THE KEEPER OF MY DREAMS

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The old man would sit by the sea all day, not eating or drinking much except for the loaf of bread with a bottle of water at noon. He would dress like a gentleman and stare at the sea for hours and hours. Few people would come to him and say a few words. The same people every time. He would ask them certain questions, and then they would leave. These people sometimes would laugh; sometimes cry; sometimes smile; and sometimes, left with no countenance.

The shopkeepers from a distant would assume whatever they liked. There were a lot of conjectures among the daily visitors of the sea. Some would greet him with a suspicious smile, while a few would stare at him from the corner of their eyes while pretending with some of their workout moves.

A teenager was a regular runner. Her mother accompanied her always, who was one among the few visitors mentioned above. She would smile wearily at the old man if their eyes would meet while she tried to sneak it, but unfortunately could not. The daughter, otherwise would greet him with a wide grin. The mother would push her away if she sometimes made the gesture to talk to the septuagenarian. She was so curious about him. He had a diary where he would write endlessly once his guests would leave. The guests would pay him a meagre amount of money, or sometimes with the loaf of bread. She wanted to know if he was a future predictor, or a therapist from some unknown hidden long lost medical practice, or a psychiatrist treating the unknown mental diseases, a lawyer, or maybe a writer who would write for people. She would gaze at him from a distance. The old man would see this and smile by himself.

The mother was missing today. The girl did not run but waited till the guest had gone. ‘Who are you? What do you do?’ She sat beside him.

He smiled, ‘You want to know? I can tell you, but only in the condition that you would be my guest after this. Do you agree?’

She was confounded but her curiosity had overpowered her mental dilemmas and accepted the condition.

He spoke, ‘These guests come and share with me their dreams. When they are happy, they would laugh a lot. And cry when the dream had been extremely bad for them. And, when it is neutral, they would just smile and go away. I write their dreams and analyze them. A few past dreams also play a role in the present, so I study them too, again and again. The next time they visit me, I would explain my interpretations. They believe in dreams and that dreams do speak about our present and future life.’ He paused, ‘I am a dream keeper. So, now when you have a meaningful dream, you will need to share it with me, of course, with a loaf of bread. A promise which you have already made to me.’ The man smiled and left for today while the girl sat there with introspection.


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