It had been a month since school ended. I still haven't figured out anything about what I want to be in the future, but that doesn't matter.
During this month, Gray managed to get me to write more stories for its bedtime. My teacher and Hannah kept visiting me to read more of my stories, and I was happy to have more readers.
For some reason, Hannah started to seem happier. I wonder why? But I'm just glad she is fine and she still smiles brightly.
The day I put the final point of one of my stories, a knock on the wooden door of the cottage made me snap. My mother went to see who was it and my eyes widened when I saw Hannah. She seemed out of breath as she was bending down and panting heavily, her face covered with sweat.
" Our teacher... Wants you... To come to her house... Immediately..." She said through her panting.
We waited till she could catch her breath before walking together to the teacher's house.
" Why would she ask for me?" I exclaimed, doubting that she would give me homework after school had ended.
My question was pushed away when my eyes met with Hannah's wide smile before she knocked on the door.
She definitely knows why I'm called but keeps quiet on purpose.
A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing the wide warm smile of our teacher who had welcomed us and told us to get inside. Walking to her living room, I saw a man with black hair, green eyes that were hiding behind a blue frame of glasses and a satisfied smile on the face. It seemed he was pleased with the thing that he was reading in his hand, which I recognized to be... My notebook!
My face flashed red and worse than that is that the man raised his head just at that moment. He had a smile when he saw me and he took off his glasses before asking. " Is this him, Yushi?"
Our teacher walked to me from behind and placed both her hands on my shoulders. " That's right, this is him, Yume."
" Even your name is special. Say, Yume, do you recognize this?" He said holding up the notebook.
" My... My... Story..." I answered, my face still a bit red.
" I was surprised to know that a young boy had written this magnificent piece of art. It's crude, yeah, but breathtaking. Say, do you love writing?"
I snapped. " Yeah, somehow."
The man's smirk seemed to grow wider by the instant. " Yume, do you want to be a writer?"
I snapped again. That was a strange question that came all of a sudden. As if feeling my confusion, our teacher turned to me. " This man is Yukihide, my fiance. He read your story and he said that he found it astounding. He wants to offer you a chance to study literature at the university where he works."
" It's a shame for a gift like yours to be hidden and to not get polished," Yukihide said.
I kept playing with my hands, feeling nervous and confused at the same time. That was all so sudden to me. Yukihide seemed to notice that and so he got up and walked to his bag. He searched for something for a couple of seconds before walking to me with a small snippet of paper. " This is a one-way ticket to the city where I work, same day as when I leave. It either you go with me, Yume, or you stay here."
He placed the ticket in my pocket and we left the house. Hannah turned to me then. " Don't lose this chance, Yume. You should go with him."
" But, I never thought of that before! I'm only writing because I like it!" I was still confused. Hannah gave me a pat on the shoulder and a small smile. " Then that's enough reason, Yume."...
***
I sat to my table with the ticket in front of me. " What should I do?" On one hand, that was my only chance to get out of the village. My parents can't afford enough money for me to travel and study, while Yukihide said he would be taking care of me. And on another, I still don't think that I want to be a writer.
I looked at Gray who kept looking at me. " What should I do, Gray?"
The furry ball hopped from my hand and to one of the drawers again, when I opened the drawer, I saw the many stories I wrote for it. Gray stood on top of the pile and stared at me with those large black beady eyes. " I think I understand what you want to say, Gray."...
***
A week later, I was standing with Hannah at the train station. Yukihide went to my parents to talk with them and assure them that he would be taking good care of me.
" So you finally decided to go," Hannah stated and a small smile formed on my lips. " Yeah, but that's only because I think that this way, I will be on the start line to find out what I want to be, as long as I follow my heart," I said looking at the Dream box in my hand.
Hannah had a small smile at that before that she looked down. " I think, I should go forward too and follow my heart." She raised her face and her smile grew wider. " I will be straight with my father about how I feel and what I really want."
That was a little bit surprising. But nevertheless, I smiled at her. " I'm sure he will understand."
Yukihide walked to me and we got onto the train, I opened the window and looked at Hannah who was standing there with my parents and my teacher and waving at me, I waved at them as the train started to move. It kept waving until our small village became nothing but a small dot on the horizon. I then shifted my look towards the huge city we were heading to...