Once upon a time, there was a boy. He brought a smile to the face of everyone who met him. He never had to talk, just the happiness that shone in his eyes was enough. He had a dream one night, and he loved it. He loved it so much, he decided to never let go of it, and chase it down even if it took him all day. As the days passed, it didn’t seem any closer, but he still battled on. He had many dreams after that one. Some came true, some didn’t but he never felt so much restlessness for the other dreams, as he felt for that one.

One day, his parents told him, “If you love someone, let them go. If they were meant for you, they will return, otherwise, they were never yours in the first place.”

He thought on it. Maybe it was a person they were talking of. Not his dream. But his parents had told him it was meant for life in general. And his parents were wise. Shouldn’t he listen to them? Yes, he decided. And let go of the dream. Let it slip through his fingers, even though his heart told, “Hold on. Don’t let go. Your hands are just about to grip it.” He decided, it wasn’t worth dreaming. He took a dream his parents always talked of, and chased that. But his heart wasn’t with him a 100 percent. A few years into his journey, his old dream resurfaced. And he was so happy, he held on to it without a second thought.

So much love involved, isn’t it? The boy loved his dream, and chased it. The boy loved his parents, and loved them so much, he chose their dream ahead of his own, and then when the old dream he loved returned, he loved that even more too. So often, we think that a dream is but a dream. We see it one night, and it loses meaning once we awaken. But it isn’t so. It lasts a long time, and we dream it because our heart loves it and decides to show it as a right path to us.

But what’s the path for the boy now? Should he chase his dream, or the one his parents had seen for him? What if his parents continue to see their dream, and not his? Is it love that makes them push their dreams into his, even when he puts his dream to the front, now that he knows its return means it was his from the moment he saw it?