by David Elder

Created on: April 11, 2008

The Dream Catcher

She walked through fields of verdant green, hands trailing at her sides, fingertips grazing the wildflowers that littered her path. The sun warmed her bare skin and the breeze blew gently, caressing her form as she wandered aimlessly across the countryside. Jessica awoke with a smile from another beautiful dream. She wondered briefly if there was any significance to her always being naked in her dreams, but quickly dismissed it as nothing she could control.

At thirty two, she considered herself to be in the prime of her life. Now that summer was here, she could take time off from the constant grading and preparation of lesson plans that weighed her down during the school year.

She thought of the students in the high school English class that she had taught this year, and of the progress she had seen displayed in some of them. Of course, there were always going to be exceptions when you had so many sixteen and seventeen year olds packed into one classroom. Jonathan Two Crows had been a problem.

She had been told to expect the occasional boyhood crush from her male students, but nothing had prepared her for the intensity of Jonathan's obvious infatuation. He would be there at the classroom door when she arrived in the morning, and was there waiting again at the end of the day. His constant comments on her appearance were unsettling to Jessica, and the hand crafted presents he gave her seemed more like fertility objects than anything else.

Jessica had no desire to insult Jonathan's Native American heritage by refusing his gifts. When her efforts to dissuade his unwanted attraction to her didn't work, she requested a meeting with his guardian. She thought back to the events of the previous week with a feeling of relief and the memory of a strange encounter that would prove significant at a later time.

Jonathan's parents had died in an accident when he was a child, and his paternal grandfather had taken the boy in. At the appointed time, Jessica heard a knock at the classroom door, and upon opening it, was faced with a man of advanced age with long flowing gray hair and weathered features.

"Mr. Two Crows?" asked Jessica.

"Yes, you must be Miss Hampton, Jonathan's teacher. He talks about you a lot." said the old man.

"Please take a seat Mr. Two Crows" said Jessica. "I've called you here to inform you about a potential problem with Jonathan. I'm afraid he has a small crush on me, and I thought you might be able to give him a little talk, so that he can get

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