Dreams and Truth

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Dreams and Truth

It should be raining, Robert thought. It seemed like whenever there was a funeral in the movies or on TV, it was raining. But for a early November afternoon, it was sunny and warm. He found it hard to grieve for his mother. In one way, she had been gone for a while, lost in Alzheimer’s.

He found it also ironic that she would be buried today, on November 11, Remembrance Day. She had been, after all, the daughter of a soldier, and a soldier’s wife. For some reason the old poem came into his mind.

“In Flander’s fields the poppies grow…”

She had been though a great deal in her life, enduring the Great Depression as a young child, then watched her father have to go to war in Germany during World War II.

She had married an Air Force officer, had three children, but only two survived to adulthood, and then struggled with that horrible disease, slowly becoming less and less aware until she died the day before.

He looked over at his brother Joe. He seemed isolated, with only his young daughter anywhere close to him. Once they had been very close, but somehow, they drifted away from each other. He hated that it had happened, but couldn’t figure out why.

The service ended, and he watched as Joe took his family to their own place, and he knew that afterward, he would go back to the place he had shared with their mother, having taken the large part of the burden of taking care of her.

Robert and his wife left the grave site, and went home in silence. They got ready for bed, and he held her close, as he drifted off to sleep. Soon, he found himself dreaming and in his dream, the spirit of his mother came into the room.

She looked young, and strong, much like what he could barely remember from his early childhood. He was frightened for a moment, but she looked so kind, so loving, it made him relax.

“Come. I have much to show you, and not much time to do it.“

She grabbed him by the arm, and seemed to pull his spirit right out his body.

He found himself floating above his sleeping form, and the spirit of his mother said to him, “come on. We haven’t much time”

“Where are we going Mom?”

“You will see son. Come!”

They flew through the walls, outward and upward, until they were floating over the city. They hovered for a moment, and then she led him down again, moving at great speed.

“Nearly there”

Robert recognized the house they were approaching. It was his mother’s house, and his brother was still there.

The two spirits went through the walls until they were in his bedroom. Robert was slightly shocked to see that his brother was dressed in a woman’s nightgown as he lay sleeping.

“I thought he gave up that stuff” Robert said.

“No. And when you got after him about it, he mistrusted you thereafter. But hush! It’s about to begin.”

The room was silent except for the ticking of a clock down the hall, and the slight snore coming from the man in the bed. Then he suddenly glowed, until it was so bright it hurt Robert’s dream eyes, causing him to miss the emergence of a dream-self from his brother’s body.

As soon as his eyes cleared he couldn’t believe what he saw. The dream-self was female.

She reminded Robert of the spirit of his mother at his side. The nightgown she wore changed into a multi-coloured skirt and a blouse with a picture of a unicorn on the front.

Robert turned to the spirit of his mother and said, “He…he’s dreaming he is a girl?”

“No dear. She is dreaming she is her true self.”

“What?”

“Her name is Connie.”

“Connie?”

“She told me years ago. It means “steadfast”. And doesn’t my daughter look beautiful?”

“I remember he told me he struggled with his gender, but I told him he was just hiding from something”

“I know dear. But hush, she is going out.”

The girl didn’t seem to notice them, and floated beside her sleeping male form. Then the room around them changed.

First it became a mall, and Robert watched as his sibling window shopped. She seemed to revel in the simple act of being able to go out and try stuff on, and she practically danced as she moved about.

Then, it became a nightclub. It had a dance floor, some tables and chairs for people to sit at.

The girl danced, laughed, gossiped, and seemed filled with such joy that even Robert’s heart sang to see it.

“Who are these other people Mom?”

“They are woman, and yes, men, who are like my child. People trapped in the wrong gender, who can only be their true selves like this. In their dreams.”

One thing Robert noticed. Although the girl gave a kiss in greeting to many of the others, there was nothing sexual happening.

“You are wondering where is the sex, aren’t you son?”

“How did you know?”

“I was guilty of the same assumption before I saw this dream for the first time. In fact I assumed that your sibling only needed to admit that she was gay, and then she could give up dressing up like a girl. I guess we both misunderstood her, didn’t we? But now I understand. Her need isn’t for sex. It’s for living the truth.”

“You are saying you have seen this dream before?”

“Yes dear. A month ago, I was guided by your grandmother so I could understand my own child.”

“How often does he.. she have this dream then?”

“Every lunar month, for three days straight”

“You mean…”

“Exactly. Just like the what her monthly cycle would be if she had been born a full girl.”

Suddenly, the girl looked up, and shot up into the air. Robert and his mother followed. They past the clouds, and Robert then saw beyond them was a the most remarkable thing.

A garden. A beautiful garden with soft grass, a waterfall that poured down to a slow moving river, trees laden with golden fruit, and multi-coloured birds that sang hymns to their creator from their branches.

Robert looked to the east, and noticed that there was a huge, impossibly high mountain range. It was a few minutes before dawn, and as the dream progressed, he noticed that time seemed to stand still.

“Is this Heaven?”

“Not quite. An author called it ‘The Valley of The Shadow of Life’ but keep watching”

The girl’s outfit turned into a beautiful white robe that went down to just above her bare feet. She was greeted with joy by others, some of whom Robert recognized, and with them, began to laugh, sing, and dance in honour of their Maker.

Robert was even more amazed when bright, shining angels came to meet the group, and one took the girl and lifted her up and gave her a hug, laughing.

“Who is that, Mom?”

“Her guardian, dear. You will get to meet yours, someday.”

“What about, you know, Him?”

“She will meet Him next.”

And then Robert had a vision of that meeting. He saw the sister he never knew he had, look toward the mountains as the sun came up. Then, he realized he was wrong. It wasn’t the sun, but the Son.

She ran to meet Him, with the passion of a woman who was meeting the love of her life, who had gone away to war and was now returning triumphant, and the innocent joy of a small child squealing with delight because Daddy was home.

She seemed so happy Robert assumed she would leap into his arms, but when she got close, she stopped, and suddenly seemed shy. He nodded to her, and she fell at his feet.

After a moment, He raised her up, and spoke one word that resonated to the limits of Heaven: “Daughter”

He leaned close to her ear, and whispered something to her, and she wept, but nodded.

Robert asked his mother “What did he say?”

“That it is not her time to come home to stay, and she must return to the world”

With that, the garden faded, and was replaced with Joe’s bedroom. Joe’s female dream-self approached her male body, and for the first time, Robert saw just how much she wanted to be free of it.

But she looked up for a second, and Robert saw exactly what the dream had given her, even if she didn’t consciously remember it. It was like the manna the Israelites received in the desert.

It gave her enough, perhaps just enough, to make it until she was “fed” again. She would carry this cross as long as she was called to, for Him who had carried the greater one for her. Even so, he never felt so much admiration for his sister.

Sister? Yes. For the first time, he believed it was the truth.

“I hope I can remember this when I wake up. I promise I will treat her differently if I do.”

“I believe you will remember it dear. This was your gift, just as her visit to the Valley of the Shadow of Life was hers. Now, I have to go, my child, and you have to wake up.”

“Will I see you again?”

“When it is your time to come home hon.”

“Thank you Mom, for this, and for everything.”

“Thank me by doing what you promised my dear”

“I will Mom.”

“I know you will sweetie. God will help you if you ask Him”

“That’s a good suggestion Mom, I will be sure to do that.”

With that, she faded, and Robert woke to find himself in his own bed. He thought about what he had seen as he laid in his bed, and began to pray silently. The next morning, he reached for the phone.

“Joe? It’s Robert. Can I come over? I have something I need to share with you…”

*****

“What do you want Robert”

“I need to apologize. Something happened to me last night that showed me I haven't been fair to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You may not believe this. I … I saw Mom. And she showed me the truth. Now I need to apologize but first, I want you to show me Her.”

“Her? Her who?”

“Connie”

“How… how did you know that?”

“Mom showed me.“

“Wow. You are going to have to tell me about that. You always told me I was just hiding.“

“I know. I was wrong, and I am sorry. But I want to apologize to my sister properly”

“Sister? You mean it?”

“Yes. Go get comfortable, so I can do this right.”

“All… all right. But she … I am not really ‘finished’ yet”

“You will look fine.”

Joe disappeared into his room, and Robert waited anxiously. Soon, he came down in a rather pretty purple blouse and blue skirt, looking nervous.

“Hi. I am Connie.”

Robert smiled, and said, “Nice to meet you sis.”

Connie gave him a hug, and said, with tears in her eyes, “You don’t know how much it means to have you call me that.”

Robert held back tears of his own, hugged her back, and said, “Come on. We have a lot to catch up on”

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Comments

So good!

It was beautiful, and I can only hope that it has some grain of truth.

Wren

'So warm,

ALISON

'so sweet,so uplifting.Just beautiful Dorothy.

ALISON

I must say this was wonderful

Andrea Lena's picture

...and you know how much this story means to me, dear one. Thank you!



Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

Indeed 'tis a tale of truth!

This is an excellent story that Dorothy Colleen has penned for us. And its central theme is truth. She's a witness of that truth to the world.

The Rev. Anam Chara+

Anam Chara

Amazing Grace!

Jezzi Stewart's picture

So very nice to see an out and out Christian story ... and so sad that some who call themselves christians would condemn you for being who you are and writing it.
God bless you.

BE a lady!

There is an nice little passage

I say if they do then they are not reading tho book properly. We are instructed to judge deeds choices and behaviors, Not the Individual, doer, or chooser. No I am not going to preach to the quire here as that would be annoying to others, I just hate to see people twist religion to suit their personal gains.

I do agree with Jezzi here that this is a wonderful and well written story and I hope that others can see the message and hear the voice call to them as I did. Love heals all wounds.

The answers to all of life's questions can be found in the face of a true friend

The answers to all of life's questions can be found in the face of a true friend

Dreams and Truth

A beautiful gift to reconcile with your family.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Draems and Truth

Missed this one originally but found it on random solos.What a beautiful and descriptive story that brought a tear to my eyes.Thank you.My own dream is walking my childhood streets as a female me and laughing with a loving mother in our kitchen.

devonmalc

thanks, Devonmalc

I'm getting closer to making my dreams come true, and I hope you can do the same!
Thanks for commenting. Its always nice when an older story gets some props.

DogSig.png

Beautiful, Emotional.

I can not think of any other words.


I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

Thanks, Jenn

Nice to see a comment on an old story, glad you liked it.

DogSig.png

I believe it is possible.

Hypatia Littlewings's picture

I know it is possible.
Dreams, truth, knowing with your heart.

Wow.

I love it.

T

thanks, Tarzana !

really cool to see a comment on an older story, thank you!

DogSig.png

Oh wow!

This is such a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing it. :)