The Light of your Dreams

This is my WATW story for this month. The picture I'm writing about, down here, can be shown in greater detail if you click it.

The door creaked open.

Seven year old boy Jacob stepped in the attic. It was dark and dusty, full of cobwebs and spiders. No one came here in a long while. No one wanted to. Things too valuable to be thrown out and yet too useless to be set downstairs were put here, where they lay forgotten.

Yet Jacob loved this place.

He feels the magic that surrounds the place, all the memories he had since he was a baby. It consoled him to be in this place ever since his father disappeared. They used to spend nights here, where they talked and laughed about everything.

He came here when he felt lonely, when there was no one there for him. This place always has been here.

Efforts of trying to rid this place of dust have been long gone, but Jacob didn’t mind. He cleared a space for himself and sat down, watching the spiders climb around. He smiled. This is where he belonged.

He did not know when he had gotten up again, but when he did, there was light shining through something covered with cloth. Thinking that his mother might be behind it and looking for him with a flashlight, he crawled over and took the cloth off.

He did not expect such a sight. It was not his mother, but however a painting that glowed off from another place… another world. He blinked. This was something that only happened in fairy tales. Apparently, it’s true.

He crawled closer and tentatively put his hand on the surface. To his astonishment, however, his hand went right through. Voices whispered to him. But he was not afraid. He knew what to do.

He took a ball of string and wrapped one end to a post, another to his body. He took the not-so-sharp sword his father made for him, grabbed a backpack full of food and water, and dived right into the picture.

He glanced backwards. There was his attic all right, and his string was still there. It’s like Alice in Wonderland. More like Jacob in Wonderland. Anyway, better get going.

He walked and walked, trying to reach the city with the mountains. He thought of his mom, who may be worried sick when he came back. He thought of his dad, encouraging him to move on. That motivated him.

Soon he reached the city. It seemed to be carved out of diamonds itself. It seemed majestic with its towering buildings and graceful arches. It was paradise, Jacob thought.

He did not know how right he was. It was paradise. The heavens opened the gates for him when he reached it, and he looked around wondrously. He wanted to get his mom here. He wanted to live here, and have a happily ever after.

Unexpectedly, he was pulled into a hug. Startled, he turned around… only to have his father’s smiling face looking at him.

“I’m so proud of you, son… you reached here…”

“I missed you so, father…”

Jacob’s father took him to where he lived. Outside there were smiling children playing happily and asking if Jacob could join them. Jacob’s father politely refused and stated that he may be able to next time.

When he was inside, Jacob was struck with how similar the house is to the one he just came from. His father noted this and nodded.

“Your mom may find her own way here, Jacob. You can’t go back. It’s paradise. I thought we could, but I was wrong.”

Jacob ignored that. “I will lead her here,” he said tenaciously, “I will show her the way to the attic and to this.”

Jacob’s father shook his head sadly. “She won’t see the light from the picture. It is not her time.”

“Does that mean… I’m dead? And I have to wait for my mother to come here? She’ll think I’ve disappeared like you?”

Jacob’s father tried to choose his words carefully. But none came out.

Jacob stood up. “There’s no way I’m leaving her, dad. I will come back here, somehow.”

His dad smiled at him. “You aren’t the first to say that, and won’t be the last. Everyone said that, and still they can’t go.”

Jacob was still determined. “I will go; I will get back. Nothing can stop me.”

His father sighed. “I’ve raised a boy to become so determined. You’re like your mother. All right, give it a try.”

Jacob’s face split into a smile. “I will be back, dad. I promise.”

With that he departed. He found his ways through the streets. The gates can’t open for him because it can’t let anyone out. But he was small enough to wedge through a hole and set off on his way.

He went back on the path and walked on and on, but he never found the portrait. It was at the end of the path that he stopped. What did his dad say to him so long ago?

You may not see your dreams, because they’re so small they’re nothing more than a tiny speck of dust. But it is so powerful it can create a new universe. Like God created the point that caused the Big Bang. Don’t worry; destiny is a string that will lead you there as long as you walk.

He stopped. His dream was to find his mother and take her here. It was so small. Destiny is a string that will lead you there.

The yarn.

He looked for it on his body, and it sure was there. It was just… small and almost invisible. It was the string of destiny.

He followed it and found where it was. The portrait was there all right, just so small. He stretched it until it was big enough to climb through.

He stumbled back into his attic, and he imagined his dad’s smile. He did not take the yarn off the portrait for fear that he might not be able to enter the place again. It turned out his mom just got home and was calling for him.

He woke up. The painting didn’t glow and it was still covered with cloth, and the ball of yarn was just where it was. It had all been a dream. But it didn’t matter, because it was a great dream. Now he had two choices- to go to sleep again and continue the dream, or to get up and chase it.

He got up.

*****

That's it... 1,077! May the Force be with you!