The Future of Your Dreams

When we dream during sleep, could it be that we are traversing an alternate timeline of our reality, or perhaps slipping into another universe or lifetime in-progress? Would this be a function of the quantum realm or entirely manufactured in our own sub-imagination? If true, and someone dies in their sleep - as is so commonly reported, would they continue on in the alternate reality with no cognitive awareness of their death in the other realm, or of the history preceding it? Could this account for intuition or deja vu or psychic premonitions? Is there some utility or evolutionary advantage in having the ability to traverse discrete realities or cross-reference those experiences? Could it be that intelligent beings dream simply to keep the soul or spirit occupied while the body sleeps to repair itself? Why don't we ever dream that we're sleeping?