The Strength of the Imperative

Last night I dreamed of pearls, so...

There was a man who had been my friend but I knew he had been corrupted. He was walking away from me for the last time. I stopped him and said, "Give me back my pearls." He reached in his pocket and produced a pair of white pearl studs and handed them to me. He started to walk away again.

"All of them."

I held out my hands and he heaped strand upon strand of white pearls in my hands, followed by an enormous amount of black pearls. So many I couldn't hold them all, some fell to the ground and sprouted into plants. I woke up happy and knew I wanted to wear this today.

It is, fittingly, a gift from my sailor; he is on patrol as of a day or two ago. Now it's unreliable emails and the rare letter for the next while. No I can't say how long. But it's a long time- although not nearly as long as Bethany has to endure. Not even close. No, I'm not upset. I'll miss him til my bones ache but I know what's worth waiting for.