The Park Dream

[This was previously published on the Tumblr blog Pessimist Press]:

The Park Dream

By Doctor Pessimist

When I was a child, I had this recurring nightmare:

My mother and I visit our local park. She sits on the bench, while watching me play on the swings. She smiles at me and I smile back at her. I notice the sky has somehow darkened, and then my mother vanishes before my eyes.

I stop playing on the swing and I get up. I walk around the park, looking for my mother, but there are no signs of her. I try to find the exit; to see if she is waiting for me. The family car has gone, and I don’t know my way home.

So I return to the swings and wait for her.

And in this dream, I cry; wondering what I did to make my mother hate me.

Whenever I’d wake up, I’d still be crying. And yet, neither of my parents came for me. They believed in that nonsense of letting a child cry it out.

To this day, I wonder if my mother actually loved me...

Stay negative.

Original post: https://pessimistpress.tumblr.com/post/173667011361/the-park-dream