I suppose I have always believed that some people were sleepwalkers.

Enough sleepwalkers talked about it, certainly, and I seem to recall episodes where I witnessed a family member moving around the house without being awake. Perhaps even being able to answer a question without being awake.

But I had never gone sleepwalking myself — till the other night, when I took a short walk that led to everyone in the house being wakened.

I have been sick with flu for a week, and my sleep patterns have been irregular.

That is the information I am going to cite for my strange behavior, the other night.

I remember being up and out of bed, but it was like I was watching the events from outside my body.

I was in a house semi-familiar to me, and when I wake there and look around the room, I sometimes need a few seconds to figure out where I am. (Like when a traveler changes hotels all the time for a roadtrip or vacation.)

I suppose I was looking for a bathroom, but when I came out of the bedroom, instead of taking a left turn … I took a short right.

And here is the odd part: I walked up to the front door, and began fiddling with the dead-bolt lock and also the door lock. Without quite being awake.

I suppose I thought the bathroom was on the other side of that door, and that was why I was messing with locks.

The memory of it is hazy — during the event I had a nagging doubt that I was not doing what I ought to do.

But I was aware enough that I managed to unlock the two locks, which left me about to step … outside.

Luckily, a modern safety device intervened. Instead of me stepping onto the porch and heading down the street, the house alarm went off. And that brought me to a more complete version of wakefulness.

I recall thinking, “I am responsible for all that noise and will wake up everyone!” Which was correct. I also remember a moment of “what am I doing here? And why? At some point it seemed a good idea.”?

Eventually, I had to wake someone else (who was not pleased to be woken by me or the alarm), and she was able to find the controls for the alarm, shutting it down.

I was still not entirely awake.

I was pleased that the alarm had run for no more than 10 seconds, but it still woke everyone in the house, and I sheepishly explained myself in the morning. “I think I was sleepwalking.”

As noted, I had been ill for several days, I was still dealing with some jet lag, and I would not have been sure of my location immediately under any circumstances — because I don’t live at that house.

However, I certainly now believe that sleepwalking is a real thing. That it happens to some subset of people. And that it can lead to embarrassment or maybe even something dangerous.

I had woken, gotten out of bed, moved to the front door, solved two locks without being really awake.

How long might I have walked out into the night if the alarm had not gone off? Probably not far, because it was cold.

But still.

Getting as far as I did … something abnormal was going on.

Color me a sleepwalking believer.