Caitlyn's Dream

  Caitlyn Ryan didn't dream like everyone else. Most people hoped for pleasant dreams as their head it the pillow. Caitlyn hoped for normal ones. The first time it happened, she was just sixteen years old. She went to sleep as she usually did but had the strangest dream. She drifted through a midnight blue star-filled universe. This was not an unusual dream for her except for the portals that appeared seemingly at random. The strange thing about it was that they would disappear as soon as she passed them, only for others to open up in front of her. At sixteen, she didn't quite know what to make of it, but at twenty-six, she thought she had them all figured out and was ready to use them to her advantage. She had no idea what was in store for her.

    Caitlyn worked as a teller in a bank mostly because she majored in herbalism in college and five years later had no clue what she would do with that particular major or her life. She could handle people's psychotic episodes most days, but today was not one of those days, and it was only Monday. She was sure there was a full moon because every psychopath in the city apparently needed to make a deposit or a withdrawal today from her bank, from her teller window.  When she was finally done for the day, her drawer was short $50. If she couldn't reconcile that amount, it would come out of her paycheck.  She suspected that the ditzy teller at the window next to hers had run out of whatever denomination she needed at the time and dipped into her cash drawer to cover it. Then on the way home, she forgot to stop at the supermarket so it would be frozen Lean Cuisine for dinner tonight. Thankfully this was not a typical day for her, but she needed some excitement in her life. She wanted to be someone else, just for a little while, someone besides the predictable, reliable, homespun Caitlyn. Unfortunately, the rest of her week wasn't much better, but she had made it to Friday. She had been looking forward to going to the movies with her best friend when she received a last-minute phone call that her friend was canceling because she had a first date with a loser that she met online.

     She showered, changed into her oversized nightshirt, and snuggled down into her pillow. Even her bedtime routine was boring.  She let out a long sigh as she let sleep take her. The predictable, reliable Caitlyn was about to get an upgrade, and her life would never be the same.   

     She dreamed as she usually did, and portals disappeared behind her and opened up in front of her. She let them pass until one portal, in particular, appeared in front of her. It changed into the door of what seemed to be a cottage in the woods, outside a small town. She was about to pass it by when someone or something gently pushed her through it. Great, just great, this is so not the life she wanted. She wanted to be unpredictable. She wanted to bring out her wild side and just be someone else. Someone with an exciting life. She turned frantically back to exit this portal, but this particular portal was one way only, and apparently, it wanted her here.      

    She found herself in the only room of a thatched cottage, a wholesome beef stew simmering over a cozy fire. Comfy overstuffed armchairs were arranged on either side of the fireplace, and a large farmhouse table dominated the large single room.  This looked just like her nana's cottage in Ireland. She and nana used to spend a few mornings a week preparing herbs for whatever home remedies nana was going to make.  She used to spend summers with her nana right up until she started college. She ran over to where the two overstuffed armchairs sat in front of the warm fire. Her nana's stories came flooding back. Her nana would sit in the chair on the right, and she would sit on the floor on a pillow at her nana's feet every night to hear her tell the most beautiful stories. She suddenly remembered her nana's herb garden. She flung open the door and ran outside. There it was, it was just like she remembered, just like everything else in this dream. Perfectly planted in neat rows. She walked the rows and herbs and started to name each one by sight.  There was lavender, which was good for tension headaches, relieving anxiety, and even arthritis. There was chamomile, good for bringing in abundance, restful sleep, and calming the nerves. She went on like this row by row and herb by herb, reciting as much to her nana as to herself their mundane and magickal uses. She thought she had forgotten.

 A woman's voice startled her out of her reverie, "Welcome back, Miss Caitlyn."   

      "Thank you, Fiona. How's your son doing these days?" Caitlyn figured she'd go along with it and see where it led her.

"Fine, just fine, no more tummy troubles, thanks to your peppermint-chamomile tea. Speaking of which, I could use another batch just in case."

    "Of course, I'll have it to you by tomorrow morning," Caitlyn said brightly.

She started pulling up the peppermint and chamomile to make another batch of tea when Sean O'Malley loped up to the cottage. "Welcome home, Katie." He flashed her a smile that made her heart melt.

"Hey Sean, how's your mom these days." Caitlyn quickly changed the subject.

   "I've come by for some of your fine, uh, liniment. Mom says it works wonders on her achy joints."

"I think I actually have some inside, and I just happen to have a pot of stew on the fire. Would you like to join me for a bite to eat?"

     "That would be lovely." She opened the gate for him and led him into the cottage. She got him the liniment and set the table for dinner.

They ate in relative silence, enjoying each other's company. He helped her clear the dishes, then headed for the door. "It's good to see you again, Katie." He gave her a peck on the cheek and went back on down the road. 

  Caitlyn was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to sit in her nana's chair and rest by the fire. She was exactly how this whole dream world thing worked, so she made up a batch of peppermint-chamomile tea and left it on the front gate with a note for Fiona to find in the morning. She sat in her nana's chair and fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up, she was in her own bed. She thought it strange that she didn't see the dream portals on her return trip. She had a new perspective, a whole new outlook.

     Today she'd give her two-week notice at the bank and open an herb shop with her nana's legacy. She'd kept the legacy in a tax-deferred account until she figured out what she wanted to do with her life. When she got home that night, she called Sean O'Malley back. He said he was back in town and wanted to get reacquainted with his sweet Katie. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She went to the window, looked up into a star-filled sky, and whispered, "Thank you, nana."