a poisonous snake. She expired right there and the last detail I remember before waking was calling the police.

I do not need or want dreams like this. Nor do I wish to be attacked by spectres of the night, be back in college failing a class that I forgot I signed up for, or to be trying to cross a busy street while my feet are glued to the ground.

What the heck kind of evolutionary advantage is there in a creature having recurrent nightmares? An early human screaming in the night would probably have been tracked down by some nocturnal predator.