Dream Doctor Mysteries

The sky is a brilliant blue, completely cloudless. The day could not be more perfect, Sara thinks. Except for the pain in her right ankle, she’s slowing down the line of graduates as she limps towards the metal steps and then onto the stage. She wishes she had her cane, even though she hasn’t needed it in over a year. She glances over her shoulder; the graduate directly behind her glares impatiently, but right behind him, John from New York grins at her, and a little further back, Janet Black gives her a thumbs-up. She stops at the assigned spot, helpfully marked with tape. She’s grateful for a moment to rest. She only has a few seconds before her name is called. “Sara Katarina Barnes, Bachelor of Science in Biology, summa cum laude.” Sara hobbles across the stage to the podium, her right foot throbbing.

She thinks it hasn’t hurt this badly since she injured it in the first place. She tries to push the pain aside, but she finds it more problematic with each step until her ankle gives way, and she tumbles to the floor, her cap falling off her head and rolling right off the stage. Sara feels the eyes of several thousand people on her, but her only concern is the two eyes looking down at her from the podium just a few feet away. They belong not to the university’s President or her Dean but to the man she loves. Brian looks down at her, but he makes no move to help and says nothing. His expression, though, speaks eloquently: “Why are you just lying there? Don’t you want to graduate?” it asks… …Sara is suddenly elsewhere. She’s surprised to be on her feet again, the pain in her right ankle gone. She’s equally astonished at finding herself – where?