FicWad

A/N: Sorry for the mistakes. I hope you'll this short, short story. :)


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Castles in the Air


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A little town deep in the mountains lived undisturbed for years and years. Legends say that maybe this town existed without changes for over hundred of years. At least the residents of the nearby villages would tell anyone the same thing. Some people would say this town is only a legend or hard to find in the mountains.

That was far from the truth, but in certain aspects it is exactly how they live. The town never changes, not even the weather. The town functions as precise as a Swiss clock. They rise at the same hour. They have the same breakfast, dinner and supper. They work on the same thing day after day. The same repetitive chores govern its inhabitants. Even the social events are scheduled and prepared the same way year after year.

As any other place in the world, they have their unique characters. The major, who oversees everything and keeps everyone and everything in order, and the local police who are in charge of keeping the law. It is their job, but the interesting part is in this town the major's word is the law.

They have their local church and pastor. Everybody goes to the same church. Nobody dares to stray away from it. Nobody dares to believe anything different from what the pastor says. Of course there are other professions. They have one baker, one teacher, one bar owner, one owner of a grocery store, one doctor, one lawyer, one judge, and one of everything. The beauty queen, the Scrooge, the jester, the bully, the loony, the drunk, and the weak were part of the picture too.

Everyone has their assigned occupations. Everybody seems content and 'happy' with order. No one strays away; no one asks anything, they only do what they are supposed to do. This town is not static in time that disappears into the fog. It is always there. The habitants knows how to survive day after day. It is easy to do because everything is carefully planned and diligently done every day.

Any outsider can compare their existence to an ant colony. They are like a well-grease engine, each part working perfectly in sync. It sounds boring and you're right. It is boring.

At least one little boy thinks so...

He since his birth has been different. How do we know this? It's simple he came to this world on a different day. Maybe you are asking what I'm talking about. I have already explained that everything is planned in this town. So yes... Even the births are part of the big plan. The boy has his own mind and he decides when he wants to see the sunlight for the first time. Because of this he becomes the disgrace of his family. He is the black sheep in a herd full of white. He never understood why everybody treats him like a disease.

This boy grows fighting and questioning everything that he sees, hears or reads. He spends his time alone and that makes him very alert and perceptive. He even counts the time everyone spends doing their chores. It is his favorite game. He is the only inhabitant that strays far away.

We can say he is the explorer that never existed in this town. We can say the town needs him even though no one there will agree with us.

This boy is the only one who dares to dream of a different world. He is the only one who discovers how to be free. Early too early some people say, he discovers he could be free if he let his mind wander without limitations. He dreams of a different life, with new people and new adventures.

So he always creates his adventures and those adventures take him to wander into the forest surrounding the little town. Oh! He really feels freedom every time he walks into the forest. He forgets about everything and everyone.

One day, and some story tellers says it is the fates doings, or probably it is a simple coincidence, the boy meets his first stranger. This stranger confirms the boy's theory. There is another world out there. The man helps the boy to imagine this world with his travelling tales. This man like the boy never liked restrictions and he never stayed for too long at the same place.

The man continues his travel too soon for the boy and for the first time the boy feels utterly alone. So he begins to dream of his own travels. He begins to plan his quests. This sounds like something natural for him to do and we will agree with him, but to his family he just became stranger.

They boy dreams of flying free like the swallows. For him, the sky is infinite, and he thrives to be there, totally free. Eventually everyone sees the change in him and slowly they call him the town's idiot because it is impossible to fly like the swallows. Everyone talks with him, trying to convince him of his craziness. His family shows him what real sanity is. Of course it is according to their standards. They talk to him and teach him the importance of rules and order, but the boy continues to challenge everything and his dreams soon enough were bigger than him.

Soon the boy creates and dreams of castles in the air with fabulous windows surrounded by cotton clouds. His castles are full of light, color and magic. These castles, no one can reach them using what they call sanity. In his dream world exists the Dwarf, Master of Things. And this dwarf has everything to do with what his family never gives to him; Love. For the boy everything is possible. That much is his desire to be free. Only his mind feeds his hope.

The townspeople raise the alarm because they can't understand the boy. So you see it is impossible to be happy doing what the boy does. The boy must be crazy. The major creates new rules against the boy's dreams, but if you ask me what I think well... I believe the town is afraid. The town is afraid of the boy's happiness. Some of the residents, especially the major, believe the boy's happiness can spread like a disease. For them it's impossible to live like the boy. To live immersed in the craziness.

So the boy is imprisoned and judged for his dreams. His craziness is his condemnation. The judge rules against the boy. The boy is supposed to live like everyone else. So because of his castles in the air with fabulous windows surrounded by cotton, full of light, color and magic and we can't forget the Dwarf Master of Things related to love the boy is stripped from what the townspeople believe is freedom.

What we, the boy, the swallows and the Dwarf of Things know and it is obvious that the townspeople can't figure out is, that the boy was really free because he has imagination. He is the only one capable to create worlds.

So you see the boy keeps his freedom because his mind was flying up in the sky with swallows and from time to time the Dwarf of Things answers some of his questions.

I agree with you if you think this is a tragic story, but to whom is it tragic; The boy or the town? The town is too afraid of change, too afraid to discover the treasure that lives between them. The residents of this unique town lost the opportunity to learn new things. They lost the opportunity to discover the true meaning of the word freedom.

If you wonder what happened to the boy? Let's just say that he is still dreaming.

The boy has never stopped his voyages. The boy continues creating worlds and believing in magic.

The boy only wants from us to believe in him. He wants from us to believe like he does that it is possible to fly high in the sky and dream with Castles in the Air.

Maybe someday we will meet the Dwarf Master of Things and we can ask him... Well anything.

So I want to ask you who are you? The swallows flying up in the air, the stranger who travels around the world, the Dwarf Master of Things, the town or are you the boy?

Let me ask you before you answer my question. What is craziness? What is sanity? Who is in charge to define what means each word? Think about it before you give me your answer.

And maybe you don't care or you don't want to know but just in case... I know who I am. I'm like the boy forever constructing Castles in the Air.


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A/N: Well this was inspired by a song called Castillos en el Aire composed by Alberto Cortez. Yes it is in Spanish and the singer is Alberto Cortez too. Those who understand Spanish can look the song up in www(.)youtube(.)com. You only have to write the title Castillos en el Aire and Alberto Cortez. You'll find several videos of the song.

For those who can't understand the language I suggest to look it up anyway. The voice and the music are absolutely stunning.

Thank you so much to hopelessdream2005 and Bookerz for all your help. :)