nightshade

Notes from dream of 10 April 2006

Fragments.

I’m at M'wood. M and her three daughters are here. I realize that her youngest is Mongoloid. She’s playing with one of her older sisters and though Mongoloid she seems really bright, intelligent. Then she bursts into tears. I squat down to her height and ask, are you tired? She nods yes. I take her by the hand and say let’s find you a place for a nap. So many rooms here you have your pick. We reject the girls’ room for some reason. Not Ciocia’s room, because I realize Wujek who has Alzheimers is probably lying in there. We settle on the guest room. The room is a mess, the settee is unmade and the polyester sheets and grotty synthetic pillows are in tatters. I do the best I can to try to make it comfortable and tuck the girl in. But she’s uncomfortable, can’t sleep. I have to have cotton, she says. (Her voice reminds me of [my sister’s]. Me too. Somehow we make up a more comfortable “bed” on top of the mantel. She seems comfortable. I turn cranks to roll down the draperies or shades.