Bread and Sham

The former Sheriff, Ed Tom Bell, stares out to the fields through his kitchen window in the closing scene. He has just retired and speaks to his wife of two dreams that he had last night. Both dreams include his father. His father had apparently died young, and so any memory of him comes from the son who himself is an old man comparatively speaking, having outlived his father by 20 years or so.

In the first, he was given some money and he was suppose to meet up with his father downtown. The implication he makes is that the reunion never took place because he may have lost the money.

In the second dream, he and his father were riding horses through a valley on a cold winter night. It was dark and late and while the son was in the valley, he saw his dad ride past him and continue on ahead. It was clear that the dad was carrying fire in a horn. He could see the color of the fire, like the color of the moon. His dad didn’t say anything as he rode past. The son understood that his father was going to ride ahead of him, and soon, after the son journeyed on alone, he would meet up with his dad and he would have a warm fire prepared when he arrived. He continues riding on that cold night anticipating the place where they would stop and rest . . . but, the son reminisced, . . . he woke up.
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