Stone Mattress: Nine Tales

“I Dream of Zenia With the Bright Red Teeth” is a story about three old friends, Charis, Roz, and Tony. While they appear to be close in age, Roz and Tony find it necessary to protect Charis. For example, they come over at night when Charis watches scary vampire movies so Charis is not alone. They also adopt a dog, Ouida, for Charis that she won’t walk alone in her neighborhood at night. While Roz and Tony are both married, Charis lives alone until her ex-boyfriend, Billy, shows up and rents the other side of Charis’s duplex. Roz and Tony don’t trust Billy.

Charis has a dream about their friend, Zenia, who is dead. When alive, Zenia stole each women’s boyfriend. For Roz and Tony, the break-ups with their cheating exes seem to be for the best. Zenia and Billy, however, ran off together after killing Charis’s chickens. This is why Roz and Tony believe Billy will hurt Charis again.

In her first dream about Zenia, Zenia tells Charis that Billy is coming back. In the second dream, Zenia wears a fur and tells Charis to watch out for someone. After Ouida, the adopted dog, attacks Billy and sends him to the hospital, Charis believes that Zenia came back reincarnated as Ouida to warn Charis about Billy; that is why Zelda wore fur in the second dream.