A New Chance

" Gray! What's happening to you!" I exclaimed as I picked the small furry ball of the box. It was so cold and it kept trembling. It can't be that it got sick...

I started walking in circles around my room with the grey furry ball in my hands. Wondering what I should do. I put it near the gaslamp and borrowed my mother's handkerchiefs to keep it warm. But nothing seemed to work.

Of course it won't.Dreams don't get sick like us humans. If something was wrong, it was because of me. I rubbed my head as I sat to the table and nudged Gray with my finger, hoping he would respond, but he only delved deeper under the white and red checkered handkerchief. 

Time ticked by, and the small Dream only seemed to get worse. As I slowly pulled away its covers, it looked up at me with black large eyes, almost sad and rebuking.

Suddenly a very familiar voice echoed through the room, and my face brightened a little at that. I'm sure he can do something about it.

I quickly ran out of the room and dashed through the front door of the house, only to meet the Dreams' old man. I ran in front of him and stopped him in his tracks before catching my breath. " Do you want to buy a Dream, boy?"

" No!" I looked up at him so that he could see my face. " This is me! Yume!"

He seemed to remember me as his eyes widened by a fraction. " Ah! You're the boy that I had given the uncolored Dream."

I nodded before standing up and extending my hands in front of him, showing him the shaking fluffy creature. " Please help me!"

The old man rubbed his beard in thought before looking at me. " It seems you didn't take care of it as you promised. This poor Dream has been neglected."

" That's not true! I was working hard more than ever-"

" For its sake?" I shut my mouth back then. That was right, I didn't care about Gray, but the Dream I will be taking after it. It wasn't for Gray, but for another different Dream, one I didn't even get.

The old man sighed before reaching to my extended hands and picking the shivering grey Dream so gently. " I understand, I will be taking care of it and I will come back when it gets better."

He placed the Dream in his pocket and walked away, repeating his famous call. " Dreams! Dreams! Who wants a Dream!"...

***

Days went by and I didn't see the old man for a while. He didn't pass by for more than two weeks.

Thankfully we had been through exams period so all of my friends' attention was set towards the exams, and they didn't notice that I stopped bringing Gray with me.

We finished our test for that day, handed our papers, and stayed silently waiting for the bell to ring. Instead, there was a knock on the classroom's door and our teacher walked to see who was it. Much to our surprise, the headmaster was standing out. He exchanged some words with the teacher and her face expressed a worried look before she walked to Amy. She whispered something into her ear and the girl next to me immediately stood up and ran out through the door and past the headmaster.

There is no need to tell you that we were all taken aback by that. Amy had always been the cold and calm student, so for her to act like that, that sent alarms into our heads.

The bell rang and we got out. Hannah found me as I was about to walk out the school's door and she approached me. " Do you have any idea of what our teacher told Amy, you were next to her?" She began.

I shook my head and gave her a look meaning that I don't know more than she do. We walked together and I couldn't prevent my eyes from falling on the box she was holding. " You got a new dream?" I asked her.

Hannah lowered her head and had a forced smile on her face. " Yeah, a red one." She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. " And where is Gray?"

Now it was my turn to look down. " I had a small incident with it and the Dreams old man took it," I answered her.

" Seems sad, I hope it will be fine soon." She voiced out before walking to her house's front door. " See you tomorrow, Yume."

She waved at me and went in. I kept looking at the closed door blankly for a couple of minutes before I resumed walking back towards my house...

***

It had been the same routine for the last two weeks, with me leaning on my window's frame and looking at the path that the old man usually came through. I started to get more worried, what had happened to Gray? is it ok? It can't be that it...

" Dreams! Dreams! Who wants a Dream!... Dreams! Dreams! Who wants a Dream!"

I snapped when I heard that voice and quickly ran out of the house in time to come across the old man. " Do you want a Dream, son?" He asked.

" No! It's me, old ma-" I trailed off when I raised my eyes to meet his before I narrowed them. " Yes... I want a grey Dream please..."

The old man reached inside his pocket and his closed hand came out. He opened it slightly, revealing the grey furry ball. " Gray!" My eyes sparkled with joy as I tried to reach for it, but the Dream moved away. I was surprised at that and looked up at the old man, waiting for an explanation.

" Yume, you hurt your own Dream when you forgot about it and turned your attention from it." The old man spoke and I looked down, tears welling in my eyes as I felt shame, I couldn't take good care of Gray after all so I deserved to be scolded.

" I'm really sorry," I told the old man.

" Don't apologize to me, the one who got hurt is this innocent Dream. Now, whether it will go back with you or not. It became this Dream's own choice." The old man explained.

I looked at the fluffy grey ball and sniffed. Wiping my eyes on my sleeve, I spoke out with a soft voice. " I'm really really sorry, Gray. I will take good care of you from now on, I promise. So please forgive me... Please... Give me one last chance to make it up for you."

The cold Dream turned to look at me before hopping from the old man's hand to mine.

" So it chose to give you a second chance. Be nice to it this time. Dreams usually don't give another chance." The old man said as he patted my head before he resumed his walk. " Dreams! Dreams! Who wants a Dream!"...