#threads {lila}

“Lila! Come here, you’ve got to see this one! You’re not gonna believe it.”

Glancing up at her friend, the young woman turned from the painting she’d been admiring and nodded. Maggie took her hand and practically pulled her along across the room. In the corner, Maggie froze, pointing. There, before them, stood a portrait. A portrait of a young woman in what appeared to be a dress from the World War II era. And her face!

“She looks just like you!” Maggie whispered. 

But Lila could only stare at the portrait, mouth slightly agape. It would be jarring for anyone to see their own face staring back at them from a canvas. For her though, it was stirring on a much deeper level. When Maggie invited her to the gallery, Lila hadn’t expected to feel as if she’d stepped into one of her dreams. In many of them, she’d been standing before a mirror in this very ensemble! 

“Li?”

Shaking her head and smiling over at her friend, Lila smiled. “I’m all right. Just... It’s...”

Maggie nodded. “Did you model for it? I swear, it’s like they just cut your hair and put you in my gran’s dress.”

Shaking her own head, Lila linked her arm through Maggie’s and led her off. She wanted to come back and look closer, but not while Maggie was here. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the other girl to get distracted; borderline flirting with the artist of another piece. 

“I’m gonna go look around.” Lila told her, laying a hand on Maggie’s arm. She nodded and Lila crept off back to the portrait. 

When she stood before it once more, it was like Lila had plunged into a tub of ice water. Goosebumps had erupted over her arms, and one hand reached up to grasp the locket tucked into her blouse. Everything was just like in her dreams. The dress, the hairstyle, even the nearly invisible hole in the hose by her knee. What did this mean? And what was the connection to her other dreams?