In a hidden and uncrowded part of an ancient city, surrounded by tall buildings and narrow streets, there was a library that contained important literary works, as well as other books with texts that held secrets waiting to be revealed. Very few inhabitants of this metropolis went there to read its rich literature, and instead the vast majority preferred to make use of technology. The place had long corridors, made up of the numerous wooden shelves used to park the books displayed there. The oldest and least read books were relegated to the back, where dust often covered them.
There, among those dusty shelves, a middle-aged researcher named Thomás, a fan of paranormal activities, spent many hours reading and reviewing the oldest texts, trying to locate some revealing writing that explained the meaning of dreams and contained the key to make them come true.
Thomás, was a solitary man, with many grey hairs, wore thick-rimmed glasses, and with a great obsession for exploring old books and testing the theories he found there, which made him the most habitual person in that library.
This man had read a great deal of texts and writings on the subject, but he had never found anything that would satisfy his thirst for answers. He wanted so much to find the real meaning of dreams, and their significance for the real world, that these efforts, which had always been in vain, had given rise to this obsession from which he could not escape.
One such day, like any other ordinary day in the life of the usual Thomas, while browsing in a section of the library that he had never looked at before, he came across an untitled book, with a worn black leather cover, placed among others of very different builds and contours, which made it stand out from the others, looking quite out of place. This strongly attracted the attention of the obsessed reader, and feeling very intrigued, he took it off the shelf and opened it. As soon as he began to leaf through it, he noticed something very strange and surprising: the texts contained in the book were handwritten, but what impressed him most was that the handwriting was completely identical to his own.
The first lines he read from the manuscript contained the following warning: "There are secrets, which are best kept hidden". Those words didn't faze Thomas's curiosity, and the further he read, the more he felt as if he were talking to himself. The pages of that manuscript were full of stories that recounted the dreams of some people and how these, when altered, had given rise to a series of misfortunes that changed their destiny in a 180-degree turn.
Thomás, the deeper he read, felt a strange connection with the text, as if everything written there was related to him, felt a strange connection with that text, as if everything written there was related to him, although none of those experiences were located in his memories. In spite of all these presentiments, he continued reading. His scepticism was so great that neither the book's warnings, nor the other lines that he then explored, could prepare him for the surprising moment he was approaching line by line.
Soon, he came to a paragraph where he read about an ancient ritual, after which it was possible to enter into dreams to change them or make them come true, at least that is what the writer of the manuscript believed. The description and the words of the ritual were very well detailed. Thomás was moved, his breathing slowed down and his heart accelerated, he could not believe it, he thought "Aha! at last I found what I was looking for".
Such was the feeling of victory that Thomas did not hesitate for a moment to recite the ritual. As soon as he uttered the last syllable, everything around him was dulled by a bright light that forced him to close his eyes. When his eyes opened again, he found himself in another place, one where few things made sense, the laws of physics seemed to be non-existent, time suddenly varied, and logic was the opposite of what he knew. He found himself in someone else's dream. When he finally understood what had happened, he was so excited that he did not hesitate to explore and interact, changing and removing elements, to force decisions that would change the outcome of that dream.
Thomas, after becoming comfortable with what he saw, would switch from one dream to another in the blink of an eye, like someone opening a door to another room. With this new superpower, I enter the dreams of friends, neighbours, and strangers. He looked into each of them, their wishes, desires and fears, changing in each of them, the things he felt needed to be replaced or deleted to improve the outcome. After he had wandered from place to place and felt tired, he returned to the real world. He did not know how he did it, but he wanted to see the results of what he thought he had done well; however, he soon realised that something strange was happening. The altered and enhanced dreams had a very different impact on reality.
Thomas noticed very different and unsubtle changes to those he had realised. One friend, who dreamed of promotion in his job, was suddenly fired. Another acquaintance, who longed for a better car, was soon involved in a road accident with his old car. The balance between the dream world and the real world seemed to be in jeopardy and he felt guilty. He soon decided that he had to do something about it, and he looked for that manuscript again, hoping to read something there that would turn the whole mess around. He read and read on, until he could read no more, when suddenly....
-Thomas, wake up man, it's closing time! - The librarian's voice brought him out of the trance, and out of the dream in which he was immersed.
Thomas woke up lost and confused. Open in front of him was that untitled, handwritten book with its worn black leather cover. It took him a few moments to realise that nothing he had seen or done was real... at least that's what he told himself at the time.
-Come on, my friend, they're waiting for me at home! -exclaimed the Librarian, to hurry Thomas to leave the place.
-It's all right, it's all right. I'm going, but you know I'll be back. -answered Thomas.
-Of course you will, my friend, you know you are always welcome, but today's day is over. -said the Librarian.
-I know, my friend, of course I know. - replied Thomas, as he walked towards the exit and waved goodbye to the Librarian.
Thomas left the library that day, he couldn't tell if it had all been part of his imagination while he was asleep. He knew he would soon find out, but for now he just needed to rest... His head was flooded with a flood of doubts and thoughts. He left doubting what was real and what wasn't, not knowing if he was in someone else's dream or in his own dream.
Illustrative image generated with Bing.com
Original story written in Spanish and translated for The Ink Well, with DeepL.com (Free version).
Click here to read in Spanish
En un lugar escondido y poco concurrido de una antigua ciudad, rodeado por altos edificios y estrechas calles, existía una biblioteca que contenía en su haber importantes obras literarias, y también otros libros con textos que guardaban secretos esperando para ser revelados. Muy pocos habitantes de esa metropolis, acudían a ella para leer su rica literatura, y en su lugar la gran mayoría prefería hacer uso de la tecnología. Aquel lugar contaba con largos pasillos, conformados por las numerosas estanterías de madera utilizadas para aparcar los libros que allí se exhibían. Los más antiguos y menos leídos quedaban relegados al fondo, donde muchas veces el polvo solía cubrirlos.
Allí entre esas polvorientas estanterías, un investigador de mediana edad, llamado Thomás, fanático de las actividades paranormales, pasaba muchas horas leyendo y revisando los textos mas longevos, tratando de localizar algun escrito revelador, que explicara el significado de los sueños y contuvieran la clave para hacerlos realidad.
Thomás, era un hombre solitario, con muchas canas en su cabello, usaba gafas de montura gruesa, y con una gran obsesión por explorar libros antiguos y poner a prueba las teorías que allí encontraba, lo que lo convertía en la persona más habitual de aquella biblioteca.
Este hombre, había leído una gran extensión de textos y escritos en relación al tema, pero nunca había encontrado algo que dejará su sed de respuestas totalmente satisfecha. Deseaba tanto encontrar el auténtico significado de los sueños, y su significado para el mundo real, que esos esfuerzos, que siempre habían resultado en vano, habían dado origen a esa obsesión de la que no podía escapar.
Un día de esos, como cualquier otro día normal en la vida del habitual Thomás, mientras indagaba en una sección de la biblioteca que nunca antes había revisado, se encontró con un libro sin título, con cubierta de cuero negro desgastado, ubicado entre otros de contexturas y contornos muy distintos, que lo hacían distinguirse de los demás, observándose muy fuera de lugar. Aquello atrajo fuertemente la atención del obsesionado lector, y sientiendose muy intrigado, lo saco del estante y lo abrió. Apenas empezó a hojearlo, notó algo muy extraño y sorpresivo, los textos que ese libro contenían estaban escritos a mano, pero lo que más impresión le causó fue que esa letra era completamente idéntica a la suya.
Las primeras líneas que leyó de aquel manuscrito, contenían las siguiente advertencia: «Hay secretos, que es mejor que siempre permanezcan ocultos». Aquellas palabras no inmutaron la curiosidad de Thomás, prosiguiendo con la lectura y mientras más avanzaba, más sentía como si hablara consigo mismo. Las páginas de aquel manuscrito, estaban llenas de historias que relataban los sueños de algunas personas y como estos al ser alterados, habían dado lugar a una serie de infortunios que cambiaban el destino de estos, en un giro de 180 grados.
Thomás, mientras más profundizada en la lectura,
sentía una extraña conexión con aquel texto, como si todo lo allí escrito, guardará relación con él, aunque nada de esas vivencias se encontraban localizadas en sus memorias. A pesar de todos esos presentimientos el continuó leyendo. Su escepticismo era tan grande, que ni las advertencias del libro, ni las otras líneas que luego fue explorando, pudieron prepararlo para ese momento sorpresivo al que línea por línea estaba acercándose.
Pronto, llegó a un párrafo donde leyó acerca de un ritual antiguo, tras el cual existía la posibilidad de adentrarse en los sueños para cambiarlos o hacerlos realidad, al menos eso creía quien escribió las hojas de aquel manuscrito. La descripción y las palabras de aquel ritual, estaban muy bien detalladas. Thomás se emocionó, su respiración se ralentizó y su corazón se aceleró, no podía creerlo, pensó «¡Aja! al fin encontré lo que estaba buscando».
Fue tanta aquella sensación de victoria, que Thomás no dudó ni un instante en recitar aquel ritual. Apenas pronunció la última sílaba, todo a su alrededor fue opacado por una luz brillante que le obligó a cerrar los ojos. Cuando sus ojos se volvieron a abrir, se encontró en otro lugar, uno dónde pocas cosas tenían sentido, las leyes de la física parecían no existir, el tiempo variaba repentinamente, y la lógica era todo lo contrario a lo que él conocía. Se halló en el sueño de alguien más. Cuando finalmente comprendió lo que había ocurrido, fue tanto el entusiasmo que no dudó en explorar e interactuar, cambiando y quitando elementos, para forzar decisiones que cambiarán los resultados de aquel sueño.
Thomás, después de sentirse a gusto con lo que veía, cambiaba de un sueño a otro, en un abrir y cerrar de ojos, como quien abre una puerta para pasar a otra habitación. Con este nuevo superpoder, entro a los sueños de amigos, vecinos, y tambien extraños. Miro en cada uno de ellos sus deseos, anhelos y temores, cambiando en cada uno de ellos, las cosas que consideraba que debía ser sustituidas o borradas para mejorar el desenlace. Después que anduvo de un lugar a otro y se sintió cansado, volvió al mundo real. No supo cómo lo hizo, pero deseaba ver las resultas de aquello que creía haber hecho bien; sin embargo, no tardó en percatarse de que algo extraño estaba sucediendo. Los sueños alterados y mejorados, tenían un impacto muy diferente en la realidad.
Thomás notó cambios muy distintos y pocos sutiles a los que el había realizado. Un amigo, que soñaba con ascender de puesto en su trabajo, repentinamente fue despedido. Otro conocido, que anhelaba un mejor auto, pronto se vió involucrado en un accidente vial con su viejo carro. El equilibrio entre ese mundo de los sueños y el verdadero, pareció estar en peligro y el se sintió culpable. Pronto decidió que debía hacer algo para solucionarlo, y busco nuevamente aquel manuscrito, esperando leer algo allí que diera vueltas a todo ese enredo. Leyó y siguió leyendo, hasta que no pudo más, cuando de pronto…
—¡Thomás! ¡Despierta hombre, ya es hora de cerrar! — La voz del bibliotecario lo saco del trance, y de aquel sueño en el que se encontraba sumergido.
Thomás despertó perdido y confundido. Abierto frente a el se encontraba, aquel libro manuscrito sin título, y cubierta de cuero negro desgastado. Tardó unos instantes en comprender que nada de lo que había hecho y visto era real… al menos eso se dijo así mismo en ese momento.
—¡Vamos amigo, en casa me esperan! —exclamó el Bibliotecario, para apurar a Thomás a qué se retira del lugar.
—Esta bien, está bien. Ya me voy, pero sabes que volveré. —contestó Thomás.
—Claro que si amigo mío, sabes que siempre eres bienvenido, pero ya acabó la jornada de hoy. —dijó el Bibliotecario.
—Lo sé amigo, claro que lo sé. — contestó Thomás, mientras caminaba en dirección a la salida y hacia una señal de mano al Bibliotecario para despedirse.
Thomás se marchó ese día de la biblioteca, no podía distinguir si todo aquello había sido parte de su imaginación mientras estuvo dormido. Sabía que pronto iba a averiguarlo, pero por ahora solo necesitaba descansar… Su cabeza estaba inundada por un caudal de dudas y pensamientos. Se fue dudando sobre que era real y que no, no sabía si estaba en el sueño de alguien más o en su propio sueño.
Thank you @theinkwell
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STOPFascinating :) I wonder if the book was still there the next day?!?!
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That one was left there as part of the suspense at the end.... I initially thought of an ending where Thomas will take the book, but then I thought this ending added more to the story. Thanks for the support. Much appreciated
It is a very suspenseful and well written story. The world of dreams is very complex and I was intrigued with the ending.
Regards @wlin
Thank you popurri. You are very kind. I'm really pleased to know that I've improved a lot with TheInkWell's advice catalogues. I also learn a lot from the publications I read in this Community. There are many authors who you can tell put heart into their writing.
Wow.
The suspense in your story is top-notch.
Nice writing 👏
Thank you my friend. It's great to know that story turned out that way.... I myself was surprised with the outcome of the story. I think it has served me well to join this TheInkWell community. And there are so many posts and tips that I have yet to read.
One thing I love about human imagination is that we can live several lives almost at once. The fun part comes when we don't know which is which.
Of course it is... Nice to greet you.