The bell above the door didn’t ring; it sighed, a soft exhale of brass that seemed to apologize for the intrusion.
James stepped inside, shaking the November rain from his coat. The shop smelled of old paper, dried lavender, and something sharper—like ozone before a thunderstorm. There were no windows, only shelves lined with glass jars. Inside each jar, a faint, swirling mist glowed in pastel hues.
“Welcome to Somnium,” a voice rasped.
Behind a mahogany counter stood a man who looked as though he had been carved from driftwood. He wore a velvet vest and spectacles that magnified his eyes to an unsettling degree.
“I was told you can… help,” James said, his voice tight. He felt foolish standing there, a thirty-year-old architect afraid of the dark.
The shopkeeper smiled, revealing teeth that looked too perfect. “I am Elias. I deal in bespoke dreams. Nightmares removed, fantasies installed, memories polished. What is it you seek, James?”
James blinked. “I didn’t tell you my name.”
“The doorbell knows many things,” Elias said, waving a hand dismissively. “Now, your trouble?”
James hesitated, then pulled off his glove to reveal a trembling hand. “It’s the stress. The firm, the deadlines. I haven’t slept more than two hours a night in months. When I do sleep, I dream of falling. Endless falling.”
“Ah. The Void Dream. A classic, though terribly draining,” Elias noted, pulling a ledger from under the counter. “I have a lovely package for that. ‘The Coastal Cottage.’ Gentle waves, warm sun, the smell of salt. Very restorative. Fifty credits.”
“I don’t have credits,” James said. “I have cash.”
Elias chuckled dryly. “We don’t take cash. We trade in kind. A pleasant memory for a pleasant dream. A secret for a secret. Or, if you are desperate, a piece of your own imagination.”
James looked at the swirling mists in the jars. “I just want to sleep. Take whatever you want.”
Elias produced a silver instrument that looked like a tuning fork. “Hold this. Think of your happiest memory. Hold it tight.”
James closed his eyes. He thought of the day he graduated, the sun on his face, his father’s hand on his shoulder. He felt the metal hum, growing warm, then hot. A sharp pinch behind his eyes, and then—coolness.
“Done,” Elias said, snatching the fork away. He tapped it against a jar, and the glass filled with a brilliant, golden light. “Here is your prescription. Open it on your pillow tonight.”
James paid with the memory he could no longer recall and walked out into the rain.
That night, James slept like the dead. He dreamt of a white sandy beach, the water lapping rhythmically against his feet. He woke up eight hours later, feeling lighter than he had in years. The anxiety that usually sat on his chest was gone.
He went back to the shop the next week. And the next.
He traded the memory of his first kiss for a dream of flying. He traded the memory of his mother’s cooking for a dream of being a hero in a medieval kingdom. He traded the memory of his college road trip for a dream of solving the world’s greatest mysteries.
Life became manageable. Work was easy. Sleep was a luxury he purchased weekly.
Six months later, James sat in a board meeting. His boss was asking for ideas for the new city library project. It was James’s specialty. He stared at the blueprints, waiting for the spark, the vision that usually came so easily.
Nothing.
His mind was a smooth, white wall. He looked around the room. His colleagues were debating, sketching, arguing. James realized with a cold dread that he had no opinion. He had no preference. He looked at the pen in his hand and couldn’t remember why he liked architecture in the first place.
He left the meeting early and ran to the shop.
The bell sighed. Elias was there, polishing a jar filled with a storm-grey mist.
“I want them back,” James demanded, breathless. “The memories. I want my imagination back.”
Elias didn’t look up. “All sales are final, James. You know the rules.”
“I can’t work. I can’t feel. I’m just… empty.”
“You are efficient,” Elias corrected gently. “You sleep well. You are calm. You are happy. Isn’t that what you asked for?”
“I want to dream my own dreams again.”
Elias finally looked up, his magnified eyes sad but firm. “That is the problem, my boy. You stopped dreaming your own dreams a long time ago. You just wanted to escape the bad ones. I simply gave you what you wanted: a life without friction.”
Elias pointed to the door. “We have nothing left to trade. You have sold everything that made you,you.”
James stumbled out onto the street. The city noise was overwhelming. He looked at the grey sky and tried to feel sad, but he couldn’t. He tried to feel angry, but the emotion wouldn’t stick.
He walked home in a daze. That night, he lay in bed, staring at the empty spot on his nightstand where the jar used to be. He closed his eyes, desperate for the ocean, or the flight, or the castle.
But there was nothing. Just a heavy, velvet silence.
He drifted off, not into a dream, but into a perfect, dreamless black. It was the most peaceful sleep he had ever known, and as he faded into the dark, he realized with a terrifying clarity that he wouldn’t mind if he never woke up at all.
Reflection:
We often wish to trade away our pain, our stress, and our difficult memories for a moment of peace. But in doing so, we must be careful not to trade away the very things that make us human—the messy, chaotic, and beautiful sparks that light up the dark.
