That night my mother had what she considered a wonderful dream. She dreamed of the country of India, where she had never been. There were orange traffic cones and beautiful lapis lazuli insects with mandibles of gold. A young girl was being led through the streets. She was taken to a pyre where she was wound in a sheet and placed up on a platform built from sticks. The bright fire that consumed her brought my mother into that deep, light, dreamlike bliss. The girl was being burned alive, but, first, there had been her body, clean and whole.

Summary

This quote describes a dream the speaker's mother had, which she found wonderful. In the dream, the mother envisions a place she has never been to - India. The dream includes vibrant orange traffic cones and beautiful insects made of lapis lazuli and gold. The focus then shifts to a young girl being led through the streets who eventually ends up on a pyre made of sticks. Despite the disturbing scene of the girl being burned alive, the dream brings the speaker's mother a feeling of deep and blissful tranquility, possibly highlighting the paradoxical nature of dreams and the subjective interpretations of their meanings.

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