Life is a Dream
III. Life is a Dream –
When I woke up in the morning I
went straight to the fish tank to see
the new fish. He was a plump black
fish with large protruding eyes. When
Mom put him into the tank with the
guppies and the goldfish and the
salamanders, he looked even larger
and more important than he did in
his plastic bag. Oscar swam confidently
among the colored gravel and decorative
rocks of his new home. But when I woke
up in the morning and went straight to
the fish tank to see Oscar, I was stricken
with horror. I saw, where one of his
protruding eyes should be, a hideous
indentation, a concave socket. I rubbed
the sleep from my eyes and looked again.
“Mommy!” I wailed, panic and revulsion
in my voice. Mom looked. And saw.
“You’re having a dream. Go back to sleep.”
Mom walked me back to bed and tucked
me back in. The next time I looked in
the fish tank, there was no Oscar. No
decorative rocks either. After a while,
I forgot about it. Was there ever even a
handsome new fish with great big eyes? –
Eventually I forgot that I had
even dreamt of him.