The rejection really does seem to be something that goes along with us being children, and the "not talking" does sort of make me think of, as over-used as this word is, a "muse." Like, not that I am her muse but that when we talk together we produce books for children.

There's something about losing a friend as a kid that's just so much more primal than losing a friend as an adult, and it seems like that's definitely more what the dream is about.