An Old Woman's Tale (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches")

"An Old Woman's Tale" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a fictional narrative set in a time that appreciates dreaming, memory, and a deep look at the mind. It's about how one remembers an old woman's amazing stories from childhood that are wrapped around the ideas of community, remembering the past, and how time keeps moving forward. A young couple, David and Esther, along with their entire village, fall into a strange sleep that pulls up lots of memories, leading to an assembly of people from the past, as if ancestors and old community members were all gathering together. These characters come to life in a way that shows the strong links that they developed. While the village sleeps, David and Esther begin a journey to seek out all of the mysteries that can be found in their dreams, showing how the past and present are tied together.