Someone Else’s Dream

Summary

• The protagonist, Nora, is talking with Mrs. Elm about her past and how she had always tried to impress others.
• Nora was always felt that she was living in her brother's shadow, and felt pressured to live up to her parents' and sibling's expectations.
• She recalls trying to earn her brother's approval by learning to play the piano after he refused to, and how she spent her money on piano-teaching guides and Mozart for Beginners and The Beatles for Piano.
• Nora recognizes every life she had tried so far in the library had been someone else's dream. The dreams of married life, a trip to Australia, becoming a swimming champion and becoming a glaciologist all belonged to others.
• Mrs. Elm advises Nora to choose more lives from the bottom or top shelves. These are lives she could live but never dreamed of, the less obvious lives.
• They discuss the concept of choices and Nora remembers studying Aristotle and his philosophy that excellent outcomes are the result of wise choices from many alternatives.
• Nora and Mrs. Elm play a game of chess, discussing the countless possibilities that each move opens up. Mrs. Elm tries to explain that life is much like a game of chess, where every hope, regret, and moment of living is based on possibility.
• Nora wins the game of chess and feels a bit better. She decides she wants to lead a gentle life working with animals, the kind of work she enjoyed and chose to do in her school days instead of aspiring to work in String Theory.
• Mrs. Elm repeats the advice she gave earlier, 'Never underestimate the big importance of small things', which proves to be useful.