I lay there, my face against the pillow.
I tried to lift my head, but I could not move. I just lay there, slowly suffocating, and I could do nothing. No one was holding me down; I was paralyzed. I suddenly jerked awake. It was just an episode of sleep paralysis, so I hated sleeping during the day. Those few seconds felt like an eternity, and I was sweating my pores off; talk of an adrenaline rush when you are on the brink of death. I got up and went to the kitchen to take a glass of water to calm down. A few minutes later, I was still sweating, and that’s when it occurred to me that the indoor temperature was too high for comfort. I checked the smart thermostat and reset it. When I checked my phone, I realized I had accidentally messed with the settings when I dozed off. There was also an unread reminder to call the heating company for heater maintenance. I dialed the heat business’s number before I postponed and completely forgot about it. The last time I contacted the heating dealer was several months ago when I was ordering new a/c filters. Before that, when I was consulting the HVAC professional on the best whole home heating system in the heating industry for my newly furnished home, I had no idea the type of new heating equipment would work best for my house to help with indoor comfort. I went with the heating technician’s suggestion which was a heat pump. The service members taught me more about heating systems during the installation of heat pumps. So far, I love the HVAC and have had zero complaints.