Dream

We all have visions. Visions to be great, to do something in life. Visions to create something or invent something. Visions to be on top of the world, to be the next superhero!

We all want to be someone, and do something. And that is why we dream.

Kara was lying down on the roof, staring at the starry sky. She wished she could sleep on the roof.. it was so comfortable. But her mother wouldn't allow that. She glanced at her watch and sighed. It was almost midnight and she had to get up early tomorrow. Kara climbed off the roof and managed to enter the house without tripping on her shoe laces.

She changed into her night gown, switched off the lamplight, jumped onto her bed and snuggled into the blanket. She lay there for quite some time, but she couldn't force herself to sleep. Her eyelids were drooping, she was yawning excessively, yet she couldn't sleep.

She began counting sheep, but that didn't help. She wondered if it was too late to continue reading the last book of Harry Potter, but she couldn't get herself to get out of bed. She decided on thinking about her life - from the start till that day.

Kara pulled her earliest memories and relived each one of them, reminiscing and remembering. She began telling herself a story. A story about herself.

The clock ticked by and it was half past three, Kara was still awake. She was halfway done with her story, and wanted to keep going. She went on about how they adopted Mickey - their dog, how she had performed in a concert, how nervous she was before tests. She told her story till it struck her.

She knew what to do.

For the next two years, she worked hard. She didn't tell anyone what she planned to do. She didn't boast about her breakthrough. She simply worked.

Every day after school and homework, she would type away on her laptop. Birds flew away at the sound of her ferocious typing. She walked out of school with bundles of papers and books, her hair all messy. She spent hours in the library, walking out carrying more books than she could hold.

She stayed up late sometimes, jotting down sentences on pieces of spare paper. She decorated her soft board with wool and strings and paper and photographs, all pinned up haphazardly. She woke up early some mornings to read through papers and make corrections. She would frown at words, and scratch them out. She would read sentences aloud, then shake her head and make some changes.

When offered a meal, she ate hastily, then rushed back to her room to write some more. Sometimes, during lunch, she would get an idea and write it down on her hand, ignoring the ink stains. She would write on tissue paper in the car, not caring for her untidy handwriting.

Kara tried to hide it, but she was wild and free. Her heart leapt at every sentence she wrote, her mind soared above the clouds, among her dreams.

And then the day came. After two years of hard work, the day had come, and Kara embraced the day. Her work was done. The book had been published. She had given birth to a story, not unlike her own: "The Journey". She was now at peace.

She had chased her fingers and mind to write and ignore her bleeding fingers. She had not given up. And now she saw her dream. She saw what she didn't see two years ago, on that sleepless night. She saw what it was to see a dream.

And she kept on experiencing sleeplessness, she knew it would never get away. After the first dream, we begin to see others. We begin to see more. We begin to want more. And that is how it all fits in.

Sixty years later, Kara opened her first book and started reading the book to her grandchildren.

"We all have visions..."

Written by Maitree Mody

You can check out more of my articles at https://milomi.home.blog/