We live outside of our reality. Just a few feet away from the truth. But there’s nothing extraordinary about us. We are not heroes. We are men and women willing to divorce ourselves from our truth to live the dreams of all.

The lights are flickering. We must go. There’s work to be done.

The lights continue to flicker. Typical office lights, fluorescent white lamps with a dark metal roof. The blackboards on the room begin to erase. Names, frequencies, faces, equations, begin to disappear as the lights flicker. The tables begin to fade, the podium was gone already; they all look at the lights. Casually dressed men and women look up, waiting to disappear. They had work to do.

White. Dreams are white. Out of the darkness of sleep, dreams radiate light.

Hello, I am a Dummy. I was once like you. I used to dream of great things. Now I’m your dream. You don’t know it yet but we have quite a show for you this lifetime. You will smile, scream, cry and sometime you might even see your future.

It’s time to get out and welcome the light of day.

“Wahhhaaa wahhhaaa” it was a dreadful screech his son made. He had it all on tape; it was a wonderful day. Meredith didn’t look so good. She was drenched in sweat and screaming at him.

“Hey honey, look at the camera,” said Eduardo.

“I’m going to shove that camera…”

He turned off the camera. “Alright honey, I think I got enough.”

Everything was perfect. The parents were proud but very scared. A life depended completely on them. It was surreal but nothing in life compared to that moment. The baby was tired from his journey and began to snooze.

It’s me again. I know you’re tired. This is your first dream as a human. Pretty neat. You don’t know much yet besides that feeling you have for your parents. I don’t know if I want to give you the usual show. You’re going to know about me.

The light flickers.

Marcos is in the room with Carl. The blackboard is full. It had 300 rules. He erased all but number 3: We must remain anonymous.

“Who do you think you are?” said Carl.

The lights flickered and a woman appeared in the room. Rule number 2 appeared on the board: We must not interfere with the show.

“What the hell?” said Carl “That’s not right, I got two Dali’s.”

The lights flickered and one of the bulbs burned out.

“Great, what am I going to say when I go up there?”

The lights turned off and Carl disappeared. The room had not doors, only blackboards. The desks had dark wood tops and black metal legs. Marcos looked at the woman and smiled.

“You didn’t like the show?” said Marcos.

“I didn’t think it was going to be like this, it’s like art school all over,” said Ami.

The lights flickered and Carl appeared.

“Go, you know what I was going to say. You two are going to give me a migraine,” said Carl.

The lights flickered. Ami was painting. She would dip her hands in paint and dance. The colors would float around her and music would play following her rhythm.

The show was bright and colorful. Everything danced to her music. She would dance to the show and pain the space like a goddess. She woke up smiling.

The father picks up the little girl and smiles. He was taking his little girl home. She fell asleep again.

Colors rearranged to paint a Monet. The formed a pond with flowers. The colors lived and Ami painted the world. Ami painted herself in bright colors. Her face was covered with a colorful scarf but her eyes were distinctively beautiful. They didn’t belong in the show. Her eyes overshadowed the colors.

The lights flickered. Marcos and Ami were in the room with Carl. The blackboards were completely erased. White dust covered the dark green tiled floor. Suddenly the lights go off. Marcos and Ami fall asleep.

“Hello, why do you do this?” said a voice in their heads. “Don’t you know how privileged you are? You are creators of dreams.” It was like if they were talking to themselves. They could feel a breeze as the voice spoke to them. “Do you understand why you’re here?”

Light. There was a blinding white light. Ami could see a man smiling back at her. Marcos could see a couple smiling back at him. They could barely keep their eyes open.

The lights flickered and they appeared on the room. Carlos was on the podium looking at a chart.

“He showed you the audience, didn’t he?” said Carl.

Marcos was still smiling and Ami was closing her eyes trying to catch that memory.

“I don’t have to explain to you anything right?” said Carl.

The lights flickered and the room filled up. Carl began to recite every rule. Marcos and Ami looked at each other and wonder why them. He finished reading them all and the lights flickered again. Everything was fading. Marcos and Ami didn’t fade. They fell asleep again.

Marcos tried opening his eyes. He could see words and ideas floating through the air and landing on a piece of paper. The light would blind him so he couldn’t quite read what it was all about.

Ami on the other hand could see everything. Colors emerged from a blank canvass. She could see an image beyond the canvass of a beautiful mountain. The colors would touch the mountain and blend with the canvass. Everything was so beautiful but a light blinded her. She had to close her eyes.

The lights in the room seem to only illuminate them. The finally realize something important. When the lights begin to flicker once again, they don’t feel like they did before. They don’t feel trapped or lost. They felt part of something beautiful, so they vanished.