Well, I had quite a lot of dreams, some came to reality and I do remember having experienced it before, that was in my dreams. But this particular one is one of many I can't forget. That dream was different, in that dream, I was standing at some road intersection that leads to a lot of places, including my home, it was daytime, cars horned, people shout, children playing, bike men throwing insult at taxi drivers and all. I was just there, just then, I spotted a boy, couldn't have been more than twelve, he was hawking gala and soft drinks from a dirty, broken tray. His eyes look sad, he seems to small for what he's going through, I moved near to ask what's wrong, but suddenly I melt away, and I was somewhere else.
I was now in my childhood home, I was there, sitting on the bare floor, together with my siblings, arguing over some late night snacks, my mother was in the kitchen telling us to lower our voices as it is way too loud and that its late in the night already. We were just having fun and cared less. Suddenly, the door burst open, and three men stormed in, they were all masked with guns. They yelled at us to lie flat. I couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe, couldn't even make any sound, was just laying there shaking and also urinating on my self. One of them had gone to bring my mother from the kitchen, they were demanding money, phones and every valuables. My father wasn’t home, we weren't asleep yet because he was on his way from his regular long trips.
The smallest of the robbers, he was also shaking as he pointed a gun my sister's head, and at that moment my heart beat faster. The leader shouted on him to focus. My mother, through shaky breaths, promised them all the money and valuables she had. As I lay there scared, I could see the boy galncing sideways, and when I eventually tried to see what he was glancing at, it was the family framed picture on the wall. I felt he was human and was just a product of circumstance, even with the way he was standing and holding the gun in his hand, he removed his mask to wipe/cleam his sweat drenched face and then I saw him, it was the boy hawking gala. I dont know what happened, or how it happened, but somehow they just left suddenly with little stuffs they could grab along.
There and then, the dream finished, I woke up gasping and drenched in sweat. It took a while for my brain to remember I was safe. I shook off the fear, prayed and convinced myself it was just another nightmare. Dreams aren’t real, I thought. But three days later, reality sets in.
I was just walking down the street, I wanted to go get some groceries when I saw him, the boy from the dream, same face, same haunted/sad eyes. But this time, he wasn't selling gala, he was begging for alms at that same intersection. I don't know how I so recognized him, but I was just so sure, I approached him, dropped some paper note In his alm bowl and then sat right next to him. I greeted and asked for his name, without looking up, he responded, David, wow he's my namesake.
I sat there beside him, ignoring the curious glances from passersby. We talked, though he wasn't so free with me. I shared some of my struggles and stories with him and with that, he also start opening up, he told me about his mum, who passed away last year and his dad that he never knew. He was just here, doing whatever he could do just to survive.
I found myself promising to help, even though I had little to give. I got him food, and asked about where he's staying, he describe the place for me and it wasn't so much of a suitable place for him, there was nothing I could do about that, at least for now. I started visiting to give him some things like cloth, food and all, and the more we talked, the more I saw that he wasn’t just some street kid, he was just a lost soul, one caught in a storm too big for him to fight alone.
After few weeks, we've discussed about it already, so I took him to a vocational training centre. He enrolled and that was it, as I was leaving he held my hand and looked me in the eye, something he has never done, he didn't utter a word, he just stared, and that spoke volume, I could read his mind and all what his silence was saying.
That night, I realized I didn't just save David, I saved that part of me that always want to be rich and all before giving hope and being kind, I could start with the little I have. I could at least do something. No matter how much I am able to later acquire, I can't fix everything, I can't save every lost soul on the streets, but I could start with one. Dreams often reminds us of what matters, what can be done, of things that are unfolding right before us of which it's future may not be good if we choose to ignore. Who knows if he might become what I saw in my dream or worse later in future if I choose to ignore him, and maybe it is me or a close family that he will come for.
As I drifted off to sleep that night, I prayed, I knew I couldn’t change the world, but I could change one life and that was enough.