The Dream Baby, by Olivia Howard Dunbar (contemporary prose, 1904)

[lb_lee]

“Oh, but this was a delightful dream,” Miss Agatha hastened to assure her. "It was a dream of you and a baby. You’ve always had a Madonna look, you know, Emily, but there you were all Madonna. I can see the little thing now with its sensitive wee face—it wasn’t more than six months old—and a patrician dot of a nose and mysterious blue eyes...”

Blurb: Miss Emily and Miss Agatha are two inseparable spinsters and roommates. When they were younger, they taught children together, but now they have retired. Then Miss Agatha starts having recurring dreams that she and Emily have a baby together, named Vanderkoep (Agatha's last name), who grows and ages like any other infant. Miss Emily studiously writes down everything that occurs, but he only ever appears to Agatha...

Why is it worth your time?: It's a short, bittersweet story of romantic friendship and a non-traditional family from over a century ago. This is an odd duck, and I can safely say I've never read anything like it. It's a pretty good story, and at least to 2020s sensibility, Miss Emily and Miss Agatha's relationship feels pretty queer. Their devotion to each other and their dream baby is touching, and even though the ending is sad, I don't feel like the story judges them or their relationship.

Plural Tags: dreamfolk, inner children (for lack of a better term), abuse not mentioned, plural family

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Available for free online, on account of it being in the public domain, and the text-only transcription was so poor I decided to clean it up and repost it myself.

Misc. Notes: Dunbar, the author, was active in the women's suffrage movement in the USA, and herself only married at 41. Her work had feminist themes, and I think this story is no exception.

Comments

Content Warnings

[lb_lee]

This story has a sad ending. Vanderkoep brings a rift into Emily and Agatha's longstanding relationship, because only Agatha ever dreams about him, but in all her dreams, EMILY is the one Vanderkoep is most devoted to. After Vanderkoep's first birthday, Emily cancels the women's longstanding summer vacation together out of fear that their baby will disappear, and it is while they are trapped at home in a dangerous heat wave that Vanderkoep dies of fever. (Indeed, Emily herself gets sick of heat stroke--this is 1904, after all! No AC!) The story ends with Emily going to get flowers in memory of him.

Re: Content Warnings

[adore]

Thank you so much for editing and posting the text-only transcription of this wonderful story. I have added it to my memories; I know I'll come back to re-read it. It was poignant, haunting, and delightful for all the reasons you mentioned under 'Why is it worth your time?'. It reminded me a little of Edith Olivier's The Love Child, which I know is on your reading list.

Re: Content Warnings

[lb_lee]

Mori: I admit, I read it because it was only 8 pages and easy to get for free, so I could get through it quickly, but it made a way bigger impression on me than expected! It touched me, which I didn't expect from a story like this. I'm real glad that your posting about The Love Child led me to this story. (The Love Child, being much longer, will take me a while.)

Re: Content Warnings

[adore]

I'm real glad that your posting about The Love Child led me to this story.

I'm real glad too! Out of curiosity, how did it?

Re: Content Warnings

[lb_lee]

It was a forgotten series of link jumps; someone compared and contrasted The Love Child with The Dream Baby, since they have some similarities! Sorry, I don't remember the exact chain.

Rogan

Re: Content Warnings

[adore]

No problem! It's interesting that I had the same thought re: the one reminding me of the other. :D