A Misplaced Dream

This story was written in answer to The Word of the Day Challenge. The word I had to use was ‘Dream’

Dream means: A series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. It also means a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.

My dream was the second one …

A Misplaced Dream

One day when I was eleven, I met an inquisitive girl called Holly. No, she wasn’t real, she came to me for a short story. I don’t know where she went after that for a while. I wasn’t telling stories but reading them by the hundred as I became a chef. Whilst working at a hotel, my head chef brought me the key. A short story competition in the papers – it was like destiny.

Immediately intrigued I went home and told a mystery story. When I began, Holly wasn’t there. I didn’t know it then but I was telling the story of her detective grandfather and mother as well. Somewhere near the tales end, she came to visit. Her icy blue eyes shining with excitement, her sharp mind ready to work. She became my special sleuth Holly by the end of the week.

We toiled and worked and her tales began to grow. I wasn’t writing them for any purpose. I was just delighting in the adventures Holly and I shared. They helped me through tough times at home and every second we spent together was magical.

“These are fantastic stories. Holly is simply wonderful! You should publish them,” my dad said when Holly’s tales had grown above ten.

So, did a few others and that was where my dream began. I saw Holly’s series on the bookshelves all in a nice neat line. The covers would create an image of her restaurant and her great team. I dreamed of book signings, maybe a TV Series or two. I was such a fool.

I might as well have dreamed of being a medieval knight winning his princess or Flying to Mars in a superpowered spacecraft – Just like those, my dream could never come true.

For as hard as I strived, I was walking into a horror show. Through failure, after failure, the truth continued to dawn. People like me don’t get books on shelves, only the rich and famous and publisher’s friends get that honour.

I learned dreaming is dangerous, a bad thing in reality. Dreams never come true and trying to attain them only makes a laughing stock of you.

The lesson is this – they say if you do not dream, there’s no way to make one come true. Truth is, dreams are lies – fantasy and fallacy. They belong on the cant-do list. Forget them, don’t dream, focus on the can-do list and do only what you can.

As for sleuth Holly, well she doesn’t speak to me anymore. I failed her too often you see. I still have her twenty tales, I will always treasure them. But you see, cruel world, you scorned Holly and I and now you’ll probably never read them.

On the upside we still get to share a few short stories – so there’s that.

– Dreams and Wishes don’t come true. They’re created by demons to destroy you –

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As a result of the above events, I’m only now back to enjoying writing stories. Thanks for reading this and my other short stories, my friends. As always there are more stories to be enjoyed (I hope) in the Short Stories tab.

Have a great day!