The Dream Merchant

Cress smiled as she slept, enthralled by her dream. It was one of her favorites. She was riding her pony, Windstruck, and they were exploring the woods just across the river from her home. They came across a beautiful little cottage, all covered with engraved wooden panels, each depicting one of the fairy stories her mom liked to read to her. The scent of a freshly baked pie wafted through the air. As she approached the house, she saw the pie cooling in the window and heard her grandmother singing from inside.

“Nana?” she called out.

There was no reply. So she ran to the front door, pulled the latch, and pushed for it to open. But the door refused to move. She pushed harder, but it still would not open.

“Nana, it’s me, Cress! The door is stuck. Please open it.”

Nana just kept singing. Cress couldn’t get in.

Deciding to wait, she sat on the small bench made just for her. It was even adorned with tiny Crescent moons. Because she was named after the thumbnail moon that shone brightly on the night she was born.

When she heard a bird start singing beside her, she turned, and was delighted to see Nana’s clothesline covered with little iridescent blue birds, all singing Nana’s same merry melody.

That was when Cress woke up. It was early morning and those same blue birds were outside her own window, singing just as merrily.

Suddenly, in a panic, she grasped her neck. Was it there? Had she forgotten it? Much to her relief, she felt the delicate little chain of her dream locket. She held it up in the early morning sunlight streaming through her window. She admired how the light reflected off the many facets of the heart-shaped crystal and the delicate golden fingers that held the heart in its setting.

Momma called up from the kitchen. “Cress, if you’re awake, come down and help with breakfast.”

“Yes, Momma. I’ll be right down.”

Cress put on her pink overalls and a white shirt with red poke-a-dots. She adored her overalls, which had a ring of embroidered red hearts around the waist.

Cress came running down the stairs and gave her momma a hug.

“Good morning sweetie, did you have good dreams?” Her momma asked.

“Yes, it was the one where I rode my pony to Nana’s cottage. She had just baked a pie, and the birds were singing.”

Cress’ mom closed her eyes and smiled at her own memory of that dream, but then was suddenly agitated and asked, “You remembered to wear your dream locket, didn’t you?” Her mom looked worried as she waited for Cress to answer.

“Yes, mom. I remembered.”

“Oh, good.” Her mother’s smile returned, and a look of relief poured over her.

“You know, today is the day the dream merchant comes. We need to have your locket all ready for him.”

“Yes momma, it’s ready.”

“Momma, do you ever sell your dreams to the merchant?”

“That’s a silly question. You know I’m too old I almost never dream.”

“But you’re not old, momma.”

“That’s sweet of you to say, darling, but I’m nearly twenty summers old. I stopped dreaming many summers ago.”

Cress hesitated a minute, worried that a question might make her mom sad, but she really wanted to know. So she asked anyway, “Momma, where does the dream merchant go after he buys our dreams?”

Her momma looked worried. “He takes them to other people who like nice dreams and they make things nice for us.”

She had heard that before, but that wasn’t a good enough explanation. Cress was almost nine, and she wasn’t satisfied with such a childish explanation.

“I know he brings us nice things for the other people, but where? Is his house past the river and the mill?”

“Yes, he lives over there beyond the mill,” her mom said.

Momma looked anxious whenever she talked about the dream merchant. So, she decided not to ask any more about it.

“Let’s hurry and eat. The sun will make the rainbow soon and it will be time to sell your new dreams and then you can go play afterwards.”

After eating, Cress hurried with her chores and feeding her animals. That’s when she got her idea. It was a naughty idea, but it would be exciting. Momma always said it was okay to do exciting things, since excitement gave you better dreams. She thought about asking her best friend Jill to come along on her adventure, but Jill’s mom has been sad a lot lately. Maybe she shouldn’t ask her to go in case she got in trouble.

If she could get away with it, she would have an adventure to make her dreams more exciting and find out where the dream man really goes. She was just about finished with her chores when the rainbow started.

It was nothing like the rainbows depicted in the stories. The rainbow in Cress’ world began at the top of the sky and edged down toward the horizon until there was color everywhere. It was like living in a snow globe. Today’s rainbow sky began very purple with blue swirls.

It was almost a full rainbow when they left to go meet the dream buyer at the depot. The depot was a little covered plaza where everyone gathered and the children would trade in their dream lockets for new ones and get toys and food and other prizes. She hoped today he would have ice cream with sprinkles. That was her favorite.

“What’s the matter, Jill?” Cress asked.

“Nothing. My momma told me not to talk about it.” Jill said without looking at her.

Cress took her friend’s hand in hers and held it. Jill’s grip tightened, and she gave Cress a desperate look. Something was horribly wrong.

Everyone yelled in delight as the dream merchant’s wagon approached from the direction of the mill. The wagon was festooned with brightly colored flags, and music poured out of every opening as the horse drew it down the road.

When it arrived at the depot, the children crowded around, eager to see what treats the Dreamman had brought them today.

The Dreamman wore an enormous hat covered in multicolored feathers. He had long white hair and a beard. His mustache was long and curled at the ends. As he spoke, he would frequently twist the ends.

Today Cress wasn’t looking at all the bright colors and pageantry. She moved around the back of the wagon and looked underneath, hoping for a good place to hide.

“Welcome, good people! Children bring up your dream lockets!” The Dreamman shouted in a pleasant voice.

Each of the children took turns presenting him with their lockets. He gave them each a new one and then placed them in separate small boxes. Everyone waited for the small green lights to appear on each box. When that happened, he’d hand them a huge ice cream cone and give the moms a large basket of food and treats. There was usually only one light, but sometimes there were two or even three.

Cress’ turn came, and the Dreamman placed her locket in the box, which lit up with three bright green bars. The Dreamman became overjoyed and extolled Cress’ mother in front of everyone. Then he presented her with two enormous baskets brimming with all manner of goodies! The entire group was ecstatic and began congratulating Cress and her mother.

Jill had remained silent, not wanting to be seen. But once everyone had their turn. The Dreamman called out to her.

“Come closer,” Jill. “Why are you hesitating?” He enquired.

Jill approached, head down, trying not to meet his gaze. She hesitantly offered her locket. When he inserted it into the box, a red light flashed.

“Oh, I see,” the Dreamman said, trying hard to smile. He turned to the others and said, “Everyone, please give Jill and her mom a big hand. Today is Jill’s big graduation day!”

The crowd responded with an unenthusiastic spattering of applause. “Everyone, help them into the wagon! It’s time for Jill and her mom to move to the exciting big city!”

Cress hugged Jill. Her eyes were welling up with tears. Jill’s mother was pale.

Jill and her mother were assisted into the wagon. Nobody said anything, and they avoided looking at them. The mothers were all preoccupied with their children. Cress took advantage of the commotion by slipping beneath the wagon and pulling herself up onto a board that braced the cart walls from beneath.

The wagon turned around and headed back up the hill toward the mill. Cress could hear Jill and her mother sobbing in the wagon above her. When another gruff voice said, “Shut up and stop crying until we get far enough away. Then you can blubber all you want.”

It took a moment, but Cress realized the voice was that of the Dreamman. No longer trying to sound pleasant.

“Why did you have to tell her the truth? You know, once they know, kids can’t dream anymore.”

“I couldn’t stop myself! She kept asking, and she wasn’t buying the lies any longer!” Jill’s mother said.

“Well, now you’ll be on the outside with the rest of us poor souls eking out a living. You have only yourself to blame. Say a last farewell to the dream zone bubble.”

As the wagon approached the old mill, Cress peered through a crack in the boards. She could see the rainbow wall go right through the old building.

She could hear hungry wolves howling in the distance now that they had passed the safety barrier.

“Can we cut the wolf sound effect? That drives me nuts.” The Dreamman shouted to someone unseen.

The howling came to an abrupt halt. A big black opening appeared over the mill and the wagon went inside. Cress was hit by a nauseating stench and foul air as soon as they passed through it.

She heard some other men approaching. When she saw them, she almost gasped. Their faces were ugly and pockmarked. One of them was limping.

“How d’you do, Tooley? Get any good ones today?” One man asked.

“You won’t believe it!” the Dreamman said. “I got this one kid who’s given three bar dreams twice in a row! If that keeps up, we’re all gonna be rich, I tell yah. When the masters get a load of this three bar Grandma’s house bit, they will upgrade our dome to level five!”

“Which reminds me, what’s up with the purple sky?” The Dreamman asked. “Can’t you keep that generator running right?”

“Can’t help it, Tooley. Power shortage. They cut our allotment again.”

“Well, if we get a hole in the dome and these kids get poisoned, you can say goodbye to our meal ticket. Take these two women to the education center. This one dried up. We might still get some good money for them on the used market.”

The men took Jill and her mom away and left the wagon and horse alone in the big, dark room. Cress finally gathered her courage and walked to the door that led outside.

She flung open the door and saw the real world for the first time. It was bleak, littered with garbage and rubble, covered with dust. Dirty, hollow-looking people wandered the empty spaces between the rubble that used to be buildings. She walked for a short distance before turning around. A massive purple energy dome stuttered and spat as a large humming generator struggled to keep polluted air out and fresh air in. Just then someone tapped her on the shoulder. She screamed and turned, only to see the Dream merchant had come up behind her.

He looked disappointed and said, “Oh my little one, what have you done? What have you done? There goes my fortune…”