PHOTO PROMPT © Bradley Harris
“It’s the same each time. I’m standing at the top of a green hill, scanning sky and water. I sense the endless emptiness in it, but I have to run towards it or I will be dead from whatever is crashing through the underbrush behind me. I plunge down the green and begin to tumble… then I wake up. What does it mean, doctor?”
“Next time, instead of running, turn around.”
“I could die!”
“It’s a dream.”
Next time, I turn around. Approaching me is a woman with a drum.
She smiles and says, “Follow me…”
[100 words]
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the dedicated host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
And maybe, for her, to follow is to die
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May be. I think she will follow anyway…
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If it’s a dream, then perhaps the drum indicates a form of communication.
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May be!
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Love this Li.
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🙂 Thank you!
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You’re welcome
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The fear of the unknown. All she needed was a nudge from someone else to take a chance!
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Astute observation, Dale! Thank you for reading and your comment.
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Oooh. Thank you, Lisa 🙂
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You’re welcome 🙂
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Good advice for many situations. (K)
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I agree, K. I knew you’d get the metaphor.
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So true, sometimes we need to face up to our fears.
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Dear Lisa,
You left me wanting to know more about the woman with the drum and where she’s leading. A story for another session. 😉 Good one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thanks much. Glad I piqued your curiosity. I wonder myself where she’s leading 🙂
Shalom,
Lisa
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Good advice, it always pays to keep an open mind and turn towards what you may have missed. Nice.
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Iain, thank you very much.
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Oh, you discovered a different drummer. Well done, Lisa. 🙂
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Thanks much, Bill 🙂
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we can be a third person watching our own dream and directing it to change course. it happens to me sometimes. 🙂
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Great that you have that ability, Plaridel. It can come in handy in the dream world 🙂
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A wise doctor! Now your protagonist can move forwards.
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Yes!
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Facing a situation rather than vainly attempting to escape is surely the thing to do. A really interesting piece, Lisa.
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Thank you very much, Keith. I really didn’t know where the story was going or what the person would see when she turned around! Thanks go to drum lady for showing up 🙂
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You have me wondering where is she heading, amd therefore where is this mystery laden stiry heading. Loved this!
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Neel, so glad you were intrigued by the story, thank you.
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Just lovely,
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Thank you.
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That doctor, though, he might’ve sent her … 😉
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The unknown can be scary, but the alternative can be worse. Very well said.
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Very true, thanks.
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Nice take and fun twist Lisa! 👏
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Cindy, thank you 🙂
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pleasure! 💖
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I’m always afraid that if I take the “just a dream advice” I’ll do something stupid in real life because dreams feel vividly real to me.
I wonder where the drum takes her?
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Dreams are called, “messages from home” by some, and definitely are tools to help us. I wonder where also 🙂 Thanks for reading and your comment.
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it was not a nightmare, only a dream
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Agreed! Recurrent dreams are urgent messages we need to decipher.
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An excellent metaphor, Lisa. The patient feels out of control, driven by their fear into the wilderness rather than exploring it. Taking control in the dream may help them take more control of their life. Your story made me think, and wonder how we all differ. For some people the wilderness that the patient fears would be a challenge, and a magnificent opportunity.
I must say I’m intrigued by the woman with a drum…can we have some more please?!
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Penny, I appreciate your always thoughtful comments. Maybe there will be a follow-up story somewhere along the line…
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This is intriguing and exciting. I’m not so sure following someone into the unknown is such a great thing to do, but at least she knows what’s behind her. I wonder what would happen if she said No. I don’t really see following someone as taking control.
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I love your comment and your musing on it. I think she is tired of the recurrent dream, which I see as a “message from home” that won’t give up until she “gets it.” I think the doctor gave good advice. I think “the woman with the drum” is an aspect of her own self that she’s been resisting, that sense of adventure and a willingness to overcome fears. Only she can choose whether to overcome the resistance or not. Honestly I don’t think it matters whether or not she follows the woman with the drum at that point. The message has been received 🙂
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It’s definitely much more helpful to stop and look at the unknown ‘somethings’ that beset us in moments when life seems chaotic and out of control. And I really like the idea of a ‘woman with a drum’ as the ‘something’ in this story. It’s rich with symbolic possibilities.
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I agree, Margaret. Thank you for reading and your comment.
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Oooooooo fascinating ! I wonder what happens next.
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I like that…he tells her to turn around next time. I have recurring dreams and I don’t know if it is possible to do that, to purposely change what you do. What does the woman with the drum want? Hmmm….to be continued?
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I think it is possible to change the outcome in dreams. If the image is right, I will do another chapter in the story…
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I’ll be here waiting….
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Captivating! What’s the worst that could happen if she followed the woman with the drum?
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Thanks for reading and your comment 🙂
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You’re welcome!
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Sometimes better to stop running and face it. You never know where it might have been trying to take you all this time.
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Exactly, Sandra!
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Now I really want to know what happens next! I have all kinds of theories running through my head, and that is also pretty fun, but I’d sincerely love to see where the story goes next.
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So would I, Anne!
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