The Lost Dreamer🔊

Once upon a time, in a small, peaceful town namedIngleside, there lived a young dreamer named Ethan. Ethan was unlike the other children his age. While they played or fought, laughed or cried, Ethan dreamt. He dreamt of colossal dragons breathing fire. He dreamt of mighty sailors battling raging storms. He dreamt of princesses trapped in high towers and knights braving dangers to rescue them.

Ethan's dreams had a peculiar quality. Some mornings, he would wake up with an inexplicable knowledge. Once, after dreaming of a baker toiling away in a kitchen, Ethan could make the fluffiest bread in Ingleside. Another time, after a dream about a blacksmith, Ethan crafted a delicate pendant with his father's rusty tools.

Inzel, Ethan's best friend, was the only one who shared his gift with the villagers, the cobbler whose shoe mending technique Ethan had dreamt of, the farmer who stopped losing livestock when Ethan dreamt of another's shepherd's methods. For everyone else in Ingleside, Ethan was a mystery; a challenge too peculiar to accept but too unique to reject.

One night, Ethan had an unsettling dream. He dreamt of the sun disappearing, dragging Ingleside into an eternal darkness. He saw people disappearing, homes left empty, and fields dying out. This dream wasn't like the others. Not only was it dark, but Ethan also didn't wake up with any new skill or knowledge. His mother, Helna, noticed his worrying face at breakfast.

'Ethan, you look troubled. Did you have a bad dream, dear?,' Helna asked.

Ethan laid out his troubling vision, expressing his fear of a potential catastrophe. Helna, who had always listened to his whimsical stories and nurtured his unique gift, looked troubled.

'Oh, my dear boy,' she said, 'you cannot carry this burden alone. We must consult the village elders.'

The village elders, aware but dismissive of Ethan’s unusual ability, were unperturbed. They suggested that Ethan might have eaten something ill-suited to his stomach, causing such a dream. But day after day, Ethan dreamt the same dream– the sun disappearing, people vanishing, Ingleside dying. His fear grew stronger as the dream didn't evolve into a new skill or knowledge as others normally do. Ethan knew that something terrible was imminent.

Taking the matter into his own young hands, Ethan decided to find the meaning of his troubling dream. He remembered a tale of a wise old sage, living deep in the woodlands. It was said, this sage could decipher the most obscure symbols, dreams being his speciality.

Taking Inzel along, Ethan undertook a courageous journey through the dense woodland. They faced perilous beasts and confusing trails but the underlying threat to Ingleside kept them rallying. After days of travel, they finally reached the lair of the wise old sage.

The sage was a peculiar man. He was very old, almost as if he lived through centuries. His eyes glimmered with knowledge, hands were etched with lines of wisdom. After hearing Ethan's tale and his extraordinary gift, the sage went into a deep contemplation.

'Your dream is not a bad omen, child,' the sage finally said, 'It's a message from the universe. The sun disappearing signifies an end to your childhood, people disappearing represents the change people fear, and the dying fields reflect the stagnation that dreads the villagers from venturing out of their safety net. You must make your people embrace changes, usher them towards evolution, even if it is intimidating initially.'

Through his journey back, Ethan pondered over the sage's words. He realised the purpose of his unusual gift – To change, inspire, and evolve. On his return, Ethan shared his wisdom. People were reluctant, but Ethan's authenticity and commitment slowly warmed them up to the prospect of stepping out from their comfort zone.

Ethan started with simple changes - venturing into unknown crafts, adopting new farming techniques, integrating with distant communities. Slowly but surely, Ingleside began evolving and expanding. People accepted changes, learnt new skills, built relationships, all under Ethan's watchful and encouraging guidance.

Years later, a grown-up Ethan lay on the same old bed in his tiny room, reminiscing the journey he undertook, the evolution he championed in his beloved Ingleside. He bore the weight of his peculiar gift and used it to benefit his people. Under the vast starry sky, he dreamt of new adventures as the dreamer's legacy lived on.

All that makes Ethan, a hero- a dreamer who not only dared to dream but to question, who arranges the world according to his dream, and not the other way around, blending his story into the dream that is a life- a life-led for oneself and lived for others.