In my late teens, a dear friend of mine died suddenly (in a traffic accident, I seem to recall). We all went to the funeral, dealt with the grief, everything. Then one day I woke up suspecting that the past (weeks? months?) were but a bad dream. I was so distraught that I had to (wait until sunrise and then) call my friends’ parents to verify.

She’s alive and well. But that night was by far my worst nightmare.