Throughout my life I’ve had a recurring theme nightmare about two ventriloquism dolls. A boy and a girl. The location and situation typically changed with each nightmare appearance, but the dolls themselves were the same each time. They were still and calm and pleasant when other people were looking. But when I was alone with them or no one was watching, they were mean to me. I knew they were evil but no one else did and if I managed to warn someone about the dolls, I wasn’t believed.
In one dream the boy doll shape-shifted into a daschund. The doll couldn’t be in the same place I was, but the dog could be. I was trying to tell someone how bad the dolls were and how mean and evil they were to me. But the dog came in and stopped me from talking. I missed a chance to be heard because he could make himself look however he wanted.
I told my mom about the dolls’ recurring appearances in my sleep and she became angry with me. She believed I deeply resented and possibly hated my brother and sister and that the dolls represented my siblings. I was hurt by her accusation, shocked by the idea, and immediately frustrated with her firm belief that I knew wasn’t true. I didn’t know then what the dolls represented but I was certain they weren’t my brother and sister.
Today I found out for sure that my mom had it all wrong. Today I learned the dolls were my parents.
