Aussie Chomps : Stella By the Sea

Stella Seaton was not the sort of person who normally took much notice of dreams. But she had dreamed the same dream three times now, which didn't seem normal at all. Obviously her subconscious was trying to tell her something. Clearly it was a case for Mary Sparkel.

Mary, an expert on dreams, was in Stella's class. She had a book which gave the meaning of every dream in the world. Or so Mary claimed, and so far nobody had come up with one to stump her. Stella wasn't sure she quite believed everything Mary said, but last week Jade O'Leary had gone to her with a dream about riding a zebra up Mount Everest.

'The climbing and the snow both mean wealth,' Mary had told her. 'The zebra indicates confusion, so you're soon going to get a lot of money you won't know what to do with. Fifty cents please.'

Since she was about to be rich, Jade had paid up cheerfully, even though she knew she wouldn't be confused at all. 'I know exactly what I'm going to buy,' she confided to Stella. 'I've been saving up all year for a pair of black leather boots.'

The very next day, Jade received a birthday card from her grandfather with a fifty-dollar note inside. Wow, she thought. Mary Sparkel had predicted wealth and here it was.

The day after that she got another birthday card from her grandfather and another fifty dollars. This was getting a little strange. She showed her mother. 'Even if it was my birthday, which it's not, why is Grandpa sending me two cards and two lots of money?'

Her mother had sighed. 'He's getting old. Old people sometimes get confused. Just write and thank him.'

So Mary Sparkel had been doubly right! Jade, and indeed everyone in the class, had been totally impressed. 'You were so right about my dream,' Jade told Mary. 'Except it wasn't me who was confused, it was my grandpa.'

'Whatever,' said Mary Sparkel.

Yes, Stella thought, Mary Sparkel would certainly know what her dream meant. And luckily, it being an unusually slow week for dreams, she was granted an immediate appointment. When Mary was in high demand, you had to wait in line, sometimes for days.

At morning recess, they sat down together in a quiet corner of the playground. Mary placed her Dream Decoder on her knees and tapped it with her pencil. 'Go ahead,' she said, sounding and looking very professional.

Stella cleared her throat. 'Okay. So here's my dream. I'm walking along this street. Just an ordinary street. And I come to a sweet little house made of gingerbread –'

'Gingerbread?' Mary flicked to G in her dream book.

'Yes. Just like those little gingerbread houses you see at Christmas, decorated with lollies and licorice and white squiggly icing. The garden of this house has little trees made of spearmint leaves and there are two rows of ripe raspberry bushes leading up to the front door. Which looks exactly like a Tim Tam biscuit.'

'That could be important. T for Tim Tam or B for biscuit, I wonder?'

'I don't think it's important,' Stella said.

'I'll be the judge of that.'

'Sorry. Anyway, in the garden is the wizard.'

'Wizard.' Mary flicked to W in her dream book.

'At least, he looks like a wizard. He's an old man with long white hair and a funny sort of hat and there's a big silver star on his chest. He's got a skinny black cat – '

'Cats.' Mary turned to C in her dream book.

'Cats are always significant; especially black ones.'

'It doesn't mean death or anything, does it? I mean, it seemed quite a happy cat. I'm sure it rubbed against my leg, and purred. Surely that can't be bad. Can it?'

'I can't possibly say until I've heard the whole dream. Context is everything.'

'Right. Well, the wizard says, "Stella, you can have one wish. What do you want most in the world?" Then he waves this sort of wand – '

'Wand!' Mary flicked forward to the Ws again.

'And, just as I'm about to tell him, these two huge gates clang shut.'

'Gates.' Mary stopped flicking.

'And the wizard and the cat and the little house get smaller and smaller behind them until they disappear. And then I wake up feeling sad. That's about it really.' Stella looked at Mary expectantly.

'So what does all that mean?'

'You've had this dream how many times?'

'Three.'

'And it's always the same?'

'Pretty much. I know that little house so well I think I could draw it. Hey, that's and idea! Would it help if I drew a picture for you?'

'No,' Mary said. 'It's all up here.' She tapped her brow with the pencil. 'You described it very well.' She shut the Dream Decoder. 'It's certainly a dream full of symbols. Too many symbols. Wands and wizards and cats and gates. They all mean something. It might take me some time. Payment in advance, please.'

Stella gave her fifty cents.

'Sorry,' Mary said. 'I have to charge a dollar. This is a very complicated dream. But I'll give you the Express Service. You won't have to wait long.'

Stella thought that sounded fair. She gave Mary another fifty cents.

The answer was passed to her during the last lesson of the day, hidden in the pages of a geography book. Stella removed the folded note and read what Mary had written:

Dreaming of food means you're hungry. Dreaming of gingerbread and lollies and Tim Tams means there is not enough sweetness in your life. The man in white with the hat is not a wizard, he's a chef and he's trying to feed you (you are the skinny cat). But he can't because the doors of the fridge keep closing. (Do you have a fridge with two doors?) Eat some chocolate or ice-cream before bed and the dream will go away.

Mary Sparkel, Dream Expert

Yes, thought Stella, the fridge at home did have double doors and she probably was a bit skinny. That could be because the fridge very seldom had anything in it. Neither of her busy parents had much time for shopping or cooking. But it was a good idea to eat more chocolate and ice-cream.

Mary certainly knew all about dreams.

Stella folded the note and slipped it into her pocket. But as she made her way home that afternoon, something about her dream, and Mary's answer, niggled away in her mind like an itchy insect bite that was just out of reach.