My daughter, Octavia, is a young teenager and she enjoys the beach more than everything. I was there with her on the sand, we both moved like an impressionistic painting, the world around us was smeared and beautiful.
Where is your mother, I said without words.
The water is so nice, she replied, and then ran across the shore to the edge of the water that beat against the coast in a stop-motion stacco. Her hands were up in elation, then she was bent with fingertips in the blue, then her hands were up again and a spray of light blue water fanned the air in front of her.
I stood, and approached her. The closer I approached, the darker the sky became, from baby blue, to Carolina blue, to Royal blue, to navy blue, to violet. Under this darkening sky, the water rose up into a large wave, like a mountain and Octavia pointed up at it.
It’s coming, daddy, she said.
We have to leave the shore, I yelled with real fear, afraid that it was a tsunami and it would ravage the coast, take me and my daughter out to our deaths. But Octavia was happy as she pointed.
It’s coming, daddy! You have Octavia and Ursula, and she can be Nora!
Octavia was happier than I’d ever seen her as the tsunami came closer.
I looked out at it and I saw a figure at the top of the wave, surfing it without a board. It was more like the figure simply stood on top and as it approached, I could see my wife, Valeria. She was stone-faced and stared straight ahead.
I called her name, but the cheers of Octavia drowned out my screams and Valeria noticed her standing in the sand. She waved at Octavia.
It’s coming! Octavia screamed.
She will be Nora, Valeria screamed in return.
I woke up before the wave hit the shore. I woke up before my alarm. I stared at Valeria who was sleeping peacefully.
Nora, I thought to myself, that would be a good name if we had a daughter. My two daughters were named Octavia and Ursula after two pioneering female science fiction writers. Nora is the first name of NK Jemison.
I couldn’t make sense of anything else. The dream had scared me, but in the dream my daughter and wife seemed excited. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
PRL Serials 