I would like to start out by reiterating that I am not a paranormal psychic, but I do get things from time to time that seem in the same family. You might call them premonitions, but in all honesty it usually comes in a sort of puzzle format that doesn’t become clear for a long time and too often leads to nothing I can understand the point of.

That said, there are moments in many people’s lives when it would seem that they can see the future. A sense of foreboding or excitement, fear or anticipation. Many of these are simply picking up on the subtle signals that people give off and knowing how to interpret them.

I once had an experience of this kind when I was young. It didn’t amount to much, but perhaps it made a small difference.

I dreamt one night of being in a florist shop and clearly seeing one woman who stood apart from the other patrons. She was very sad and I wanted to know why, but in the dream I couldn’t speak. There was a ghost following her through the store as she browsed at the displays and it too seemed just as sad.

The dream ended with my waking to feel that I had missed something; at that time in my life though I didn’t spend much time wondering about dreams and the possibilities of what might try to communicate with us while we sleep. I now know better.

That day my mother and I stopped by the very shop from my dream, a little different as things always are between sleeping and waking, but close enough. I had been in the shop before and I especially liked to look at the porcelain animal figurines…always tempted to touch, but I was usually good. I was also usually allowed to pick out one to take home, if I was good, which probably helped.

The woman in my dream was already in the shop when we arrived and I almost ran into her while heading over to my favorite browsing spot. I remember she smiled weakly at me.

There was no ghost with her that I could see, but I was certain that it was her. I now know that sometimes we remake the images we see in our sleep to fit the dreams we have had. I know that psychologically we look for connections to bring meaning into our lives. I also know, sometimes none of that matters, because you see it all fits together anyway. One explanation does not always eliminate another.

As I watched her, without watching her I kept looking for the ghost. I didn’t see or hear or feel anything and this bothered me. I tried to remember what the ghost in the dream had looked like and all I could really remember was that it too seemed sad.

What I did remember was something about the flowers she’d been looking at in my dream. I didn’t know what to call them, but I did know what to look for. The lady wasn’t standing near any flowers that looked like the ones I had seen, so I left my usual spot and started hunting through the store.

I found it eventually: Lavender calla lily. I took one from the fridge and asked my mom if I could have it instead of a figurine. Then I waited for what seemed like forever, and ever and ever, until my mother finally made her way up to pay. I didn’t want the woman to leave, but I knew I couldn’t just give her the flower.

She left while we were paying. I felt devastated. I had somehow messed it up.

When we left the shop my mother asked if I would like to walk down two doors and get an ice cream. I didn’t much feel like it, but I was a kid so of course I said yes. Sitting on a bench outside, was the woman from my dream.

My mother went in the door and began making her way to the counter and I knew I only had a few seconds at most. I marched up to the woman and held out the flower and said “I think he wants you to have this.”

Her face changed as she took in the flower. It wasn’t wonder, curiosity or even skepticism…which I think is what I expected or at least would today. She looked happy. She looked at the flower as if it was something dear to her and full of meaning.

She looked up at me and said “It was our anniversary flower.” I didn’t know exactly what an anniversary was, but I smiled. Then I ran in the shop and joined my mother who had just noticed that I was missing.

I didn’t look back, I think I was pleased, but also a little nervous about what I’d done. I was worried that the woman would come in to ask me questions in front of my mother. But when we left the shop the woman was gone. I never dreamt of her or saw her again.

As I said in the beginning of this post, I’m not psychic and little events like that don’t really seem to amount to much on my end. Maybe though, it meant something for her, I hope so.

Goodbye for now, another end.
Until a time we meet again.

-Seline