In my dream, I've been talking to my sister Martha, whom I love dearly. She is excited to be working on some new music duets (flutes, of course) with a friend, but is looking for a quiet place to practice. A place that is conducive to the intense practicing that she and her friend want to do. I get the feeling, but it's not stated precisely that way, that the two of them have a major performance planned -- or maybe an extremely important audition. But in any case, she feels the two of them need to be at their best.
I am in the room where Martha is currently using for practice, but it's not clear whether she and/or her friend are in the room with me. I can see why Martha considers the space unusable, as the windows look out over a busy street, and the traffic noises are simply unavoidable and probably go into the late evening or early morning.
For reasons that are not clear, I have control over another apartment-type space. And that space is occupied at the moment by a guy in his 30's or so. A bit grungy and not animated to do much of anything, it would seem. I am now in the presence of that person, and standing just outside the room that, it would seem would be perfect for Martha's use.
I explain to the guy that I will need him to move out, and he doesn't seem to mind a bit. He sort of shrugs his shoulders and gives me the impression that he has other places where he can live. So all that is okay.
The scene shifts a bit, and now the person that I'm talking to is a youngish woman who appears to be struggling somewhat to make ends meet. (Her clothing, her overall appearance, her mildly haggard look.)
She knows what it is that I am there to do -- that is, have her move out to allow my sister to move in. She understands that I have the authority to make her leave if she decides to try and stay. She smiles weakly, as if in resignation, but I can tell that forcing her to leave would create a major problem for her. Losing her living space would create considerable hardship on a person who's already loaded with hardships.
She looks at me as she smiles, almost in supplication as in "please don't do this to me." But I've already promised the space to Martha and she's excited and preparing to move her practice stuff into the room.
So I can disappoint someone for whom I care a great deal or create a major problem for someone I barely know. But I have to choose one of the two.
