He doesn't remember when he first started to have dreams about The Nice Lady. Maybe it was after Daddy went on his trip for work and he had to stay with Memawh. Or that night when Memawh's friends played that mean trick on him and he was scared and he couldn't find Richard.
But he likes those dreams. He likes them a lot. Sometimes The Nice Lady asks him to sit on her lap and she tells him stories. He likes her stories about soldiers and pirates the best. Somehow, and he'll never be sure how she guessed it, she knew that he was even a pirate captain for Halloween one year…the hat hanging in his closet the only thing he really remembers about that year; yet proof of her wisdom just the same.
"But how did Captain Kidd know how to find his way back to the island for the buried treasure?" he asked during one such dream, the size of the ocean seeming endless to him even from the shoreline let alone a pirate ship in the middle of the sea.
"Tommy," she whispers while smoothing his hair, "all the great sea captains use the stars to find their way."
"Really?"
"Really."
She smiles and he thinks she almost looks familiar.
"Do you like our little talks?"
He nodds sleepily.
"I wish we could have them more often. But if you ever feel lost or lonely, just pretend that you're Captain Kidd and look out on the horizon for the North Star. It will always lead you to where you need to be. Who knows? It may even wink at you."
He is always happiest on mornings after these dreams. Sometimes—especially on a clear night— he doesn't even need his telescope to see the constellations. And The Nice Lady was right about the North Star…it does wink at him. Once he tried to show Uncle Paul, but then it stopped.
"Just for me," he smiled to himself as they were walking home from the pier. "It winks just for me."