We have collectively been having bad dreams.

Nightmares that wake us at 3am.. We lay awake and turn these lonely nights into news sessions on Twitter.. we wonder if our heavy eyes can face the unknown..

As the clamor of protesters begins spread and states look forward to a hopeful reopening plan with caution, there are so many stories to give concern.. There are articles across America of people contracting COVID-19 who did everything right. They did not leave their house unless it was necessary.. they limited exposure to groups, no friends.. no family. They planned virtual happy hours, and only did take out with a mask on face and gloves on hand..

But yet somehow so many still became afflicted with the coronavirus..

It seemingly preys on weakness.. it somehow appears to wait until your guard has let down, and in a splendid moment of opportunity it jumps into your body and houses itself amongst your cells.. spreading into infinity only to —hopefully— be defeated by the birth of your antibodies..

War is taking place in your body.

And you only left your house for milk and bread…

This NBC news story from San Diego hit a nerve..

Scott Stump wrote about Brian Fichera, the husband of TODAY co-host and meteorologist Dylan Dreyer, and how as he battled the “debilitating” and “diabolical” symptoms of the coronavirus, he was driven to tears..

“This was my world for about 10 days,” he captioned a photo of Calvin’s room. “The fever never really got above 101 but it also never got below for well over a week. The headaches were debilitating. No amount of Tylenol could put a dent in my headaches or temperature.
“There was also an emotional component to this disease. I cried. ALOT. I never cry (unless Homeward Bound or Forrest Gump is on tv). After 6 days it was deemed necessary by the hotline I called that I take a test….it was positive. I had it.”

It sounds horrendous.

Yes, we hear reports that so many are “asymptomatic,” whatever that means.. That said, it, these first hand reports from some of the rougher cases are startling in their dimensions…

Fichera goes on,

“This disease is also brilliant and diabolical,” he wrote. “It will let up just enough to allow you to feel good about yourself and walk to the bathroom….but then it will suddenly attack you as if it knows you are at the farthest away from your bed. When it hits hard you can’t move, and it feels like you’re snorkeling through a cocktail straw. People have compared it to the flu …for me it was reminiscent of mono.”

But the quote from Fichera that stood out the most:

“You have to anticipate the deeply personal attacks of this virus because it seems to be tailor made to whoever it attaches to,” he wrote. “It’s the Freddy Krueger of virus’s because it knows where you are weakest and knows your deepest fears and it attacks accordingly.”

THE FREDDY KRUEGER VIRUS

Those who followed the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET franchise or at least know enough about it to hold a conversation may recall Freddy Krueger, burned and killed by the parents on Elm Street in Springwood Ohio.

Vigilante justice!

They learned of his crimes against children.

In Wes Craven’s world, the fictitious character struck the children of those Springwood parents during the Reagan Era. Freddy would stalk his prey during their dreams.. the damage he inflicted occurred in their nightmares..

In the film, the teenagers quickly spread word of the dangers that this burned and vile creature of hell to each other. So much so, that they would even pop NO DOZ, drink gallons of coffee, and call each other when in support networks to try keeping their friends from falling asleep.

But Freddy would still strike.. he would infect their brains and bodies when they let their guard down, even for a moment.

He would attack them by using their fears against them, by using what hurt the most to be better able to enter their bodies and destroy them..

THE DREAM WARRIORS

CNN’s Chris Cuomo recently beat COVID-19.. but during his battle with the coronavirus, he said some similar things on the night terrors that come with the disease:

“The beast comes at night,” he said during a CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. “Nights are tough.”

“And you have these wicked phantasmagorical experiences that are not dreams,” he said, describing how he saw his father, the late NY Gov. Mario Cuomo, sitting on the end of his bed so vividly that he could testify to it under oath.

“I’m telling you I was hallucinating. My dad was talking to me. I was seeing people from college, people I haven’t seen in forever. It was freaky what I lived through last night, and it may happen again tonight.”

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ALL OF THE ELM STREET KIDS GOT IT

Freddy did not just strike a few.. he did it indiscriminately without objectivity.. without compassion.. without fairness.

It was whoever slept.

And whatever he could do to strike during the darkness of their nights…

All alone…

Some survived his virus as well. They used their intelligence, sometimes got lucky, they used their strengths.. and they lost their fear.

But herd immunity occurred with Freddy eventually.

While each sequel was a new strain, they stopped making movies! His strength diminished..

Perhaps the same could be said for COVID.. its 30+ strains known to the world … and its ability to strike the deepest fears during the darkest nights..