HM
Call Me Old-Fashioned by Leslie A. Peterson
Seventy-year-old Maggie found herself piloting a small plane when she’d only been a passenger before. She just couldn’t imagine how she’d managed to safely descend through a green valley and land in a lush pasture. But when she awoke from the dream in her bed next to her snoring husband, Darrin, the realization of what must have happened and its implications made her want to smash her phone. Devastated, she put her head under her pillow, barely noting the fresh scent of the fabric softener on the newly-washed sheets, something which usually soothed her. Her health band beeped softly twice and vibrated on her wrist, indicating her heart rate was up. This, she paid attention to. There was no need to make the situation worse with a heart attack. She removed the pillow from her head and took a couple of deep breaths. She imagined a happy, but peaceful scene: strolling along with Darrin and a black lab, her preferred breed, although almost any non-aggressive shelter dog would do. This was one of her favorite daydreams, but sadly, only a daydream because Darrin was convinced that a dog would be underfoot and cause dirt in the house. She felt her heart rate starting to slow. Maggie’s eyes searched the darkened bedroom for the poster her friend, Tendu, had designed for their church’s program last year: Inspiration 2031. There it was – she could just make it out – a wooden cross in the center, surrounded by smaller images: a nature scene with a doe and fawn in a forest, a book, a flute, a small group of people with a dog, a peach pie with a lattice top oozing out its juices and heavenly scent, and of course, a pink ballet slipper in the corner. She couldn’t see these details clearly in the dark, but knew them well from studying her friend’s artwork so closely many times. The poster both calmed and inspired her. She felt like she could handle Darrin’s reaction. Still, she said a quick prayer, wondering if it was selfish. Dear Lord, please do not let him see that dream! Earlier that day, Maggie had downloaded a new app to her phone that allowed her to order very specific dreams for herself or others in her pod of users. For Darrin, a former pilot who’d recently been grounded due to his failing eyesight and health, she’d ordered an exciting dream of soaring in his plane once again. For herself, she had planned a return to a memorable evening long ago with her previous husband, Clement, who had died in 2020. But somehow, when she had placed the order, she must have screwed up and transposed something because Maggie definitely didn’t get the dream she ordered for herself. She was afraid that since she’d had Darrin’s dream, he may have had her dream. She didn’t really know how the app worked, how much of the dream detail requested stayed intact for the actual dream and how much was determined by the dreamer’s subconscious. Why do you have to be so impulsive? she thought. She hadn’t done a lot of research – the app had intrigued her, so she’d bought it. Now, her only hope was to wake Darrin before his dream occurred.
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