“It’s amazing. Pho is one of my favorites, and this beef is so tender. Perfect!” If she needed a minute to take a break from her story, I was happy to talk about food I loved.
“Okay, I’ll keep talking. I wanted to finish high school as quick as I could, so I worked hard and got my GED, then moved to campus with Nima so I wouldn’t be living with HC and Paddy when their kids weren’t there."
"That’s when shit went off the rails. I did a lot of stupid things, Sam. I know you won’t look down on me since you’ve got baggage of your own, but I wound up needing to go to rehab ‘coz of the stupid crap I got into. And I actually don’t say that with shame, because the counsellor I met there, Maria, is one of the best things that ever happened to me. So, maybe I’m not proud of my mistakes, but I know that in the long run, I’m a better person for having gone through it.”
“Maria helped me sort through all the shit that my mom was, and that’s how I know so much about toxic women, Sam. Because I grew up with one, and the only thing that mattered to her was appearances. Which is exactly why HC worked her over so well. Puffing her up, telling her how wonderful she was and how she deserved all the happiness in her new marriage, blah, blah, blah."
“None of it was insulting to her; she took it all like it was what she was owed. That’s how self-absorbed she was. HC stroked her ego, and kept doing it. Praising her for raising such a talented daughter every time she came to one of my shows. My mother ate that shit up, and he fed it to her with a spoon. Yeah, I see that pukey look on your face, but you know that’s how—"
“That’s why it makes me wanna throw up, Cora. Because I know exactly what you mean!”
She nodded, “I figured you did. Anyway, I sorted through all of that with Maria, the rehab counsellor, and then I told her about the dreams, and it was like some kind of miracle. She’d known someone like me, years before. He’d been a minister, and had dreamed about a man his whole life. Then one day, that guy stepped outta his dreams and walked into the church where he worked."
"And when Maria told me that, it was like all this crazy stuff I felt in my head just evaporated. Like I wasn’t nuts to think there was someone out there who loved me enough to comfort me in my dreams—“
I cut her off, pulling her to me. “Cora, I’m here now. I know I wasn’t then, or at least not fully. Maybe we’ll never understand what happened back then, and we don’t have to. I’m with you, and I’m staying in your life, okay?"
"All this shit that’s been slung at you. None of it was your fault. You didn’t deserve a single second of what you went through, and I am so damned proud of you. So proud, Cor!”
She sank against my chest, sighing, relaxing, letting go of burdens she never should’ve had to carry.
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I wished them away. Every moment she felt alone. Scared. Wondering when her fears would come true. Every morning she'd woken up, doubting that her dreams could manifest in real life, and every bad day she had to dry out.
I couldn’t go back in time and erase it all, but I could hold her, here and now, and make her hopes a reality.
“People might think we’re broken, Cor. Me with my dead parents and fucked up girlfriends. You with the abuse and addictions, but we’ve survived, and then some. And if we keep going, I think we might just be unstoppable. Whaddaya say?”
“I feel pretty worn, Sam, if I’m honest. I’ve got the concert I’ve always wanted coming up, but it feels like a drain more than anything. Some days I just wanna find a quiet apartment somewhere and walk away from the stage. If I really told you the truth, would you be shocked if I said a quiet back-water town in Wyoming sounds like heaven?”
I barked out a laugh, “Well, if that’s what you want, Cora, then I’m sure it can be arranged.” I pulled back, searching her face. “You really mean that, don’t you? It’s not just this moment that you’re feeling the weight of your history. You’re tired of performing?”
She sighed and settled back against the sofa, closing her eyes. “Ask me again next week,” she replied with a soft smile on her face. “Right now the idea of going on a year-long tour sounds like a hell I’m not ready for, but maybe I’ll change my mind.”
I settled next to her, arm intertwining hers, head on her shoulder. “You don’t have to decide tonight, so we can table it. And maybe all this other stuff—Discordant, the Press. The Press! Shit, Cora! I totally forgot I meant to message Bitsy Joon after I watched those animations!”
I sat up abruptly, and Cora mirrored me. Punching open my pad, I tried to think rapidly. My Discordant document was ready. I thought back over the episodes of Dream With Me Now, and I knew what to say. I didn’t even have to ponder it.
Dear Ms. Joon,
I’ve spent some time watching the animations, and since you’ve read Moons Dancing, you’ll know that I think dreams matter.
We need to talk. You tell me the time and place, and I’ll be there.
Samantha Mooneyhan
I held the screen to Cora, and she nodded. “It sounds perfect."
I tapped “Send” without a second thought, and looked at Cora, grinning. “So, we don’t know what’s coming, Cor. You’ve got your biggest concert yet in Colorado, and I’ve just contacted a publisher who might be interested in my books. Anything could happen next."
Cora’s face was animated as she said, “There’s a symmetry to all of this, Sam. I don’t see the full picture right now, but something is shaping up. I dreamt of you my whole life while you wrote a story of lovers who met in their dreams. Meanwhile, Bitsy was making cartoons about lovers dreaming of each other before they met in real life."
"Then all this Discord crap happened, and you’ve got a book you need published. And it just so happens that at that very moment a Press is messaging you and reading your stories on Purple Road. I think you’re right. A concert tour might be a moot point once we see where all of this is going.”
I blew out a long breath and picked up my soup bowl. “Welllll. . . Those are deep thoughts after a heavy conversation. How ’bout we finish dinner and crash. I know you’ve got rehearsals tomorrow, and I need to catch an airship home.”
Cora winced, “Yeah. Not looking forward to that part, to be honest.”
“Do you want me to stay in Nashville, Cor?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think you should, really. I’ll be rehearsing nonstop, so you might as well go home. Get your apartment settled so I can come over. I wanna come home with you after Colorado. Invite me, please,” she nudged my shoulder.
I smiled, “Come over, Cora? To my place in Wyoming?”
She grinned back, “Can’t wait, Sam.”
But things took a turn I was not expecting, and that invitation changed a bit. I’ll be telling you about that soon, so pay attention. Something's coming up right around the corner, so get ready for this story to take you in directions you weren’t expecting.
Just like it did for me and Cora.
?? Aeolwyn's Conquest ??
by Timbecile