How Dreams Came to Be

I first wrote this on November 18, 2012. I have published it word for word here, adding line spaces between the paragraphs.

How Dreams Came to Be

George Rao

Joe was the god of the sky, earth, and oceans. He was so powerful and wise, that he could lift tall buildings, jump past vast mountain ranges, and decode complex mathematical equations with ease. Joe was taller than the Statue of Liberty and stronger and faster than a horse. Despite his awesomeness, he could not resist the thing that threatened to remove all joy from the world.

The Evil Spirit was pure evil. It was made up of the souls of wicked wizards and the blood of gambling gangsters. It was made up of Internet viruses and Windows errors. It was made up of the very essence of evil. The Evil Spirit had neither shape nor form, so it could only inhabit the mind of a living being. The person had to have the strength of a tiger and the courage of a lion. Who did? The Evil Spirit chose Joe. It crept into Joe’s mind and gave life while asleep. This new invention was called a “dream”.

Although Joe was the ruler of the sky, earth, and sea, he did not have control over the other elements. Joe desperately longed for more power in the universe. Using this, the Evil Spirit taunted him: “Do you want control over fire and lava? Do you want control over iron and gold? Do you want control over love and marriage? Join me, and we will have power over everything!”

“What’s your problem?” Joe exclaimed. How dare you enter my mind without downloading the you-may-enter-a-god’s-mind iPhone app?” In the dream, Joe walked over to the personification of the Evil Spirit and attempted to smash him to bits. With his first step, the Evil Spirit flew out of the body, and Joe collapsed.

After thinking about it in bed for a few hours, Joe finally decided: “Ok, I will join you.” “Good.” Suddenly, a voice in his head talked. Using the power of Joe’s broken will, the Evil Spirit broke into his mind. Having gained the power of Joe, it was now easy to steal the other gods’ powers. The Evil Spirit channeled this power to cast away happiness from the world. Flowers started wilting. Birds stopped chirping. Even the mighty Sun started to flicker.

At last, the other gods had no choice. They turned their beloved Joe into stone, and trapped the Evil Spirit inside him. In the process, a part of the Evil Spirit escaped, and it still wanders around today, trying to seize power once again in the form of dreams.