Another Love Story (Part 2)
-- PART TWO --
When Ray got to work, he called a few of his college fraternity brothers in an effort to find Duane Allen, a former classmate who had majored in Psychology but did further study in dream therapy. Though Duane changed his major to engineering the year after Ray came to college, he was always talking about what he learned in Psychology and using his friends and classmates to practice his theories. Ray felt that his insight into the meaning of his dreams might be beneficial in helping him put them into proper perspective...he knew for a fact that talking to Duane would be cheaper than talking to a practicing psychoanalyst. In fact, it might only cost him the price of a fast food order.
"Yes, ma'am. Your biggest burger, an order of fries and a Coke, please.” Ray said. "And what about you, Duane."
"Ummm. I guess I'll take a fish sandwich, an order of onion rings, and a root beer.” Duane answered. "Oh, and a cinnamon roll and some orange juice, for later. Who knows when I will get this chance again."
"Well, after you pay for my lunch a couple times, I might do it again.” Ray said.
"Yeah, right. So you say you've been dreaming, huh? X-rated stuff, maybe?” Duane asked.
"Shhh. I'll tell you in a minute.” Ray objected.
When they got their food, Ray looked for an isolated area to sit in. He wanted to talk about the dreams without other people hearing what he had to say. When they sat down, he told him about the first couple of dreams he had and the way they affected his real life.
"So, have you told your wife about any of this?"
"No. I figure that it would only worry her. You know, make her think that something is wrong in our marriage...that I might be thinking about playing around or something like that."
"That's possible, of course, but I believe that it would create a greater closeness between you. After all, if you tell her about them, it would show her that you have nothing to hide. It could even reduce any suspicions she might have about a potential outside affair."
"Unh-uh, you don't know Sheila. She would think negatively first. Then she would start doing things to check up on me, like having me watched on my job, going with me everywhere I needed to go, asking probing questions all of the time...no, thank you. I'll just keep the dreams to myself."
"Well, from what you say has been happening, she has nothing to worry about.” Duane said. "Since the other woman in your life is imaginary, she..."
"But I'm not so sure she is imaginary after the dream this morning."
"Really? Well, tell me about that dream.” Duane said as he started on his cinnamon roll and orange juice.
"I dreamed I was at the elementary school I attended when I was young, sitting in the playground. After a few seconds, the woman in the orange dress ran out of the school building and told me to 'Come on' as she went by. We didn't seem to be children in the dream, but we did things that only children would do like racing across the playground, playing on the swing, the monkey bars, and the seesaw. But then something strange happened. She went to one side of the playground and I went to the other. We were facing each other with our backs against the fence. I don't believe that anyone told us to...we just stopped playing and assumed those positions. Then I started calling out arithmetic problems to her and she would answer by holding up the number of fingers that represented the answer. When she was right, we took one step toward the maypole at the other end of the playground. When she was wrong, I repeated the problem until she got it right. When she finished all of the problems, other people appeared on the playground. We were all laughing, shouting and jumping up and down for joy. The others who appeared on the playground formed a circle around us as we continued to express our excitement. Then I started hugging and kissing her as we continued to scream, shout and jump up and down. When I woke up, I remembered a similar dream that I had dreamed when I was in the sixth grade. There was a big spelling bee coming up at my elementary school and I was worried about how I would do. So I had a dream that I was in a spelling bee and it was on the same playground of the same school. And Duane, she was in that dream too...and that was over 30 years ago."
"What? The same girl...orange dress, long hair and all?"
"Well I'm not sure about the dress, but the hair was long and she was...no, wait a minute. I think the dress she had on back then was…uh…brown…dark brown. But it was short just like the orange one...it was her."
"And in that dream, it was just the two of you on the playground?"
"No. Instead of just two people against the fence, it was the whole school. And instead of arithmetic problems, it was spelling. And instead of her giving the answers, I did that part. She had already advanced to first place on her team, and I was trying to advance to first place on my team but I didn't make it. When she spelled the last word, all of the kids at the school came around her in a circle. They were jumping up and down in the air, laughing and shouting all about her. I walked into the middle of the circle to congratulate her but when I reached out to shake her hand, she just stood there looking at me as if she was expecting something else. I wanted to give her a hug and a kiss but I couldn't...something wouldn't let me. I still remember all that from way back then."
"But you don't remember meeting her in real life anytime before or after that?"
"No. I can't recall ever even seeing anyone who looked like her in all of this time. And with a 30-year ‘love-jones’ for her, I'm sure I would have remembered.” Ray answered. "Can you give me any insight or advice about all of this? Am I losing it...or is it possible I am suppressing something from my childhood?"
"I'm not sure, of course, but I really don't think so. If this woman was someone that you knew in reality, I would say that it was a suppression...or even an obsession with her.” Duane answered. "But in 30 years you don't even remember seeing her, I don't see how...now if you were losing it, you probably wouldn't have the consistency or clarity that you are experiencing in your dreams. Not that you ever had that much to lose anyway."
"So what do you think it is? What's causing the dreams and why am I having them again at this time...after all of these years?"
"Well, they could be an escape mechanism. Your mind does that all of the time...in fact, that's what causes daydreaming. "Yeah, that's what I think they are...an escape mechanism. As far as what is causing them...the stress or even the boredom of your job or home life could cause them. And as to why you are having them now...could it be that your life is more stressful or boring now than ever before?"
"Yeah, that makes sense. But isn't it unhealthy to escape from reality like this?"
"Not really...as long as you come back to reality. I think that these dreams are just a temporary mental process of helping you throw off some of the things that are bothering you right now. They will run their course helping you through this little season in your life and when they're gone, you won't even remember them."
When Ray and Duane got up to leave the place, they exchanged addresses and phone numbers with promises to get together with their wives in the near future.
"No, not this weekend...I've got some work to avoid doing. My wife is talking about cleaning out that attic again. If I have time to entertain guests, she’ll assume that means I have time to start cleaning out things up there."
"Well let's do it soon. I want Marzie to meet you and your wife. Did you meet Marzie Stapleton at State?"
"Yeah, I remember Marzie. I just can't believe she married you."
"Well you see, it was just a matter of who was around her the most. When I started studying engineering, most of my classes were in the science building where she was working as an undergrad assistant. I started spending 12 to 18 hours a day in there after I met her. By the time she graduated, no other guy had a chance...we were married a few months later."
"Well it took Sheila and me a lot longer...about a year longer to get married."
"Yeah, I need to meet Sheila, I don't remember her from school. Are you sure there wasn't any kind of connection between her and your dream girl when you met her?"
"No, all I had from the dream was the girl's appearance...I never called her by any name and I never went to her house in any of my dreams. Her face, her body, her hair and skin were the only things I could recognize her by. When I met Sheila, she was heavier than she is now, her hair was short and she had a round face which was covered with acne bumps...none of the features that describe the girl I dreamed about."
“So what brought you two together?"
“She was attractive and she liked to listen to me brag and talk about all that I was going to do in life. And then all that money that her father had was pretty attractive too. So about sixteen months after graduation, we got married and her dad helped us get into our house and..."
“And he let you take over his business and you two lived happily ever after, right?"
“Yeah, right.”, Ray said. “Her dad paid the down payment for us and then told us that we were on our own unless a problem came up that we couldn't handle. And even though we felt we couldn't handle a lot of our financial problems, he never quite saw them that way. He considered them as challenges that would help us attain financial independence. But we've made it alright so far."
After a few words about their respective jobs, Ray went back to work and finished his workday. He kept in mind what Duane said about the dreams being an escape mechanism and planned to use them as much as he felt he would need to.
For the next two weeks on his job, he fantasized about a rendezvous with the woman in his dreams whenever something made him angry or presented a problem that he couldn't figure out. He would plan in his mind what they would do together when they met. After work and on weekends, he spent a lot of time away from home driving around places where lovers met. He would imagine that he was there with his dream girl…in the middle of a grassy field, on top of a hill overlooking a scenic view, on the bank of a lake or flowing brook. When he was at home, he slept a lot but when he was awake, he watched television...especially romance movies. They seemed to keep his fantasies alive when he hadn't had a dream for a while. Sheila noticed his new entertainment interest and thought it was his way of seeking romantic occasions with her...so she started watching the movies with him.
"Oh look what he gave her...would you have done something like that for me?"
(Ray's silence indicated his lack of attention to what Sheila was saying.)
"I asked you a question, honey."
"Sheila, I thought you said you wanted to see this movie too."
"I'm watching it, honey...I just asked you a question."
"But you have been talking and asking questions ever since I sat down to watch it.” Ray argued.
"Well, I'm sorry. Hey, I'll tell you what...why don't we watch it tomorrow afternoon when it comes on again?"
"That wouldn't be necessary if I could just get through these last 18 minutes."
"Well okay, I'll let you finish watching it. Hurry up and come to bed."
When Sheila went to bed, Ray saw it as an opportunity to stay up and watch more movies. Because of Sheila's spiritual strength as a Christian woman, she was able to put aside her pain at her husband's insensitivity and lovingly invite him to come to bed. And though Ray knew deep down that he had hurt her by his rejection, he paid no attention to it. He felt that it was about time that he started speaking up about some of the things that she did that 'got on his nerves'. If he didn't speak up about them, she would keep on doing them. It was the only way he could preserve the sense of serenity he had found from the fantasy world of his dreams. In fact, he had decided that he couldn't let anything in his life, on his job or at home have any effect on him. When things he had to do or people, especially Sheila, got on his nerves, he sought a place of privacy where he could relax and read. There were a few paperback romance books that he had found which seemed to arouse his imagination to meet with his dream girl. It got to the place whenever Ray entered a room Sheila was in that she would just go to another room to avoid his verbal assaults. The tension in the house was always at a high level but he considered it as a small price to pay if he was to preserve his sense of serenity. But that price was about to overdraw his emotional account.
-- END OF PART TWO --
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