Gabrielle's Second Dream

"Lila. Wake up."

"Gabrielle? It can't be time to get up already. It's not even light outside."

"I know. But I had another dream. You've GOT to hear about it!"

"Can't it wait 'til morning. I'm SO sleepy!"

"Come on, Lila. Wake up. I want to tell you before I forget it."

"Oh, all right."

Lila sat up on the bed, crossed her legs, put her pillow in her lap, but kept her eyes closed.

"Tell me the dream."

"Aren't you going to open your eyes?"

"I can listen with my eyes closed."

"No you can't, you'll fall asleep. Lilllaaaaaa!"

"Okay! They're open! See? Is this one about Xena again?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because she's all you dream about, even if you won't admit you're really dreaming about YOU wanting to be like her."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Now hush. In this dream Xena and I are camping out in the woods...."

"I doubt THAT! You HATE camping out!"

"Well not in this dream I don't. So we're camping out, and one morning I notice that a corner of one of my scrolls has been torn off...."

"What scrolls?"

"I'm not really sure. I just have all these scrolls I've been writing on. Anyway, Xena tore off a piece of one because she couldn't find any good leaves to use for -- well, YOU know. So I get real mad at her about it because it had some writing on it...."

"What did it say?"

"I don't know! Do you really have to ask all these questions?"

"How am I going to know what you're talking about? You're always leaving out details."

"Just let me finish. Anyway, so I got really mad at Xena, and she had the nerve to say she took it because it didn't have much writing on it! Like how much writing determines how important it is!"

"Well, she could have torn off a piece with a LOT of writing on it."

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to tell about my dreams."

"Okay, okay. So what happened next?"

"Actually, that was just about all."

"That's all? And you woke me up just for that?!" Lila threw herself back down and put the pillow over her face.

"Oh! I almost forgot! There was something else, but I can't remember whether it was before or after she tore my scroll."

Talking through the pillow, Lila asked, "Does it really matter?"

"No, I guess not. Come on sit up. Let me tell you this part and then you can go back to sleep."

"This better be good."

"We were both asleep, and suddenly, I don't know, four or five bandits attacked us. Of course Xena was instantly awake, but instead of using her sword, she grabbed my only frying pan and started whacking them with it...."

"What were you doing with a frying pan? You don't cook."

"Lila, why do you keep interrupting me? Don't you know that in dreams we can do whatever we want to? And I do so cook, I'm just not as good at it as you are. But like I was saying, by the time I woke up all these bandits had been run off and my frying pan was completely ruined. So I asked Xena why she had to use it, and she said something about being creative when she fights. I was so mad because now we had nothing to cook the fish in."

Lila sat silently, staring at Gabrielle.

"What? No sarcastic remark about me not liking fish?" Gabrielle asked.

"No. Just waiting for the Big Exciting Ending. There IS a Big Exciting Ending isn't there?"

"Maybe you should go back to sleep now." Gabrielle whispered quietly. "We wouldn't want to wake up Mother and Father."

Shaking her head in pity, Lila laid back down. "Gabrielle, you need help. I sure feel sorry for Perdicus. After you two get married neither one of you will ever get any sleep."

"Excuse me?"

Realizing what she said, Lila laughed out loud. "I wasn't talking about your wedding night. I was talking about him having to listen to your weird dreams all night long."

"Then maybe I won't marry him at all! Maybe I'll just stay here with you until I'm an old woman and keep YOU up all night."

"I knew it! Just another excuse NOT to marry Perdicus. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Any girl would be GLAD to have him for a husband."

"Then YOU marry him!"

"But he doesn't love ME, Gabrielle. He loves you."

"Aren't I the lucky one?"

From somewhere in the house, a male voice boomed out, "If you two don't shut up and let me get some sleep, neither one of you will know what a Good Morning is, much less a Wedding Night!"

Giggling, both sisters snuggled together under the blanket, poking and tickling the other until they drifted off to sleep. One dreaming of her sister's incredibly romantic wedding. The other dreaming of a tall, dark, beautiful Warrior Woman riding up to rescue her from a fate worse than death: a dreary life of housework and child rearing with the slowest, dullest man ever born.