The heavy rain pounding on the window early in the morning suddenly woke him up from his dream. Oliver shivered, pulled his blanket over him to keep warm and fell back into his own world. There, he knew nothing bad could happen to him. There, he was safe from all the dangers of the real world, the “outside world” as he liked to call it. Stepping away from reality, he built himself a new life, with friends and a complete family. He started crafting his own world at the age of ten, after a terrible tragedy occurred to his family. Since, he has never spoke a word again to anyone except in his dreams, where he knows everything and everyone, being his mind’s creations.

However, a few months ago, something went wrong. Someone he didn’t know entered into his perfect world and started setting in as his own hometown. Furious, Oliver went to talk to him, but didn’t find the courage to tell him off: the man stood by the cliff, his eyes fixated towards the horizon, he seemed to be crying. But why? Oliver created this world to stay happy after his mother’s death, to forget about his dad beating him up every single day – making sure to never hit his face, being exposed to everyone’s eyes – and shouting, not half drunk and desperate: “This is all your fault!”

It was only a few years later that his dad was finally arrested after severely burning Oliver on his back with a burning pan. He had never experienced such pain and betrayal before. The man he trusted more than anyone to comfort him after his loss hit him, burnt him, leaving permanent marks on his previously pure skin. Oliver’s body suffered many years the anger of his grieving dad. The poor boy felt more lonely than ever after this. His friends tended to avoid him, thinking he might want some space for himself after his mother’s death. But Oliver wanted nor needed no space: he needed company more than ever, but this his few friends never knew... And they never came back to him. Then they entered middle school and went their separate ways.

One day, his Physical Education teacher saw the burn by accident and asked him what had happened. Then Oliver reported his dad. He was too scared to do so earlier, afraid of what his dad could do to him if he knew Oliver had given him away. They contacted the police, went to the Court and the forty-years-old man was finally thrown in jail for the rest of his life. Oliver then became an orphan and was placed in orphanage, where he is still waiting to be adopted by any kind-hearted parents. It is in this orphanage that he had a lucid dream for the first time. This was such a nice feeling, to know you’re in a dream and create everything you mind imagines, to be in total control of what happens, like he was writing the scenario of a story in which he was the main character, and imagining tons of interesting characters...

Then why was this man there too?