Ethel gave Anne the photograph in parting, in exchange for a promise that Anne would come to visit again soon and keep her informed of anything that changed in her life. The whole experience seemed to fade a little as Anne returned to the main highway and left the small town of Hammond far behind. She began to regain a grip on reality as the highway motored on into the city and the Monday afternoon traffic gridlocked.
Perhaps there was something in it all, but for now she had to face what her brother had done to her apartment, and there was work in the morning after having called in sick for the day.
Her apartment turned out to be not as bad as expected. There were a few things out of place, but her brother had made a fair attempt at cleaning up after himself. The sheets needed to be stripped of course.
Lying in bed that night, Anne closed her eyes and relived the part of her dream where she was being ravaged by her husband. She relived it with a hand down her pyjama pants and fingers in her wetness. She parted her legs and felt Nick lying on top of her; her orgasm pulsing through her belly with the thought of that.
The entire experience was just so weird. Even if a case could be made for the shapes in the photographs, how could there be an explanation for the fact that she saw that wedding photo in her dream before she saw it in real life? That was simple and unequivocal. It was not something she could ever prove to anyone else, but she was certain of what she had dreamt. It had been the most incredibly lucid experience. She had seen the exact photo that was right this minute in her handbag. She had seen herself in the mirror, as Patricia Harper, Nick's wife.
No explanation had presented itself by the time Anne found sleep that first night home. The next day was busy at work, catching up on filing that had accumulated in her absence. It rained on the way home in the evening. She had worked late and ended up hurrying in the dark with no umbrella, and her hair and clothing became thoroughly soaked. She was ambling as quickly as she could across the street to reach the shelter of her building when there was a screech of brakes and headlights bearing down on her. She was not hit by the car though; rather she was gently swept upward and through the air, and she ended up under the awning of her building in the arms of a man.