Maria stepped forward to put her hand on his shoulder. "This is a dream of something that really happened, isn't it? Leading to something terrible."

Otherwise, why would be be trying so hard to beat up a child? In a dream? It made no logical sense unless stopping the dream before it reached that part was terribly important.

"Will stopping it really matter?"

She meant that question. It was only a dream; it couldn't change reality. But maybe it did matter a great deal even given that fact.