Boulder of a Neck Pillow

I was fast asleep. Minding my business. Starting to dream. My rapid eye movement stage of sleep was FULLY engaged. 

Then a boulder fell on me. 

It was as if Sisyphus decided to push his ever-rolling rock right onto my back, causing me to feel the infamous eternity of struggle packed into two simple seconds of my slumber. 

Naturally, I was startled awake. I didn't know if I had been bludgeoned by an enemy or simply hit with a pillow. All my mind knew was that in the darkest hours of the night, a near murder had occurred. But how was I--the almost murdered victim--supposed to solve the mystery? My roommates were both fast asleep, no sign of an intruder, and I was much too groggy to actually get up and investigate further. 

So I begin to think. What did I hear when this boulder crushed my back? What movements might I have sensed? Could this have been something of my own doing? 

Answer Number 1: I remember hearing my laundry basket crinkle and crack when the rock rolled off my back, the same laundry basket that is right next to my bed. 

Answer Number 2: I recall my roommate on the bunk above me making a sudden movement-- something with her hands-- which ever so slightly shook my bed as well. 

Answer Number 3: While my big back pillow could be the culprit, I remember that I had pushed it off of my bed and onto the floor, thus excluding the possibility that it was the thing from above that tried to kill me. 

Now I'm left with two strong connecting pieces of evidence: My roommate made a sudden movement, and the object most likely fell from above my laundry basket but wasn't heavy enough to bring the laundry basket down completely. This connection eased my nerves immensely as it meant that the boulder wasn't actually a boulder, but something much softer and smaller. Of course, if I had been completely awake during this whole ordeal I probably would've figured that out in an instant, buuut my mind has always been easily tricked into silly dream realities where falling rocks of eternity are a constant threat.

So what actually happened? 

As I lay in bed looking up at my clip-on fan, I begin to see the answer reveal itself-- coming together like puzzle pieces in the recesses of my brain. 

First. The roommate above me had been using an orthopedic neck pillow but in her sleep she had started to push it out from under her head. 

Second. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she had (presumably) realized that the pillow was not anywhere near her head and instead found it laying dangerously on the very edge of her bed. 

Third. In an effort to retrieve said pillow, she accidentally made it fall and knocked it onto my bed when trying to save it from its fated descent onto my back. The extra push from her attempted recovery was what gave the pillow "boulder status" as the added movement made it land heavier. 

And with that, the case was closed. Sisyphus's rock was still his punishment to carry,  my back was ultimately unharmed, and we all got to go back to our peaceful slumber.

Godspeed~