Application to be My Nighttime Dreams

by Anna Mantzaris

Do you keep late hours?

Are you good at making a quiet entrance?

Can you accomplish a lot in three minutes?

Are you willing to travel?

Might you bring me my departed dad? Before he got sick?

Will you leave me hanging?

Can you visit 1,460 times a year?

Can I count on you not to bring a rabid raccoon on my bed?

Will you reoccur?

Are you insightful?

Please describe your knowledge of REM sleep:

Do you like symbolism?

Are you a fan of Salvador Dali?

Do you work closely with the moon?

Do you work in color?

Can you bring back the time I thought I could fly? Or when I met JFK?

Can you replace anxiety with euphoria?

Will I be able to control you?

Are you prophetic?

Will you confuse me?

Will you linger all day?

Will you judge me by my messy hair?

Are you boring to others?

Can I use you in my fiction?

Can you bring me to Easter Island?

Will you make me a world-famous cellist?

How do you feel about a tall version of me?

Can you make me a valued member of a circus troupe?

Will you let me eat Sacher torte in a hot air balloon with my dog above Vienna again?

Can you omit anything about tests, being naked and driving a car with no wheels?

Can you recreate the first man I loved? The time he showed up at my door with sunflowers in hand?

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Anna Mantzaris is a San Francisco-based writer. Her work has appeared in publications including Ambit, The Cortland Review, Lascaux Review, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Necessary Fiction, New World Writing, Sonora Review, and Spry. She can be reached at anna@annamantzaris.net.