Summary
The short story “I Don’t Dream of Genie” by Chad Pelley follows a woman named Sherry who works as a Santa Claus in a shopping mall. She does not enjoy her job, and she finds it uncomfortable because the children shout in her ears and sometimes accidentally hurt her. She decided to take the job to pay for a trip to Tennessee, which she took to attend a seminar on lucid dreaming. She remembers that her employers were surprised by her turning up at the job interview for the role as Santa, as they were expecting to give the role to a man.
Sherry joined the seminar hoping to recreate a dream she had about her ex-partner, Gene. However, the seminar proves to be unsuccessful, as are several other attempts to recreate the pleasant dream. She decides to skip the last lesson of the semin...