“I don’t remember anything, except that I slept terribly badly. By morning I’m sweating through my blanket”.
“I was afraid of that” Pete sat down next to the bed. “Giovanni, while I’m telling Lucy everything, copy the notes from today quickly so her mum doesn’t get suspicious!”
Pete also made Lucy promise not to say a word about Manono to anyone, and then told her everything he knew.
“There’s one thing I’m not getting” said Lucy, “why is the dream thief taking our dreams? What’s in it for him?”
“Until yesterday, all I knew about him was that he had been banished from the island a long time ago for stealing dreams. Islanders say he did it because he drew energy from the dreams. You see, the dream thief has no dreams of his own! But on the island, they never talked about him again; they always said that even mentioning him gives him new energy. So, for years no one had even thought of his existence, until yesterday, when the plant’s dream image filtering equipment broke down”.” ““Well, that’s great. I’ve had trouble sleeping before, and now I’ll be afraid to sleep, too. Thanks, guys”.
“Come on, Lucy,”.said Giovanni, who had finished copying the notes in the meantime. – “We only wanted to save you… And the others, because this morning Julie and George didn’t come to school either, and three others were so unwell that they went home after second period. So, you actually do owe us a big thank you”.
“Don’t fight now, please! Lucy, I promise I will try to find a solution. And meanwhile, my dad is working at the plant to erase the virus. Everything will be fine; I just don’t know how yet. You rest now, and we’ll come see you again tomorrow”.
Giovanni accompanied Pete to the boat; as they walked, they thought about a solution.
“You said this someone is stealing dreams because he doesn’t have any of his own, right?” Giovanni asked.
“That’s right”.
“Well, then it’s simple: give him his own dreams, and then he’ll stop!”
“How did this not occur to anyone before? You’re a genius, Giovanni!” In one leap, Pete was in the boat and paddling home at the speed of sound.” ““Well, that’s great. I’ve had trouble sleeping before, and now I’ll be afraid to sleep, too. Thanks, guys”.
“Come on, Lucy,”.said Giovanni, who had finished copying the notes in the meantime. – “We only wanted to save you… And the others, because this morning Julie and George didn’t come to school either, and three others were so unwell that they went home after second period. So, you actually do owe us a big thank you”.
“Don’t fight now, please! Lucy, I promise I will try to find a solution. And meanwhile, my dad is working at the plant to erase the virus. Everything will be fine; I just don’t know how yet. You rest now, and we’ll come see you again tomorrow”.
Giovanni accompanied Pete to the boat; as they walked, they thought about a solution.
“You said this someone is stealing dreams because he doesn’t have any of his own, right?” Giovanni asked.
“That’s right”.
“Well, then it’s simple: give him his own dreams, and then he’ll stop!”
“How did this not occur to anyone before? You’re a genius, Giovanni!” In one leap, Pete was in the boat and paddling home at the speed of sound.” ““Then why don’t you say the mission is impossible?”
“Because it’s actually not completely impossible. It has happened in history before that some people didn’t have dreams, and then they started having them”.
“But how?”
“He who cannot laugh has no dreams. When you learn to laugh, you will have dreams. That’s how it works, son”.
“So, the dream thief can’t laugh?”
“I never saw him even smile when he lived here with us”.
“And tell me, shaman, how can you find the dream thief?”
“Think for a moment. What does the dream thief want?”
“Dreams”.
“And when will he appear somewhere?”
“When he steals a dream”.
“There you go. You are quite smart there!”
Pete ran to the dream shield factory in a frantic rush to catch his father. He was lucky, because he came out of the gate just as Pete arrived.
“I did not find the virus. It’s something new, and it’s so cleverly coded that it’s impossible to catch. Moreover, it has already spread to the calmness generator. If children start to act out and become uncontrollable during the day, it will be because of this. I have no idea what to do”.” “The next morning, no one was waiting for Pete at the harbour. He ran to school as if his life depended on it. When he got there, it was as if his worst nightmare had come true: in the beautiful schoolyard full of trees, a large group of children were running amok, trampling the flowers and breaking the branches of the trees. Giovanni was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s getting out of control! But the worst thing will be if the dream thief starts stealing my dreams, because then I will get ill, and there would be nothing I can do! I need to find him!”
Pete knew that he couldn’t go to Lucy’s now, because her mother wouldn’t let him in, it was school time, and she would get suspicious. So, he headed for Giovanni’s house. It was as he suspected: Giovanni was lying in bed, down with something.
“He attacked you too! This is terrible! Moreover, these are only the first symptoms: soon you will be raging and shouting like the others, and then I won’t be able to help you. The virus has attacked the calmness generator, and the dream thief is having a field day with us!”
“I have an idea” Giovanni moaned softly. “Tonight, I’ll pretend to be asleep, and then maybe we’ll catch him”.
“And I already know what we have to do to make him stop the stealing spree!”