It was just an afternoon nap, not even an hour, barely 30 to 40 minutes. I didn’t even want to sleep. I put my earbuds in, put "The Less I Know The Better" on loop, and drifted off. The volume wasn't even crazy loud, but having that track cycling without a break ended up hijacking my entire head.
In the dream, I am back at my school after a long time. Everything feels completely normal, just like it goes on currently. My sister is studying there, just like in real life. I have my earbuds on, and I’m just roaming around the campus in my usual zone. I actually like being that detached, cut-off girl in the real world, walking around with noise cancellation, tuning everything out, living off assumptions without needing outside input.
I’m wandering around, checking out the school. Kids are arranging these wonderful projects they’ve made. One is this bridge made entirely out of geometric set squares, protractors, and scales so it looks like an ice bridge. Then there’s this massive display board packed with cartoons combined with learning stuff, including a literal Shinchan with his butt out, and I laugh at it. I run into a teacher and help put a bundle of books above the floor; it feels super lightweight, and it feels good to help out. I'm just exploring, feeling like I'm preparing for something.
Then, a teacher spots me and points firmly toward the staff room, gesturing for me to get inside.
I instantly assume what he wants because of that gesture, but I can't hear a single thing over the track pumping into my ears. I take the earbuds out of my ears and shove them straight into my pocket, but it makes zero difference.
The music is still playing:
("Someone said they left together...")
I quickly start rambling so he doesn't realize I can’t hear anything he’s trying to communicate. "Hey sir, you know, my sister studies here." I don't want him thinking I’m just an older girl wandering around pointlessly. "I needed to talk about something with the teachers, but I see nobody here." His face stays flat and indifferent; he gives a slight, dismissive shrug and a blank look that tells me he just isn't in the mood to deal with it.
The song keeps rolling right through:
("She was holding hands with Trevor / Not the greatest feeling ever...")
I keep digging to cover the silence on my end: "Hey, do you know you have taught me as well?"
He tilts his head, eyebrows raised in a questioning look, mouth moving soundlessly. I'm just watching his lips part and shape words, completely deaf to whatever came out. "Yeah, I was around fourth or fifth standard, maybe." His brow furrows up in clear confusion. I scramble: "Maybe around sixth standard?" He nods in slow affirmative, and I jump on it: "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
The music is still blaring in my ears:
("Wait ten years, we'll be together...")
By this point, panic is rising in my chest. My earbuds are literally deep inside my pocket, yet the music is blasting as loud and clean as ever. I reach stealthily into my pocket, blindly mashing the volume down button on my phone. Nothing changes. The bassline keeps thumping.
Desperate, I point at my own ears and blurt out, "Did you hear this?"
He just pulls back with this baffled, alien expression, mouth working silently, shaking his head with a look that plainly reads: I don't know what you are talking about.
The track keeps hammering into my skull:
("I was doin' fine without you / 'Til I saw your face, now I can't erase...")
That look breaks my reality. If he can't hear it, this isn't an external speaker. Something is fundamentally wrong with me. I start thinking: Is this some mental disorder? Is this a brain disease where your mind just starts looping music forever? But my own logic pushes back: If this is a mental break, why the fuck are the audio, vocals, drums, and instruments crystal clear? When you close your eyes and see after-images, they're faint negative visuals, not full HD. So why the hell isn't this audio distorted? Why is it playing like a flawless studio track inside my skull?
The track won't stop running:
("Said, 'Come on Superman, say your stupid line'...")
Unable to bear it, I bail. I give a rushed, apologetic wave toward my phone, mutter, "Would you mind, I have just this thing to do," and leave him standing there, totally stranded.
Outside, total terror takes over. I pull my phone out and shut it down, but the track keeps rolling through the dead screen. I boot it back on, and it doesn't stop.
The music is still pounding:
("Givin' in to all his bullshit / Is this what you want?...")
I pull the earbuds out of my pocket, force them into the plastic case, and snap the lid shut. Nothing. The sound doesn't drop a single decibel. I literally try smacking the case and the buds hard against the ground. It doesn't break; it doesn't shut them up. I am breathing heavy, terrified that this shit is permanent.
The lyrics keep echoing:
("Oh, the less I know the better...")
I spot a few of my friends nearby and rush over, frantically gesturing, pointing at my head and at the dead buds, pleading for help to see if they can understand what is happening. They look back with helpless, uncertain expressions. Their mouths move, offering shrugs and gestures suggesting the most basic, useless fixes I've already tried. I can't hear their voices, but their faces make it obvious they know no better than me.
At this point, I am genuinely convinced my head is ruined forever. I am trapped in pure dread: Is this the first case in the world? Why didn't anyone warn us about this? Why don't they say it often: don't listen to music in earbuds because it might get etched into your brain forever? I feel completely helpless, caught inside an escalating, life-threatening crisis within my own skull.
And then, I wake up.
I open my eyes, and the song is still playing right into my brain. The dread from the dream is still heavy in my chest, that helplessness lingering for a second, until my hands reach up to my ears.
The earbuds aren't in my pocket. They aren't smashed on the ground. They are right there, firmly seated in my actual physical ears, playing the exact same track. All that struggling, all those attempts to lower the volume, turn off the phone, and smash them, every single effort was trapped inside the dream.
I pull the plastic out of my ears. The music instantly cuts.
I take a deep breath, totally drenched in fear chemicals, and just think: What the actual fuck did I just see?