For the last three nights I’ve been having a recurring bad dream. The first night I woke up terrified, but with each consecutive night my response to it has lessened, allowing me to remember more of it instead of just trembling and crying as a result. The dream is always the same, with no variation; my mother and I are on holiday, and we’ve decided to take a boat trip. During the trip my mother falls off the back of the boat, unnoticed by anyone. I immediately jump in after her and help her stay afloat as the boat disappears. (I’m not sure if the boat just sails away or is simply gone by the time I grab her.) I tread water keeping her and myself afloat. After a few minutes we realise nobody is coming for us and my mother panics. She tells me we should swim to shore (although which direction is anyone’s guess) and as we do so I notice she’s too weak to swim, and so I try to swim for the both of us. She’s still panicking and I can’t swim that way, so I go back to treading water, talking to her, trying to calm her down. I’m getting tired and she notices. She starts telling me to let go, that she’s ill and will die anyway and that I should save myself. I try to tell her that it won’t be necessary, but she’s trying to get away from me. I struggle with her, trying to keep her from leaving and sinking beneath the surface. I’m tired and eventually we both sink.