I lost him in a dream…then it turned real

I had a dream years ago when Nick was 10. One of those vivid, startling dreams that decades later retains its lucid memory status. The dream recurred several times over a month.

Nick and I are in a store, an office, or on the streets. We’re walking somewhere, always undefined. I turn, and the next thing I know my son is gone. At first, I call his name without panic. “Nick? Nick? Where are…