216
PARTISAN REVIEW
and ended
in
a quietly depressed tone, yet she seemed to be telling
someone else's story, to be speaking about people she didn't know.
"And what about your lectures, your reading," Gretchen in–
quired, conscious of some cruelty in doing so.
"Yes, all of that has been so valuable to me.-But I have several
new projects, that's why I called. One of them is dreams."
"Dreams?"
"Yes, I keep them in a notebook I write. Then I interpret them.
I'm planning to write about it, in a book," Sheila explained modestly.
"You see, when I telephoned you, I dreamed of you the night before.
Oh, it was
so
interesting!" and Sheila broke into her old tone of
radiant excitement.
She had dreamed of a letter from an old friend, but the letter
was written on rose petals sewn together. Instead of the postman,
two girls brought it to the door. Before she could read the letter, she
lost it. Then later she found it again, and the rose opened and inside
it was a pearl, and the whole letter was just one word which she
couldn't remember, but in the dream the word meant "Perfect Love."
Mter telling the dream, Sheila went inside to get her notebook.
She came back and gave it to Gretchen to read. The dream went on
for several pages, and meanwhile Sheila settled herself into the chair
again.
"You see," she began, "you are myoid friend and I have lost
touch with you. I don't go to my meetings, and Melvin-urn-he has
other interests, you know. But I still have alive in me and e'specially
now when I have two lives-well, anyhow, I need this fuller expres–
sion. So I started to write my dream book. I also think I could make
money from it, which would help." Gretchen appeared to be listening
intently. "You see, you are the old friend and the rose is nature, be–
cause you're a painter and your paintings .are about the natural
world. But it's not a whole, not yet, because you don't paint the
spirit. Now I'm not a painter, but I drew the spirit, in those drawings.
Well, the two girls, you see, are messengers from the spirit. Now
your name is Margaret, which means pearl. Then I lose the letter–
your friendship, but then I find it again. The rose becomes a pearl
and nature and spirit are joined. Then the one word means unity and
love and perfect hannony, if we get in touch again together. So you
see how the dream told me I should find you and see you again."
