一十八章 : Maker(1/74)

    Chapter1TheDream-💦Maker

    Nightfallslowlydesded.Dimitricouldn’tcealhisexhiration．Nightwasthehappiesttimeofthedayforhim，becausethenheakedreams．Dimitriwasahomelesspersonaosleepingwhereverhecould．Butnowhewasgettingolderaheneedofashelter.,soheputtogethersomediscardedoldboardsandtisandbuilthimselfamakeshifthomeinanarrowalley．WithcoldwindwhippingathisraggedovercoathepushedashoppingcartwhitainedallhisworldlypossessionsinfrontofhimandheadedtowardsafancyItaliaauraheariannaoftengavehimleftovers.Mariannathrustapaperbagathim,tainingha😥🃢lfasteakandsomepraasta．Dimitriwasetedandrushedhome，lookingforwardtoaluxuriousmeadreams.Joethebartenderlookedonwithjealousy．AfterDimitrihadleft,hesaidsarcastically，

    "Whyareyousogoodtohim，Marianna?Heisonlyahumanscum，burrowingthroughthegarbageslookingforfoodandclothes.Heisabum,sittingtherealldayfeedingpigeonsbytheke.Hemaynotevenlikeyou.H⚛💉eprobablythinksyou’retoofat！""Howdoyouknow?"snappedMarianna."Dimitrimaynotknowhowtoexpresshimself，butheisapoetatheart.He’samillioterthanagood-for-nothingdrunkardlikeyou!"

    Mariannafirstm🖡etDimitribesideagarbage.ThatdayDimitrifoundaursewhilehewasgoingthroughthegarbage.Ittaiwo-karatdiamand

    3,000incash.Poorashewas,Dimitrididnotcovetwhatwasnothis.Hewaitedtherebythegarbageanyhourshopingtheownerwouldshowup.MeanwhileMariannahadfinishedherday’sworkandwasfranti🁂🂽🔒callylookingforherpurse.Whenshecouldn’tfinditanywherei，sheintuitivelykhatJoe,whowasusuallyhalf-drunk，must🁛🆞🐪havethrownitintothegarbagebagtogetherwiththegarbage.Sherushedoutsideandbeganrummagingthroughthegarbagebagsfromtherestaurant.

    "W🜧🄡⚫hatareyouupto?"💦askedDimitriically.

    "Iamlookingformypurse”repledMariannawithoutlooking🈽up.“J🀽🂑🎂oemusthavetosseditoutwitht🛰☛hegarbage."

    "What’sthepurselikeandwhat’sinit?"Mariannastoppedshort,arayofhopegleamedinhereyesasshegavehimadetaileddescription.Dimitri⚳🕠🊿handed🂸📧🝎herthepurseandturogo.Mariannaranafterhimandtriedt🟚🝫opersuadehiminvaintotakesomethingasareward.ToDimitri,worldlywealthdidnotmeananythingsohereplied,

    "Whyshoul♇🆖dItakethissinceIdonotevenwantyandmohust🕲🍣heybecamefriendsandshealwayskeptchoicebitsofleftove☼rsforhim.

    Dimitriwasacuriousexampleofararespeanbeing:absent-minded，carefree，notknowingwhathewasabout，andsatisfiedwiththemerefactthathecouldstillthinkahe.Hewasahalfbreed，withsomesortofAsianbloodbutdidnotknowwhohisparentswere.Heseemedtorememberbeinginschoolforafewyears，butwasnotreallyliterate.Heworkedforawhilebutdidnotdomuchofanythihoughthewasmarriedothenmaybeheonlylivedwithawomanforawhile．Hewasnotsure．Hehadasocialsecuritynumberormaybehedidn’t．Hehadawidecircleofacquaintanoddingandsmilingtopeoplewhe🂵reverhewent，evenexgingjocurreMarks，buthedidn’thaveasin🜯🅨🉃glefriend．

    Hewasonlyawakeinhisdreams．OnsunnydayshewouldgoovertothelongabandonedwoodendockatLakeMerritt,filthyandsmellywithbirdexcrement.Buthedidn’tmind．Birdstohimwereflyingmessengersfromheavenwhereallhishopeswere.Hewouldsitonthebehem，lettingthemflyaroundhimatleonhishead，shouldersandp．Hewouldstareatthemulti-coloredcloudsihroughth🍑🇙ecracksofwhichleakedouttheughte🔠🁽🋕rofparadise.Whenduskwasnearhewouldgetupandgobacktohis,pushinghisshoppingcartinfrontofhim.

    Thefirstthinghedidwhehomewastotakehisdirtyolds📀🗮leepingbagfromtheshoppingcartandspreaditoutatitsusualer．Theedhis"spoils"fromthegarbage．Apairofhalf-worntennisshoes，hissizeandstillserviceable．Whydopeoplethrowthesethingsaway?Hecouldn’tuand．Then，therewasashirt，quite．Yes，hecouldthrowhisdipidatedoneaway,andtomorrowhewouldputonhisnewshirtandshoesandfeelquitedebonair．Hepyasariwhohadjustmadeamilliondolrs．HelighteduphiskerosenecookingstovetoheatupMarianna’sleftovers，andafterthissumptuousmealwouldgotobed．Hislifewassosimple．Toputitintoaformu，itwouldbe：limitedmaterialsneeds＝unlimitedsatisfa．Thatwasbecausethefocusofhislifewasnotwhenhewasawake，butwhenhewasasleep．Heytodaybecausehehadgatheredalotofmaterialtobewovenintohisdreams．Forhim，thiswasjustlikefeedinginformationintotheputertanizedandrepyedonthes．

    Whilehavinghisdinner，heweheeventsoftheday♓：Thatmhepassedanimposingofficebuilding．AbckRolls-Roycestoppedsmoothlybeforeitandaliveriedchauffeurgotouttoopenthedoorforamaneandapipeinhismouth——obviouslyanold-fashioy．HewasallegedtobethepresidentofWorldBank．"Sowhat?"thoughtDimitri，"Ibeoooinmydreams”．Thenhepassedahigh-cssshoestoreforwomen,sellingshoesandotherleathergoods．Apairofglitteringtoelesssilverhigh-heeledshoesdispyedinthewindowcaughthiseye．"Whatclotheswouldgowiththem？"hemused．"Astraplessroyalblueeveninggownperhaps，ingbi-skirt?Bothwoulddo”hedecided．Justthen，thesalesgirl’sarmreachedoutandtooktheshoesawayfromthewindowdispytotrythemonaer．Dimitriwascurioustoknowwhothewomanwas，sohewalkedtotheentraheshopandpeeredin．Thebrilliao🕞🊯enailspeekingfromthesilvershoesmesmerizedhimandkindledfmesofprimitivelustfromwithinhimlikelightedmatchesthrownintoabarrelofgasoline．

    "MayIhelpyou?"avoicecoldly．Itwasthest😽🆶oremanageringtodrivehimaway．

    "Nowayyouhelpme”mumbledDimitria🜦ndpushedhiscartaway，thinkingmeanwhileabout"morematerialfortonight"．

    Heimmediatelyydowntosleepafterhisdinnerandinnotimeheseemedtoseeanobscuremoonintheskyshiningonawindingmountainpath．Ashlitteringformsuddenlyemergedfromthewoodsarouhandstartedwalkingtowardsadarkaesehousefurtheron．Itwasafreakish，ugly-lookingpygmywearingtheeborateesofthegDynasty．Hishatandcoatweremadeofmaterialwovenwithgoldthreadandwereshininginthemoonlight．thedoorofthehouse，whichletelydark，hedrewafoot-longkeyfromhispocketandtriedtofititintotheold-fashionedeselock．Hestoodontip-toesaledwiththelodkeyforalongtimebuttonoavail．Heflewihrewthekeyontothegroundandstompedonitagainandagain，makingsqueakysoundstoexpresshisflustration．Thenhecalmeddownabit，pickedupthekeyandtriedagain．Thistimeitworked．He🚗📟🜉carriedtheheavylockboriouslyintothehouseandclosedthedoor．Ititchdarkinside．Heopehetrunkothedoorandimmediatelytheroomlitupwiththebrilliahegemsirunk:pricelessdiamonds,rubies,pearlsandsapphiresallytherepiledinaheap．

    Itwasargeregurroom,lihsturdytrunksonbothsides．Thepygm⚪🔊⚠yjumpedaroundopeningthistrunkandthatuntiltheyen．Hejumpedontoadeskattheendoftheroomandlookedattheimmehspreadbeforehim．Sometrunksheldgoldingots，goldsandgolds，rings，bracelets；others，silver．Hecrossedhislegsetedlyandshouted："HowrichIam!”Justthenahugepythonslitheredsoundlesslyoutfromtheerofthedar🌗kroomandwounditselfroundandrouablewherethepigmysatcross-legged．Ohepython，thepygmyflewinteandscreamedshrilly，

    "Wherehaveyoubeento?Youweresupposedththereguard🖦ireasures！Ihadtoopenthedoormyselfandalotoftroubleitcausedme!”Hegrewangrierashespoke．Onseeinghimsoangry，thepythonuncurleditselfandturoaseductiveagnakedwoman，andlikeMedusa，shehadhairofsnakes．Shekbeforehimandaskedfivehepygmypulledoutawhipfromunderhisbeltandcrackeditonherinfury．Shecriedandkowtowedtobeghimforpardon．Redweltsappearedonhersnowwhiteskin．Shelookedathimbeseegly．Thepygmystoppedandturoacreaturewiththestrongmuscurbodyofamanbuttheh🞸😷eadofamonster．Oneeyewasinthemiddleofhisfadtheotheratthebackofhishead．Therewasarhinoceroshornoopofhishead．Hepulledthewomantoherfeet．Thegemsandtreasuresintheroomthenturomulti-coloredclouds，driftingandfloatingintheroom．Someofthemcametogetherandformedasoftmattressforthetwomoomakelove．Attheheightoftheirlove-making，theybothtransformedagaintohugepythowiogetherinaricableknot．

    "Dimitri！Dimitri！！"Marianna’sboomingvoicetohisdream．Hewokewithastartle，hisbodystillglisteningwithsweat，tofindMariannashakinghim．Whenheopenedhiseyessleepily，theseductiveagfemalemonsterwasgoneandbeforehimwasMarianna’sfat，affabletenance．"You’redreamingagain!”shesaid．Dimitrismiled．Hefoundthathispantsithnoa🏱🝹lemission．

    "Howeyoudi🋧dogetyourdinight?"

    "ButIdid．Youga🖡vemeshrimpsandsteak．"🄱🁘

    "Thatwasthedaybeforeyesterday．Aren🛚🜻🇗🛚🜻🇗’tyouhungry?"

    "What！I”vesleptforsolong？Nowthatyoumentionit，I’mstarved!”saidDimitriandheheardhisstomachgrowlinprotest．Mari🐖⛚annahandedhimacupofhotchocote．

    "Thereisfrieddhamsandwithebag．Heatitupa．Why’tyoustayawakeandfindsomeworktodoinsteadoflivinginyourdreams?"shescolded．"Whydon’tyoueandliveinmygarage?Youwon’tbeinanybody’s🄣⛄🗴wayandyou’llhaveadetroo🃨🚐foveryourhead.”

    "No，thanky🋧ou，ma’am．Thanksfortheoffer，butI’musedtoithere．Tomethemostimportantthingistokeepupmyvitality．Thankstoyou，Ihaveenoughfoodtosustainmyphysicalhealthandk🀜♐🇢eepupmybrainactivities．Therestissuperfluousandmeannothingtome．"