The Day after the Dream
I awoke before Maggie. I lie there watching her sleep, tracing the lines of her face with my
eyes. She opens her eyes slowly and looks at me. I tell her, “You are the most wonderful
woman. You have fulfilled me with more love than any man deserves. Let me tell you about this
dream I had last night. I dreamed we went for a walk on a brick road that led up to a beautiful
old house. It looked like it had been empty for a hundred years. As we went inside, it began
to change back to how it was before the war came through here. There was a party going on and
the house was ours. Our families and friends that we have never seen before were dancing and
eating. We were young again and you were pregnant with my child.”
Just then a whistle blows outside. I get out of bed crossing the room to the window; I see a
paddlewheel boat on the Mississippi River. To my amazement, as I look out across the Mississippi
River, I see fields of cotton as far as the eyes can see. There are black people working the
fields and tending the cattle. Maggie comes beside me and looks out with the same amazement
that I have. I look down and see that she is pregnant. I look at her face and notice that she
is very young. I ask her, “It was a dream, wasn’t it? Are we really here?”
She tells me, “yes, this is real and yes we belong here”. We know we belong here,
but also we belong in another time. Everything is new to us, but yet we know that everything
we see is ours. We started this plantation four years ago from land given to us by our parents.
There are over 30,000 acres here bordered to the south by Maggie’s parents and to the
north by mine. We also know that over 300 slaves are working the land for us. It is hard for
me to believe that I own slaves.
Then we are called to breakfast by the same black woman that greeted us last night. We know
her name is Jenny. She tells us, “You get down here and eat. You stayed up till almost
12 midnight and it is 7 a.m. Now, you get out of that bed if you want anything to eat. Is you
go riding after breakfast? If so, I will tell James to get them horses ready for you. They will
be saddled and waiting for you. Now, Miss Maggie, you do not need to be riding in your condition
at all, you need to stay in this house and rest”.
Maggie crosses her arms and raises her eyebrow, when she does this everyone knows to leave her
alone and get out of her way. She yells to Jenny downstairs, saying, “I am going to the
meadow and no one can stop me”. After we get downstairs and have eaten. I tell Jenny,
“Thank you for your concern and we will be real careful. After this time we will use the
carriages everywhere we go, is that ok?” This stops her for now, but I know it will start
again soon when Maggie does something that Jenny does not like or thinks it will hurt the baby.
Jenny thinks she is Maggie’s mother. She was Maggie’s wet nurse when she was born
and has been with Maggie’s family for over 25 years. She came with Maggie when we were
married.
We started outside where our horses are waiting for us. I help Maggie onto her horse then mounted
mine. Jenny comes out of the house with a basket of food and blanket. She tells us, “here
is a little for you to eat and drink later. I knows you will not be back till late.
Our ride will take us through the woods and down to the sandbar where we can watch the boats
on the river and hold each other's hands. It takes us about haft an hour to get to the sandbar
and dismount the horses. Maggie takes the basket of food while I loosen the saddles and take
the bridles off the horses. We sit with our feet in the cool water of the Mississippi River
watching a flat bottom boat carrying cotton down to New Orleans.
Getting up, I pick up the basket and blanket. As we start on a small trail that leads up to
a grassy meadow, we entered a tree-lined path and a large buck deer runs in front of us. It
is a magnificent animal with a rack of ten points or better. I hold Maggie's hand in mine. Ahead
of us we can see the meadow. I say to her, “this is the meadow in my dream”. We
hear a Blue Jay announcing our arrival to the meadow as we walk into the clearing finding our
favorite spot. We have come here for the past 12 years. As children we played here and we became
lovers in this field. She was my first and I was hers. There has not been another person in
either of our lives. This is the meadow where I asked her to marry me and then later we created
our child here.
We spread the blanket on the ground and I hold Maggie’s hand as she sits down. Sitting
down beside her, she opens the basket Jenny sent with us. In it, we find that Jenny put a fine
bottle of wine, cheese and homemade crackers; I pour the wine while Maggie puts some cheese
on the crackers. I ask Maggie, “do you remember yesterday morning and where we were? Can
you tell me where we were last week? My memory is of two different world. One is this beautiful
time and place, the other where things are done for you by machines and all men are equal. A
place where machines can fly and men can kill other men from a hundred miles away or more.”
She looks at me confused and says, “This is the place we are from, this is the time we
belong. The other is just a dream that we both were in and if we talk about it too much we may
end up going there, so please do not mention it again. I love you more than time will allow
us to be together and in this time and place we can slow down and love each other the way love
should be. I look at her and ask “is this real life or is it just a dream, if this is
where you want us to be. I will be happy wherever we are, but you know what the 1860’s
will bring to our lives and living in Vicksburg. I will have to go to war and which side will
I be on? We know how it will end and what happens here. This is the life that I want for us,
but not the war. Tell me if you want all this knowing what is coming in the next few years?”
Maggie looks at me and says, “For now, let us just enjoy what is happening to us. Yesterday
we were middle aged; today we are young and have our whole lives ahead of us again. I am pregnant
with your child and we have the most beautiful house and plantation I've ever seen. Let us stay
for a while longer and maybe we will find this is where we really belong and the other place
was just a dream.”
I reached for her hand laying her on the blanket. The sun is warm on our skin this morning as
I slowly kiss her lips and take off her riding clothes. We make love in the meadow feeling the
sun on our bodies as we have done many times. Our love making is stronger than ever before and
this is the way love should be. I still believe I'm dreaming; that nothing could be this good
and Maggie is happier than I have ever seen her. On the ride back we watch the sun setting and
can see a flock of geese flying over. I reach out for Maggie's hand as we ride back to the house
not talking at all just thinking about all that we have seen and heard.
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