there ought to be a tidy term for that phenomenon in cartoons where you don't fall from the cliff until you pause and recognize that's what you're supposed to be doing. i mean, this gets referenced enough...

my whole family is ill save for me, and last night after a milk and honey bubble bath that was yum i slipped under the sheets and turned out the light and something important and notable came to me, but now it's plunged back under the surface. arr.