Susan opened her eyes. She was floating in a pool of water, looking up at high trees and clear blue sky in their middle. The sun was warm and she felt happy. She was lying in the centre of the pool, it had a circular form.
She felt something brush her arm. She turned her head to the side. There was Mark. He had come back for her. He reached for her hand and brought her to him. She looked down at her body. She was wearing her blue bikini, the one the men in her life had loved. Her belly was flat and smooth. She wondered where her babies had gone. She turned again to Mark. She saw that her babies were swimming with him, one holding each hand. They were smiling up at her.
She sensed movement at the periphery of her vision and looked to the side. Then she looked to the other side, feeling growing amazement at the sight.
Circling around them, maybe five metres out, was a school of crocodiles, all big, following each other, nose to tail, cruising in an effortless flow. Now, coming past her, was the mother of all crocodiles, looking just like the one she had seen that day on the Mary River. It passed her by and went behind her. Then drifting into her view came an even longer one, she recognised it as the one that she and Mark has seen that day on the Victoria River, perhaps it was also the one which Mark had sent to help Vic on the Fitzmaurice River.
Of course it all made sense. They were family, her new family. They were welcoming her and Mark and her children. They were saying, “At last you have come to be with us, to swim amongst us. Welcome, welcome from us your totem brothers and sisters.”
The huge big crocodiles came nuzzling up to Mark, like friendly puppies. He lifted his children and placed them on the back of the biggest one. Then he reached for and lifted Susan, placing her alongside. Lastly he pulled himself from the water and sat behind her on the creature’s broad back. She could feel his arms around her, holding her and her babies in safety. She felt so happy. They cruised off and joined the circle in its endless procession.
Her dream faded, but as it left her she had an overwhelming desire to return to Mark; her and her babies together. They would be minded and safe there with their crocodile family.
She found herself waking in the flat, roused like a dream waker to a new and altered state of consciousness. She could see what she should do. She should pack up her few things and make her way back to Mark, to the place where she had left him and would find him again.