The dress I have in mind is a dress in dreams and for the future. Over the last few weeks I’ve been constructing this dress with someone who lives overseas. This dress is kind of a personal fantasy but I wanted to share it.

Because he is far away we sometimes create these fantastical settings where we meet. So far, Venice is a favorite. Here are some of his words: “I saw you in your blue dress, simple, sometimes to just above the knee, sometimes the neck gathered, swooping and low. Sometimes the dress is long, the back open and asymmetrical with a weight of fabric emphasizing movement towards your hips. In both cases you are turning – slow and again and again toward me, the weight of your hair echoing that of the fabric. Sometimes in bright sunlight, as if the blue has replaced the floral dress of your Venetian dream. And then in darkness, a faint silver thread catching my attention as it runs through the length of the dress.”

“My mind is drifting to that red/brown room we haven’t visited in a while. Standing close together, hands by our sides but fingers entwined; our lips are just brushing, feeling the breath pass between and into us. Your black dress is blue, its neck slung low in folds of a fabric that is almost liquid. There’s a diamond-sharp glint in your eyes and a peach-soft smile on your lips.

“Our eyes close and all the world falls away.”

Sarah Cullen, Toronto, Ont.