The Recurring Dream - Summary | The Magic of Words

English | Summary
Unit One : Stories of the Supernatural
The Recurring Dream
A Story from England
The Magic of Words

The story starts with a description of Kimberly Clark, the protagonist of the story, who is twenty five yeas old with all qualities of a normal young woman. She is pretty, she loves to dance, and she has many friends and a good position in the office of a large company. Despite these all, she has a problem. She has been troubled by a strange and mysterious dream that haunts her every night.

The strange dream always begins on a country road. Kim stands on this road and sees a lane with a white fence and a hedge on each side. At the end of the lane, on the top of a little hill, she sees a small white cottage with green shutters. Then she walks up the lane to the house, goes in and looks around. In one of the rooms, she finds a man asleep in bed. He is a little old man with white hair and a white heard. When she comes near his bed, the man wakes up. Then he sits up and looks at her. When she tries to speak to him, she wakes up. She is very surprised troubled by the dream because she has never known any little old man like that and neither the place. 

Kim’s roommate knows everything. So, one day she proposes Kim to visit her (Janet’s) parents’ farm house to feel peace in mind. As they pass through a country road, Kim sees the similar scene which she sees in her dream. They stop there. Janet does not want Kim to go and see the small cottage but Kim goes. 

The house was exactly the same, except for a sign in front of the house which said ‘FOR SALE’. Unlike her dream, Kim goes to the door of the house and knocks and to her surprise the same old man answers the door who immediately closes the door. After Kim’s request, he opens the door. Kim again asks why the house is for sale. The old man reveals that the house is haunted by a ghost. Kim tries hard to think to say something instead asks who the ghost is. The old man gets surprised and shocks her by replying that she herself is the ghost.

Important Questions 

1. Write about a dream that you have seen recently. 

Ans: Yesterday I saw a terrible dream about a ghost. In my dream I found myself sitting with my friends in the jungle. When I was a little away from my friends, I saw a ghost dancing around me. It was telling me that I was going to be killed. In my dream, I cried so badly. I was asking for a help. My friends did not listen to me what I was saying. I fell in a critical condition. I thought I had to kill the ghost. Then, the fight began between me and the ghost. The ghost had had very sharp claws and redred eyes. It was so furious so I was. I tried to thrash it on the stone. Fortunately, I succeeded on my own and the ghost was thrown into the river nearby. Finally, I went to my friends who were looking at me. They asked me how the fight was like. I also narrated the event as it was happened. The next day, the result of my dream came true. I got the first division in exam. 

2. Do dream have any connection to our real life? Discuss your personal view. Also relate to the story. "The Recurring Dreams." 

Ans: Of course, dreams have connection to our real life. I have got such experience in my life. Once I saw my friend Mohan fallen down from a tree in my dream. After few days, I heard the news that he met an accident. He was rushed to the hospital. His condition became worse. His hands and legs were broken and ultimately died. 

3. Why do some people have recurring dreams? Give your opinion. 

Ans: Many people have their dreams at night. We have also got some experiences of dreams. In our dreams sometimes we see ghosts, wild animals, great buildings, juggles, death person, friends etc. In my opinion we see these persons, animals, things because of our unsatisfied desires. We have experienced that what we desire in a daytime, occurs in our dream at night. So desire of getting something might be the cause of recurring dream. In the same way sometimes we see same dream day by day. We have experienced the fact that we fail in our exam in the dream if we are waiting for exam result. So fear might be the cause of dream. 

4. Why does Janet want to take Kim to her parent's farm for a few days? 

Ans: Janet wants to take her friend to her parents' farm because Kim had a problem of recurring dream. She used to see the same old man and the white house in her dream. Kim tried to speak to that old man in her dream but suddenly woke up from her dream. This happened daily. Her friend, Janet wanted to take Kim to her parent's farm so that Kim will feel easy and forget that recurring dream. So Janet takes Kim to her own parents' farm for a few days. 

Questions for Practice 

1. Why do you think cottage is for sale? 

2. Describe a village house in about ten sentences. 

3. Narrate the story of "The Recurring Dream" in 200 words. 

4. What do you think is the reason some people having recurring dream? 

5. Describe the man Kim sees in the house.