“In My Dreams We Meet At The Opera” By Damhnait Monaghan

When I reach the bus stop, my mother’s gone. Is she lying in that puddle outside the Opera House? Or did I lose her in the lobby, distracted by the man wearing one red glove and clutching a bible? Retracing my steps, I find her under the twinkling chandelier, crooning a childhood lullaby. I approach, arms outstretched. So close! But she floats through the window, lands on the pavement and drifts off to sleep beside a bald schnauzer in a tiny green tuxedo. I rush outside to embrace them, but it isn’t a schnauzer after all.

…

Wearing my green tuxedo, I walk past the bus stop, distracted by the ghost of my bald mother reading a bible. I reach out, but my schnauzer tugs on the lead, pulling me away. At the Opera House, a bald man wears a twinkling chandelier. He floats through the window and hands me a red glove. Then he curls up in a puddle and drifts off to sleep. Faintly, I hear that lullaby. But it’s not my mother singing, it’s my schnauzer. When I bend down to stroke him, it isn’t my dog after all.

…

When I reach the bus stop, one of my red gloves is gone. Is it lying in that puddle outside the Opera House? Or did I lose it in the lobby, distracted by the twinkling man under the bald chandelier? Retracing my steps, I find him, singing my lullaby in his green tuxedo. I long to curl up and drift off to sleep, but now my mother’s outside. Her schnauzer tugs at the lead, pulling her away. I crash through the window and chase them, but it isn’t my mother after all.

…

In my dreams, we meet at the opera.

When I awake, she’s still gone.

***

“In My Dreams We Meet At The Opera” first appeared in Restore to Factory Settings, Bath Flash Fiction, Volume Five, 2020. Adhoc Fiction

IMAGE: Marc Chagall “The Triumph of Music”, 1966. Mural. 30 feet by 36 feet. Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. New York City.

Damhnait Monagham

Damhnait Monaghan was born and grew up in Ontario and Newfoundland & Labrador, but now lives in the U.K. A former teacher and lawyer, her flash fiction is widely published and anthologized. Her novella-in-flash The Neverlands was voted Best Novella in the 2020 Saboteur awards. Her debut romantic comedy novel New Girl in Little Cove (2021), is NOW available through HarperCollins Canada and Graydon House Books US.