All children dream. They see their dreams mostly in their sleep, sometimes while awake, and at the most unexpected times.
“What on earth happened to this child? Reading books has turned him into a shut-in! He is sleepwalking in broad daylight!”
“Don’t mind him, my dear. It is normal for children to dream. After all, they have to dream first so they can chase those dreams later.”
“Alright, understood. You are going to neglect both us and your meals for a while. Just make sure to return to our world every now and then, alright?”
“Sure, Mom, don’t worry about me! By reading, I travel through worlds filled with many interesting events. Sometimes I find myself right inside those worlds.”
Similar conversations had happened before, and it seemed they would be repeated in the future as well…
xxxxx
I was sitting with the emperor. He was wearing a purple cape—because only emperors were allowed to wear the color purple.
I was curious about the blue and green chariot races.
Yes, now it was their turn. Reminiscent of ancient Hittite war chariots, these single-horse, single-driver chariots had fans that seemed to divide the stadium in two. The cheerleaders had already begun to energize the spectators who were waving blue or green handkerchiefs in the stadium. The blue and green chariots slowly began to move into their positions.
The emperor stood up. It was as if half of the stadium was painted blue and the other half green. Which color would the emperor choose? Everyone waited with bated breath.
The emperor held a blue silk scarf in one hand and a green one in the other. Yes… The color of the scarf in his raised hand was blue. As the commander swung his sword downward, the wheels of the side-by-side blue and green racing chariots surged forward at the crack of the whips, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them.
When both chariots completed the first lap, they stopped at the point marked as the start and finish line, located directly in front of the imperial box. The green chariot turned around, completely reversing its direction. On the second lap, the chariots would move in opposite directions to each other and, after completing a full lap, would face off in front of the imperial box, trying to topple the other chariot using iron spears extending from the center of their wheels. The spectators wanted their supported chariot to win, expressing this by waving their handkerchiefs and shouting, “BLUE!” or “GREEN!”
By now, the blue and green chariots had reached the final quarter-mile of the stadium. In a few minutes, a massive collision would occur in front of the imperial box, revealing who would win—blue or green.
The sounds produced by the horses and wheels created a fast-paced, magical musical effect in the ears. With a loud CLANG, the collision of the chariots—using the iron spear spurs fitted to the centers of their wheels—echoed across every corner of the stadium. Just a few seconds after the moment of impact, the overturned and shattered blue chariot, along with its horse, was seen veering off the track and being hurled toward the inner part of the stadium. The driver of the green chariot pulled hard on his horse’s reins and turned his chariot around.
The driver of the green chariot arrived before the imperial box. The emperor stood up and raised the green silk scarf into the air above his head. Despite initially favoring the blue racing chariot, the emperor’s acceptance of the winning green chariot’s success thrilled the entire stadium. GREEN, GREEN, GREEN…
The driver of the green racing chariot, alongside the commander, leaped up the steps toward the imperial box. The emperor handed the green silk scarf he was holding, along with a purple pouch filled with gold, to the soldier driver. Bowing as he accepted the items, the soldier suddenly turned his emerald-green eyes toward me. Only the two of us were experiencing that moment. Everyone else besides us was frozen in time. Two large wings appeared on the back of the winning soldier. “If you want, I can make you fly just like in your dreams. I can turn the emperor’s purple cape into a flying carpet, and I will fly beside you. What do you say?” I couldn’t believe my eyes or what I was experiencing in my imagination. “Alright, sure!” I said in an excited voice. The winged soldier skillfully removed the cape from the emperor’s neck. He spread it on the ground and said to me, “Come on, step onto it. Look, we are going to take a lovely trip now!”
I stepped onto the purple cape and sat down. As soon as the winged soldier grabbed one end of the cape, we took off into the air together with him. The purple cape had turned into a flying purple carpet. I was living out a fairytale and a dream. “Now let’s go to my horse so I can ride him. He is a flying horse too, don’t worry!” he said. Together with the flying purple carpet, we flew to his horse inside the stadium. I could fly. I had a flying purple carpet!
Our lap above the stadium passed by at the speed of the green chariot during the race. We flew over to the emperor. I asked the winged soldier: “What is your name?” His reply was, “My name has become the PRINCE OF DREAMS.”
“The Prince of Dreams? So, where do you come from?”
“I am the Prince of Dreams, but the place I come from is the dream world of children. As long as they dream, I exist. Your dreams were also very strong and vivid.”
“Thank you very much, Prince of Dreams. Will you continue to be the prince of my dreams from now on?”
“That depends on you. But if you ask me, you might not always need the Prince of Dreams to make your dreams come true.”
“That’s fine, you made one of my dreams come true. The rest is up to me, isn’t it?”
The winged soldier looked at me as if saying goodbye. He blinked his deep green eyes and, with a swift movement, placed the purple cape back onto the emperor’s neck.
Suddenly, I opened my eyes… My mother was wiping my burning, feverish forehead with a wet green towel. “My son, I wetted this green towel to bring your fever down. Look, your father bought you a purple shirt. You can wear it when you get better.”
I was smiling as I closed my eyes…