Ellen   grew quite inattentive and even   a little   unbalanced mentally.  It could have  been explained   by the insomnia  she  was suffering from.
“That’s because of the dream that is haunting me every night,” she would say.
 Every single night  she would  dream about  the same scene. There is a wedding celebration  in a  house. The  house is full of  guests and each  of them  is  wishing greetings  to the bride and  the bridegroom. Then, the  bridegroom asks the bride  to dance.   While dancing the bride  suddenly faints  and dies. Ellen was not able to make out  the faces of  the bride and the bridegroom, but she remembered a scarlet rose on the bride’s  wedding veil.
The dream would have the same ending every night. She would feel dizzy every  time she started to think about it. She was afraid that if she  continued to remain  in such a state  she wouldn’t   live till her wedding day that was supposed to be  in a month.
“I am thinking about you all the time. I feel that something is wrong.   What is the reason for that?  Does it have anything  to do with Nick?”
Lora  was  worried   sick about her friend.   They  had been friends for a long time. Lora  always    confided in her friend.    Unlike  her open–hearted  friend,  Ellen was much more secretive. Of course, she trusted Lora,   but still  she  would never  open her heart to people easily. She was always cautious and  the  cautiousness  could be felt even in her  relationship with her fiancé. Curiosity  swelled within Lora, but as she  knew Ellen’s character  she tried to contain herself.
“You know, Ellen   if you just  get it  off your chest you will feel better.
 Tell me what’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing.  I just don’t  get  enough sleep  and I am in low spirits because of it. That’s all.”    
“But you have been in low spirits for a long time, you seem to be having problems. Okay,  don’t talk about it if you don’t want to. I am not curious.  Let’s talk about  Nick and about your wedding . Are you  already prepared for you wedding day?”
“I have a terrible headache.  Could you leave me alone now,  especially as  Nick is going to be here  soon. I will call you  back later. I am sorry.”
It didn’t hurt her.  
As  she was her close friend she knew that when she makes up her mind to tell her about it  one day,  she will do that.
“All right I am off. I have  some things to do as well, if I am still your bridesmaid?”
“Of course you are my bridesmaid, you are my only close friend. Go and get yourself  with the wedding preparations.”
They kissed each other and Lora left.
 “I should put it out of my head.  That’s just nonsense. I shouldn’t be so  sensitive. It’s just an idiotic dream and nothing more than that.”
She felt relieved  of  inward constraint.
“Perfect!  Nick is going to be here in a few minutes and I should be cheerful.”
“Look what I have for you, darling.”
Nick held out a small jewel box with a  brilliant necklace in it.
“Oh, my God, Nick. I don’t know what to say. It’s  dangerous to wear such a thing. It’s so beautiful.”
Nick was shining with pleasure.
“Do you like it?”
“Like?  Is it possible not to like it?”
“My  main present is to follow.  I want it to be a surprise.”
But the dream would repeat again and again. She would wake up frightened in the morning, but as their wedding day  was  approaching and she was  usually busy   she would forget about   her dreams by day.
In the evenings she always tried to busy herself with something  and then go to bed late. However  she would dream about it again and again. A wedding, many guests, the dancing  bride and the bridegroom and the death of the bride. However hard she tried she  still was not able to make out their faces.
she would  even  take some tranquilizers  before going to bed, but they didn't help.
Perhaps she needed   a higher dosage. She was afraid to increase it herself, and at the same time she thought it was too trivial to consult about  with the doctor.
“Today is the last day of your freedom. You will be mine tomorrow and we will be together all the time. I look forward to tomorrow.”
“Yes, you are right. Everything will be over  tomorrow.”
“What do you mean,  darling? I don’t understand.”
Suddenly she burst into tears  and told him everything. Nick treated her fears  as a psychologist.
“You are just nervous because of our forthcoming wedding. You want it so much and this explains your nervous dreams. Everything will be okay, believe me. You will laugh at those dreams tomorrow I am sure.”
Ellen called Lora to ask her  to come to her place. She wanted to ask her for  some advice concerning  her wedding dress. Something was wrong with it as she thought.
“I don’t  see what’s wrong with it. All  tucks are in the right place. I think everything is okay.”
“I  was sure something is wrong with it.  I thought it doesn’t look well.”
“I think it’s fine. Look at me.”

She held the dress to herself to show it better.
“You see? It’s fine.”
“Yes, I think it’s all right,  thanks you have  calmed me down.”
“You know, I am going to  get married  too. I have met Den.  Our affair started suddenly. In a few days we are going to have a wedding.”
“Why didn’t you tell me  about it?”
“You’ve been absorbed with the  wedding plans  and   the general  things that you  had no time for me. I will introduce him to you  at  your wedding.  it’s  a pity that you can’t   be my bridesmaid you are going to leave immediately after your wedding. I will have to think about  whom to choose for  my  bridesmaid. I wanted you so much to be one.”
“Is it possible to be each other’s bridesmaids I never heard about it.”
“I haven’t heard that either.  I just wanted you to be my bridesmaid and no one else. All right, I will choose somebody eventually.”
She was  waiting for the last night  before her  wedding with terror.  She wasn’t able to sleep .She was trembling all the time and drenched in a cold sweat.  When one pill   didn’t help  she took   another one.  Then,  she stretched her hand mechanically for  the other pill.
Some time later she began to fall asleep eventually.
“I am sorry there is nothing  I can do. She died  a few hours ago.’’
Lora was shocked by her friend’s sudden death.
They had agreed that on her wedding day Lora would come early in the morning . When Lora came to her place  she kept knocking at her door in vain. She decided to summon a doctor and call the police. She would never think of what had been  awaiting for her here in Ellen’s house.
“She took all the pills from the box. Look, doctor there is only one pill left.”
Lora told a detective  about  Ellen’s  haunting  dreams . She was sure that those damn dreams led  her to suicide. Nick shared her opinion.  He  blamed himself for not paying  serious attention to Ellen’s state. Who would ever think that it would come to such an end.
Some time later Lora was celebrating her wedding. Of course it wasn’t celebrated as pompously as she wanted it to,  but still they had a lot of guests.
Lora was looking fantastic and she was shining with happiness.  Den was never tired of looking at her.
“I will drink to you, honey,” she said to Den. He embraced Lora and they whirled dancing.
Apparently the champagne got into the larynx instead of the throat. She began to cough but it didn’t help. Den swayed and swayed her in the dance. He thought that the joy and  the dance took her breath away, but Lora wasn’t able to breathe  and she fainted.
“ Lora are you okay? What’s  wrong?”
He stopped to move suddenly trying to take the beautiful  wedding veil with a  scarlet rose from her face. One could hardly make out any features of  Lora’s livid blue face. That’s why Ellen was not able to recognize her in her dreams. As for Den, they didn’t know each other at all.