ECHO OF THE VOID : THE AWAKENED
Chapter 5: The Child of Dreams
The search took three days.
Aris organized teams of dreamers, sending them into the wilderness, into the mountains, into the forests. They searched every cave, every valley, every riverbank. They questioned every survivor, every sleeper, every stranger.
The boy was nowhere to be found.
It was as if he had vanished. As if he had never existed. As if he had been a dream within a dream.
But Aris knew he was real.
She had felt his hand in hers. She had seen his tears. She had heard his voice.
He was out there.
And he was alone.
On the fourth day, Sera found him.
She was walking through the forest, following a stream that led to the mountains. The water was clear, the air was cool, the birds were singing.
And then she saw him.
The boy was sitting on a rock, his bare feet in the water, his dark eyes fixed on the sky. He was wearing the same white tunic, the same simple clothes. His dark hair was tangled, his dark skin was smudged with dirt.
He looked up when she approached.
“Hello, Sera,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You know my name.”
“I know everyone’s name. I’ve been dreaming of you for a very long time.”
Sera knelt beside him.
“Why did you run?”
The boy was silent for a long moment.
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of the people. Of the world. Of the dreams.”
“The dreams are beautiful.”
“Sometimes. But sometimes they’re nightmares. And I can’t control them.”
“Can anyone?”
The boy looked at her.
His dark eyes were wet.
“I don’t know. That’s what scares me.”
Sera brought him back to the city.
The people gathered in the streets, staring at the boy, whispering among themselves. They had heard the stories. They knew who he was. The First Dreamer. The Child of Dreams. The one who had been sleeping for billions of years.
He did not flinch.
He did not hide.
He walked with his head high, his shoulders back, his eyes forward.
Aris met him at the gate.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello, Aris.”
“I’m sorry you were alone.”
“I’m not alone anymore.”
“No. You’re not.”
They took him to the garden.
The lilies were blooming, white and gold, their petals soft, their scent sweet. The sun was warm, the sky was blue, the wind was gentle.
The boy sat on the bench.
Aris sat beside him.
“What do you remember?” she asked.
The boy looked at the flowers.
At the light.
At the sky.
“I remember everything,” he said. “The beginning. The end. The space between.”
“What was the beginning?”
The boy was silent for a long moment.
“A thought,” he said. “A single thought. A wish. A hope. Someone wanted the world to exist. And so it did.”
“Who?”
The boy looked at her.
“You,” he said. “You wanted the world to exist. You dreamed it into being.”
“That’s not possible. I wasn’t born yet.”
“Time is not what you think it is. It’s not a line. It’s a circle. Everything that has happened will happen again. Everything that will happen has already happened.”
Aris’s head spun.
“I don’t understand.”
The boy took her hand.
“You don’t have to understand. You just have to accept.”
The days that followed were strange and wonderful and terrifying.
The boy—whose name, he said, was Kai—wandered through the city, exploring, learning, growing. He asked questions about everything. Why the sky was blue. Why the grass was green. Why people cried when they were happy.
The people loved him.
They brought him gifts. Food. Clothes. Toys. They told him stories about Earth, about the Odyssey, about the echo.
He listened.
He learned.
He grew.
And slowly, gradually, he began to dream.
His dreams were unlike anything Aris had ever seen.
They were not nightmares. They were not fears. They were hopes. Wishes. Possibilities.
He dreamed of fields of flowers. Of oceans of light. Of cities in the sky.
He dreamed of a world without hunger. Without fear. Without loneliness.
He dreamed of peace.
And as he dreamed, the world began to change.
The crops grew taller. The rivers ran clearer. The animals grew bolder.
The people felt it.
They were happier. Kinder. More hopeful.
The echo’s shadow was fading.
One night, Aris sat with Kai in the garden.
The stars were bright. The moon was full. The air was warm.
“Are you happy?” she asked.
Kai thought about it.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“Good.”
“Are you?”
Aris looked at the sky.
At the stars.
At the light.
“I’m getting there,” she said.
“What’s missing?”
She was silent for a long moment.
“Nothing. Everything. I don’t know.”
Kai took her hand.
“Then let’s find out together.”