Millicent dreams of visiting a dry lake bed full of rocks and fissures. She hears a "who-who-who" sound and looks up to see owls perched on tree branches on the shore. Just then water starts spurting out of the fissures in the earth. She tries to swim ashore. A wave crashes down on top of her.
She wakes up. She talks to her cat, Paddy, and her dog, Fritz. She wonders aloud where she got the idea for such a weird dream. Her English teacher, Mr. Ellis, is having the class read far out novels. They are keeping a dream diary, but she doesn't remember any previous dreams so vivid.
She glances at the nightstand right into the blue eyes of Andrew Stark. She wishes he were still here. She would call him, tell him about her dream, and he would explain everything away. But her old boyfriend got killed almost a year ago to the day. He went on a search and rescue mission in the nearby mountains. She and Fritz found his bones in a cave. Everyone in the town has mourned him. The high school is to be renamed after him in only a few days.
Paddy breaks into her reminiscences by jumping into her lap with a package with a bow. She opens it up. It is a medal to "My Can-Do Girl". That was Andrew's nickname for her. How is such a thing possible? Did he leave the gift lying around her house over a year ago before he was killed? She pins it to her nightgown and goes back to sleep.
Her wild dreams continues. She's back in the recently refilled lake. She manages to get to shore. But big birds are swooping down at her. She sees an owl with a skull in its mouth.
Millicent wakes up --- but to what? She finds out that real life can sometimes be more taxing than even dreams.
She wakes up. She talks to her cat, Paddy, and her dog, Fritz. She wonders aloud where she got the idea for such a weird dream. Her English teacher, Mr. Ellis, is having the class read far out novels. They are keeping a dream diary, but she doesn't remember any previous dreams so vivid.
She glances at the nightstand right into the blue eyes of Andrew Stark. She wishes he were still here. She would call him, tell him about her dream, and he would explain everything away. But her old boyfriend got killed almost a year ago to the day. He went on a search and rescue mission in the nearby mountains. She and Fritz found his bones in a cave. Everyone in the town has mourned him. The high school is to be renamed after him in only a few days.
Paddy breaks into her reminiscences by jumping into her lap with a package with a bow. She opens it up. It is a medal to "My Can-Do Girl". That was Andrew's nickname for her. How is such a thing possible? Did he leave the gift lying around her house over a year ago before he was killed? She pins it to her nightgown and goes back to sleep.
Her wild dreams continues. She's back in the recently refilled lake. She manages to get to shore. But big birds are swooping down at her. She sees an owl with a skull in its mouth.
Millicent wakes up --- but to what? She finds out that real life can sometimes be more taxing than even dreams.
Used availability for Linda Cargill's Death in the Rockies