Free Don't Wake Me if I'm Dreaming by J. E. Chaney

matter. Meddling with other’s fate—”
    “What does that mean, manipulate the dream?”
    “It means that your dreams are lucid, you are no longer dreaming but become part of the dream and can use others to show you what you need to know to change the dreams.”
    “This is all a joke, right? This is just…I’m having another dream. This is all a hoax!” I looked up to the ceiling in search of candid cameras. To experience the dreams was one thing, to hear this, a completely different.
    “Your mom didn’t die because of mental illness. This was very real to her, too. It is real.” She frowned, sounding frustrated. “You have a special gift and need to use it wisely.” She snapped the book closed.
    “How did you know about my—condition anyway? You’ve seen it before? Has someone else told you about these gifts or whatever you called them?”
    “Very few have dreams like these, not many, but there are others like you. You will end up like her, your mother, if you are not careful. These dreams are powerful enough to change more than your future. I’ve seen it. I know it to be true.”
    “Okay.” I sucked my lips in, releasing them with a small pop. “I need to go now. Thank you for the information.” I walked over to the sofa and collected my handbag. “Thank you for the tea,” I said, closing the door behind me.
    I left Doctor Chiaki’s office feeling beyond ill.
    “You’ll never believe this,” I explained to Matt over the phone on my drive home. “The doctor I saw today is a certifiable quack job. She tried telling me I have some farfetched sleeper crap. She couldn’t have been any more off her rocker if she fell from it and landed on her face. Telling me about ancient Japanese visionary something or other nonsense, and oh my God, she almost had me believing it was real, like I could see the future or something.”
    “Wait, what?” Matt asked completely oblivious.
    “And to think she gets paid for that!”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “My dreams, Matt. I talked to a doctor about my dreams.”
    “What did you tell her? I’m so lost.”
    “I thanked her for the tea and left.”
    He laughed slightly, but sounded very confused, “At least you were polite about it.”
    “Not exactly. I expected to schedule a sleep study, not this madness. It was horrible. I’m not even sure she’s working under American standards. I’ll be sure to thank my primary doctor for the referral,” I rambled.
    “She really ruffled your feathers. Sorry babe. Maybe you should consider a second opinion.”
    “No kidding Sherlock! I’d rather pop sleeping pills to cope than listen to her nonsense.”
    “I wish I knew what was going on. I have no clue what this is all about. You told me you had bad dreams, but what’s this about the future business? Will you talk to me?”
    “No.”
    “Well—I’m afraid I can’t make your day much better. I’m covering for Matlock tonight. His wife Kelsey went into labor.”
    “Great news,” I groveled.
    “Twin boys. I guess. He said she’s been having contractions for the last few hours and her water broke. We’ll have to stop by the hospital tomorrow and meet the little guys. Could you imagine having twins?”
    “I could imagine driving my car off a bridge first.”
    “Two babies. Hon, I want twin sons someday, that would be awesome.”
    “Don’t think I don’t see through your not-so-clever ploy of distracting me. There isn’t a disturbance on earth that can make this all go away,” I spoke bitterly.
    “Until you tell me what’s going on, I’m not having a discussion about it because it doesn’t make sense to me.”
    “Well, having children doesn’t make sense to me, so we’re even!”
    “I was just hoping you’d get a little baby fever if you met the twins,” he confessed.
    “Wait! You what? What the hell! No babies, no fever! You just stay away from my uterus if you have that nonsense on the brain! What is it with everyone today? I no