I'm a relatively quiet sleeper. I don't talk in my sleep. I don't snore in my sleep... much. I don't do sleep yoga or sleep Pilates or hit tennis balls in my sleep. My husband sometimes conducts in his sleep, but he is a composer, so I suppose that somewhat makes sense. I have a friend who shouts out random words in her sleep, like "PLATYPUS," and "DIRIGIBLE," and "KRISPY KREME." The last one I can totally relate to, but the others are a mystery to us all.

Anyway, I always assumed I would continue with my quiet sleeping ways until one day I woke up and saw my husband staring at me accusingly.

"You were singing in your sleep," he said.

"I was not. You were dreaming."

"No, really," he said. "You were definitely singing."

"You mean snoring?"

"No. Singing. You woke me up."

"I don't sing in my sleep.

"Well, you did tonight."

"Not talking?"

"No, singing."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Well, what was I singing?"

"I don't know. I was asleep."

"Well, what did it sound like when you woke up? Was it gospel? Jazz? Pop?

"No. None of those."

"Country? Heavy metal? Show tunes?"

"No."

"Rock? Opera? Klezmer?"

"No, it wasn't any of those."

"Then what was it?!?"

"I think it was 'Happy Birthday.'"

"I was singing 'Happy Birthday?'"

"Yes. To someone named Earl."

"I was singing 'Happy Birthday' in my sleep to someone named Earl?"

"Yes. Who's Earl?"

"I don't know anyone named Earl."

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No."

"Then why are you singing to him?

"I DON'T KNOW ANYONE NAMED EARL!"

"Unless you do."

"Look, I'm really sorry I was singing 'Happy Birthday' to someone named Earl in my sleep, who I honestly don't know, and I woke you up."

"OK."

"OK?"

"Yeah, but I have one question."

"What?"

"Do you take requests?"

Tracy Beckerman is the author of the Amazon Bestseller, "Barking at the Moon: A Story of Life, Love, and Kibble," available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online! You can visit her at www.tracybeckerman.com.

Photo credit: Kate Stone Matheson at Unsplash