The City of Dreams🔊

A vast metropolitan sprawled under the azure sky, filled with buildings that stretched upwards in a contest to touch the heavens. However, in this giant city, there was a tiny, forgotten corner - Old Town. Filled with narrow lanes, mosaic walls, and the aroma of the past, Old Town was home to a myriad of closely knit folks. Among these residents lived a peculiar character named Albert.

Albert was an old hunched man who had a hobby quite rarely seen - he collected dreamcatchers. His small house was overwhelmed with them, hanging from the ceiling, adorning the walls. Nobody knew why he collected them or where they came from, and his only response to the constant questions was a vague smile and a gruff, 'Dreams are magical, kid.'

So, while the rest of the city was submerged in the chaos of technology, Albert seemed to live in his own world surrounded by dreamcatchers.

One sunny morning, a young boy named Eliot moved to Old Town with his family. Being a city boy, everything about Old Town excited Eliot, especially Albert's dreamcatcher infested abode. Intrigued by the old man and his unusual hobby, Eliot decided to befriend him.

Eliot spent most of his afternoons at Albert’s house, fascinated by the webbed designs, feathers, beads, and the stories each dreamcatcher held. He noticed that whenever a new dreamcatcher appeared, Albert seemed happier, more alive.

Curiosity finally got the better of Eliot, and he asked Albert about the source of his dreamcatchers. Albert looked at him, fondly saying, 'I make them, Eliot. Each dreamcatcher is a dream that I have lived or wish to live. It's an art to catch your dreams and preserve them for eternity, you know.'

The concept intrigued Eliot, and he requested Albert to teach him. The old man agreed and started teaching him patiently how to intertwine threads, attach feathers, and tell a story through each dreamcatcher.

Eliot was a fast learner and soon started creating dreamcatchers of his own - a bicycle ride in twilight, acing in school, a vacation in Paris. He had indeed found a way to catch his dreams, just like Albert.

Months turned into years, Eliot grew up, and Old Town remained the same. Albert's physical health declined, but his dreams remained vivacious, captured in the beautiful dreamcatchers. A day came when Albert was bedridden, too weak to continue with his dream-sculpting.

One night, Eliot found Albert's frail body lying peacefully, staring at the dreamcatchers hanging around him—his dreams, his world. He had left the world behind, but not before catching all his dreams.

In honor of Albert's legacy, Eliot decided to open a dreamcatcher shop in the heart of the city, where, along with selling dreamcatchers, he also taught the lost art of 'dream catching' to those willing to learn. And thus, even in the city's chaos, people found a quiet nook where they could catch and weave dreams into reality.

The tradition continued, from Eliot to his successors, the dreamcatcher legacy stayed alive, the city that revolved around concrete realities became a sanctuary of dream catchers, and in doing so, it transformed into a city of dreams. Albert's tiny world of dreams bloomed into a legacy that shaded a whole city.

So it is said, dreams are magical, and as Albert once stated, 'It's an art to catch your dreams and preserve them for eternity.'