Lucian-Viorel Hîrșan-Magdun is participating in the International Literary Creation Competition, 7th Edition, from Târgu Mureș, Romania and is 26 years old. We thank him for his participation and wish him success.

Find Me in The Dream

Long ago I had a dream. Nonsensical in nature, unaware of dreaming. I cannot recall what the dream was about, only how it ended. The whimsy of the dream had ground to a halt. I stood before a set of stairs. I could not see where these stairs would end, and as I began climbing, something emerged. In an emerald light that shone from above came a jade crane. It flapped its wings three times before speaking. “Find me in the dream,” it said, and then I awoke. It’s been some years since I last thought of that dream. That I still remember it so vividly is surprising. And still, I can’t make any more sense of it now than I could then.

I wander through a house, not small, but not large either. Its corridors bathe in the warm colors of the setting sun. Adorning its walls are a slew of pictures depicting pleasant moments of a familial life. I pass door after door, opening each one but briefly. One leads to a bedroom with pink walls, another to a dressing room filled with coats, large and small, and another to a dusty office. I give each of them a careful look before continuing. I march on, now in front of a final door. Opening it reveals the master bedroom, with its large bed in the middle, flanked by nightstands on both sides. Something draws my attention and pulls me inside. Resting atop the bed was a green feather beside a drawing. Upon the paper, among violet fingerprints, a map was sketched.

Outside, the view before me is painted in green grass. Here and there, different trees dot the field. Some walnuts, some oaks, and a single mulberry. Through the grass, two black dogs frolic, while a third gray one lies in the fading sunlight. Map and feather in hand, I begin walking. I step off the patio into the grass. I pass the joyful dogs, giving each a brief pet. I continue towards my destination. As I approach the large mulberry, I come upon a red blanket set under its shadow. Paper, brushes, and paint scattered upon it. I stop to look around and notice more of the colorful feathers.

Then, from behind the tree I hear: “Daddy! You found me!”

And I am instantly caught in a hug.

“I did, didn’t I?”