Setting
Physical setting
The story “I Don’t Dream of Genie” by Chad Pelley takes place in Canada, as suggested by the reference to Avalon Mall (which is located in St. John’s, Newfoundland), and in Tennessee, US where Sherry attends the lucid dreaming seminar.
All the places in the story are somewhat hostile to Sherry. The mall is noisy with the screams of children who also bruise her thighs sitting in ‘Santa’s’ lap, and she finds the seminar in Tennessee useless and disappointing. Her own house is where Gene broke up with her, and where they then had the accident falling down the stairs. Even her plane trips are uncomfortable, as the first time there is turbulence, and on the return trip, she is sick from the food she ate the night before. All these instances mir...