Stolen Dreams Read Free

her to the little refrigerator in the
office and pulled out a bottle of water.   Walking back, she opened the bottle and handed it to Mary. “How’s your
water intake been today?” Rosie asked.
    Mary sighed. “Not good,” she admitted.
    “Drink. Then we can talk,” Rosie ordered.
    Mary obediently raised the bottle to her lips and swallowed
half a bottle before she put it down on her desk. “Thanks, Rosie,” she said. “I
needed that.”
    “So what’s your problem?” Rosie asked.
    “I’ve been having a reoccurring dream for several months,”
Mary explained. “I’m trapped in what seems to be an old house.   There are narrow, long hallways and heavy,
wooden doors all around me.   And someone
has taken my baby from me.   I keep
hearing a baby cry and I keep running through the house trying to find the
baby, but the doors are locked.   In the
last few seconds of the dream, I am trying to open a door that’s shrinking, but
I know my baby’s on the other side.”
    “Sounds terrifying,” Rosie said. “Do you ever find the
baby?”
    Mary shook her head. “No, I usually just wake up in my bed,
still screaming for the baby.”
    “Usually?” Stanley asked, cocking
his head. “So, what’s happened that changed things?”
    “Well, last night I actually started to sleepwalk in the
middle of the dream,” she said. “Bradley found me downstairs taking a fireplace
poker to the wooden floor. I guess I thought it was the door.”
    “Oh, well, Casey can fix that,” Rosie said casually.
    “Who’s Casey?” Stanley asked.
    “He’s that cute, flooring guy,” Rosie and Mary answered at
the same time.
    “Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about him,” Stanley replied.
    “You have?” Rosie asked.
    “Sure, my daughter-in-law talks about him all the time,” he
said. “Sounds like he has a fan club.”
    Mary laughed. “Don’t tell Bradley about it,” she said. “Or
I’ll have to hear about the Spandex Queen fan club.”
    “Mrs. Shepard?” Stanley asked.
    Rosie turned and stared at him. “How did you know about
her?”
    Stanley glanced to the side and cleared his throat. “Just
heard about her, I guess,” Stanley said, coughing slightly.
    “Stanley Wagner,” Rosie said, winking at Mary. “I do believe
you are blushing.”
    “ Dagnabbit ! I ain’t doing no such thing, woman,” he growled.
“Now, let’s get back to talking about something sensible. So, Mary, what are
you going to do about your dream?”
    “Do?” Mary asked, biting back a laugh. “What am I supposed
to do?”
    “Come on, girly, ain’t you heard
about lucid dreaming?” Stanley asked. “I can’t be the only one who’s educated
about this.”
    “Lucid dreaming?” Mary asked.
    “It’s when you go into your dream and take control,” Stanley
said.
    “How do you do that?” Rosie asked.
    Stanley shrugged. “Danged if I know,” he said. “I just read
about it in one of the magazines at the barber shop.”
    “The barber shop?” Mary repeated
skeptically. “Really? That’s where you get your
educated information?   The
barber shop?”
    “Hey, it was one of those fancy, psychology magazines,” he
explained. “Old Bert likes to think he’s got educated clientele.”
    “Why were you reading psychology magazines?” Rosie asked.
    Looking a little sheepish, Stanley shrugged. “Well, truth be
known, it was because all the other magazines were taken.”
    Mary laughed. “Well, actually I’m glad they were,” she said
thoughtfully. “I think you might have sent me in the right direction, and I bet
I know who will be able to tell me even more about lucid dreaming.”

Chapter Three

 
    “Lucid dreaming? Girl, what are you
up to now?” Dr. Gracie Williams, Psychologist for the Chicago Police Department
asked when Mary called her.
    “I’ve had a reoccurring nightmare,” Mary explained, sitting
back in her chair and cradling the phone against her cheek and shoulder while
she picked up a notepad. “And I have a feeling