Don't Lose Your Dreams (standard:drama, 2924 words)
Author: hvysmker	Added: Sep 11 2004	Views/Reads: 3626/2429	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The importance of dreams in a man's life

Seven year old Terry sat under his favorite Buckeye tree.  It was his
favorite place in the whole world.  The tree sat at the back of his 
Grandfather's property in a little town in Iowa.  His back to the tree 
he was reading a book. 

Terry loved visiting his Grandpa, and spent many a weekend at the old
man's home.  He only lived a few miles away, but felt more at peace at 
the old house, one that had raised many of his ancestors over the 
years.  At one time it had been a large farm, but much of the land had 
been sold off at different times.  Now it was just the old house, a 
barn, and a few outbuildings. 

The property was secure with a tall wooden fence surrounding the
remaining three acres.  His, he did consider it as his, massive Buckeye 
tree sat near the center of an overgrown half acre in back of the 
property. 

A railroad spur ran along the outside of the fence and Terry could
sometimes hear a switch-engine laboring to pull cars laden with grain, 
going to faraway climes. 

The boy had found an old metal breadbox in one of the sheds.  He had
buried the sturdy steel box amid the roots of the tree, piling dirt 
over it with an old wooden plank covering to hide it from prying eyes.  
The box held various valuables, like his books, half a pack of stolen 
cigarettes and a lighter, and other items of interest to a young boy.  
It, the box, was hidden from all but a careful search and protected his 
treasures from the elements. 

At home he was subject to constant arguments between his parents.  His
brothers and sisters brought a constant cacophony with bickering and 
loud noises the norm.  He loved the quiet of his Grandpa's house. 

Getting hungry, the boy closed his book, put it away, and covered the
lid of his hiding place with dirt and small twigs.  Rising, he went 
back to the house. 

He found his Grandpa sitting in an old stuffed easy-chair in the living
room. 

“Grandpa, can I have a sandwich?”  Getting no answer, Terry went around
to the front of the chair to find the old man sprawled half on, half 
off the seat.  He shook his Grandpa, with no reaction from the old man. 


“Grandpa, Grandpa, wake up.”  He implored the old man, “I want a
sandwich, I'm hungry.” 

Grandpa still lay there, his mouth open and eyes closed.  Terry knew
something was wrong, but not what.  He had never seen death before.  
All he could think to do was try to get the man to wake up.  He even 
tried to sit him up, standing between the man's sprawled legs and 
pulling on his shirt. 

Terry had to jump back as his Grandpa's body fell to the side, knocking
body and chair over.  Now Terry panicked, running back outside to his 
tree to think.  He sat for a long time, shivering, his mind in a 
muddle.  Eventually he calmed down in the shade of the comforting 
environment. 

The boy walked slowly back to the house, hoping everything would be all
right when he got back, maybe he had just been imagining things.  He 
did have a good imagination, remembering the old man's favorite saying, 


“Remember Son, always follow your dreams, whatever else in life, always
follow your dreams and you'll come out right in the end.”  The old man 
had made and lost several fortunes doing just that. 

Peeking into the living room from the kitchen door, Terry found things
just as he had left them, chair and old man looking out of place on the 
wooden floor. 

He knew how to dial emergency services at 911, and did so from the
kitchen phone.  He waited until the Sheriff's Department knocked on the 


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