Lend me your dream

Chapter 6 - Uncle Gus

I got an idea which would keep us busy for the rest of the holiday. I saw how troubled Valentin was with Uncle Gus's mood swings. Despite their affection for each other, Valentin couldn't see him anymore because of this condition. I knew that I was able to go into unfamiliar people's dreams, Uncle Gus's were thus a good way to advance, in my opinion. I didn't know him, therefore, I could stand back from what I would discover. And Valentin would assess the impact of my interventions because he knew who Uncle Gus was, contrary to me. That was a good way to start this decisive step in which we hoped to positively influence people's minds. And as a bonus, that was a means to help Valentin to reconnect with his uncle.

Valentin was okay. I successfully integrated his uncle's dreams each night for an indefinite period. I immediately started an analytical phase without any intervention goal. Uncle Gus mostly had boring dreams in which nothing interesting happened. I saw that his cars were dear to his heart because they had a very important role in his mind, but I would have liked some more action to stage them. After approximately two weeks of observation, the repetition of a childhood dream drew my attention. This dream would be my starting point for the rest.

I had learnt by Valentin that his uncle's name was Augustin. Augustin was with a friend in his dream, they were playing with little toy cars in the street. Then a group of kids, who were just a few years older, arrived with bikes. One of them rolled in a puddle to splash Augustin and his friend on purpose. Then the five naughty boys got closer after throwing their bicycles on the ground. The apparent leader bent down to pick a toy car up before saying: "It is mine now, shorty!" They moved away, giggling. And whereas Augustin was crying, his friend got up, looking furious, with clenched fists, and shouted at the troublemaker, who turned round. Augustin's friend tried to forcibly get the car back, but he was strongly repulsed, which made his rival's goons laugh. Then, in a fit of bravery and ready to fight to avenge his friend, he determinedly walked to the bikes, took a knife out of the pocket of his muddy Bermuda shorts and stuck it in each tyre. His determination had undermined the five thugs who got spooked and ran away. The leader even dropped the toy car, which Augustin's friend immediately picked up from the ground with an extreme delicacy, in a total mismatch with the anger he had found in himself to deal with the scoundrels. Then he gave it to Augustin, who wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve before taking his precious toy.

Therefore, Uncle Gus was marked by a trauma linked to childhood. But, why had his bipolar disorder taken possession of him so late? There had necessarily been a catalyst that we had to identify to make a link between his dream and reality. Uncle Gus was the brother of Valentin's mother. She probably had some answers. Valentin started a discussion with her, using tact, to rise above his interlocutor's reluctance. Indeed, she first tried to avoid the subject, which she thought too disruptive for her son. She knew that Valentin would attempt to reconnect with his uncle sooner or later, but she doubted that her brother could be emotionally stable again and didn't want Valentin to hope for it. But when he questioned her about Uncle Gus as a youth, she became more talkative. She described a loving brother, deeply nice, unable to harm anyone. Unfortunately, naturally clumsy and puny, he had long been chosen to be a whipping boy by the others. He was an easy mark because there was no risk of reprisal. Fortunately, he had a friend, Léopold, who protected him. They were real partners, Augustin appeased Léopold who was hyperactive and could be impulsive, and Léopold protected him. Their respective parents had preserved this balance in making sure that they stayed together as long as possible during their school life. Léopold was thus the child who had defended Uncle Gus in his dream. Valentin's mother knew that they had stayed close for a long time, but she ignored if their relationship had continued afterwards. She had learnt by means of familiar people that Léopold had had lymphoma for several years. When she had got worried about it, her brother had been reassuring, although suspiciously evasive. He was content to believe in his friend's capacity to fight and get through this hard life challenge. Valentin's mother cut off questioning when Valentin addressed the subjects of Uncle Gus, his bipolar disorder, some memories with him. She radically closed the discussion, saying: "Your Uncle Gus doesn't exist anymore, Valentin, forget him!"