Chapter1⛇TheDream-Maker
Nightfallslowlydesded.Dimitricouldn’tcealhisexhiration．Nightwasthehappiesttimeofthedayforhim，becausethenheakedreams．Dimitriwasahomelesspersonaosleepingwhereverhecould．Butnowhewasgettingolderaheneedofashelter.,soheputtogethersomediscardedoldboardsandtisandbuilthimselfamakeshifthomeinanarrowall🂳ey．WithcoldwindwhippingathisraggedovercoathepushedashoppingcartwhitainedallhisworldlypossessionsinfrontofhimandheadedtowardsafancyItaliaauraheariannaoftengavehimleftovers.Mariannathrustapaperbagathim,taininghalfasteakandsomepraasta．Dimitriwasetedandrushedhome，lookingforwardtoaluxuriousmeadreams.Joethebartenderlookedonwithjealousy．A🄱🁗🅸fterDimitrihadleft,hesaidsarcastically，
"Whyareyousogoodtohim，Marianna?Heisonlyahumanscum，burrowingthroughthegarbageslooki⚣📑ngforfoodandclothes.Heisabum,sittingtherealldayfeedingpigeonsbytheke.Hemaynotevenlikeyou.Heprobablythinksyou’retoofat！""Howdoyouknow?"snappedMarianna."Dimitrimaynotknowhowtoexpresshimself，butheisapoetatheart.He’samillioterthanagood-for-nothingdrunkardlikeyou!"
MariannafirstmetDimitribesideagarbage.ThatdayDimitrifoundaursewhilehewasgoingthroughthegarbage.It🜲🆉taiwo-karatdiamand
3,000incash.Poorashewas,Dimitrididnotcovetwhatwasnothis.Hewaitedtherebythegarbageanyhourshopingtheownerwouldshowup.MeanwhileMariannahadfinishedherday’sworkandwasfranticallylookingforherpurse.Whenshecouldn’tfinditanywherei，sheintui🁴tivelykhatJoe,whowasusuallyhalf-drunk，musthavethrownitintothegarbagebagtogetherwith🉄🄵🁸thegarbage.Sherushedoutsideandbeganrummagingthroughthegarbagebagsfromtherestaurant.
"Whatareyouupto?"askedDi🂆🌣🀽mit🌱🂸📢rii🟐🜗cally.
"Iamlookingform🙧ypurse”repledMariannawithoutlookingup.“Joemusthavetosseditoutwiththegarbage."
"What’sthepurselikeandwhat’sinit?"Mariannastoppedshort,arayofhopegleamedinhe⚡💽🗙reyesasshegavehimadetaileddescription.Dimitrihandedherthepurseandturogo.Mariannaranafterhimandtriedtopersuadehiminvaintotakesomethingasareward.ToDimitri,worldlywealthdidnotmeananythingsohereplied,
"WhyshouldItakethissinceIdonotevenwantya🎡ndmohustheybecamefriendsandshealwayskeptchoicebitsofleftoversforhim.
Dimitriwasacuriousexampleofararespeanbeing:absent-minded，carefree，notknowingwhathewasabout，andsatisfiedwiththemerefactthathecouldstillthinkahe.Hewasahalfbreed，withsomesortofAsianbloodbutdidnotknowwhohisparentswere.Heseemedtorememberbeinginschoolforafewyears，butwasnotreallyliterate.Heworkedforawhilebutdidnotdomuchofanythihoughthewasmarriedothenmaybeheonlylivedwithawomanforawhile．Hewasnotsure．Hehadasocialsecuritynumberormaybehedidn’t．Hehadawidecircleofacquaintanoddingandsmilingtopeoplewh⚩🔀ereverhewent，evenexgingjocurreMarks，buthedidn’thaveasinglefriend．
Hewasonlyawakeinhisdreams．OnsunnydayshewouldgoovertothelongabandonedwoodendockatLakeMerritt,filthyandsmellywithbirdexcrement.Buthedidn’tmind．Birdstohimwereflyingmessengersfromheavenwhereallhishopeswere.Hewouldsitonthebehem，lettingthemflyaroundhimatleonhishead，shouldersandp．Hewouldstareatthemulti-colore♜🉑🆨dcloudsihroughthecracksofwhichleakedouttheughterofparadi🍭se.Whenduskwasnearhewouldgetupandgobacktohis,pushinghisshoppingcartinfrontofhim.
Thefirstthinghedidwhehomewastotakehisdirtyoldsleepingbagfromtheshoppingcartandspreaditoutatitsusualer．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，thiswasjustlikefeedinginformationintotheputertanizedandrepyedon😔🁈thes．
Whilehavinghisdinner，heweheeventsoftheday：Thatmhepassedanimposingofficebuilding．AbckR🝿olls-Roycestoppedsmoothlybeforeitandaliveriedchauffeurgotouttoopenthedoorforamaneandapipeinhismouth——obviouslyanold-fashioy．HewasallegedtobethepresidentofWorldBank．"Sowhat?"thoughtDimitri，"Ibeoooinmydreams”．Thenhepassedahigh-cssshoestoreforwomen,sellingshoesandotherleathergoods．Apairofglitteringtoelesssilverhigh-hee🟀🚄ledshoesdispyedinthewindowcaughthiseye．"Whatclotheswouldgowiththem？"hemused．"Astraplessroyalblueeveninggownperhaps，ingbi-skirt?Bothwoulddo”hedecided．Justthen，thes🝧🍡alesgirl’sarmreachedoutandtooktheshoesawayfromthewindowdispytotrythemonaer．Dimitriwascurioustoknowwhothewomanwas，sohewalkedtotheentraheshopandpeeredin．Thebrilliaoenailspeekingfromthesilvershoesmesmerizedhimandkindledfmesofprimitivelustfromwithinhimlikelightedmatchesthrownintoabarrelofgasoline．
"MayIhelpyou?"avoicecoldly．Itwasthestoremanageringtodrivehimaway．
"Nowayyou🕌helpme”mumbledDimitriandpushedhiscartaway，thinkingmeanwhileabout"morematerialfortonig🙮🍭ht"．
Heimmediatelyydowntosleepafterhisdinnerandinnotimeheseemedtoseeanobscuremoonintheskyshiningonawindingmountainpath．Ashlitteringformsuddenlyemergedfromthewoodsarouhandstartedwalkingtowardsadark⚒aesehousefurtheron．Itwasafreakish，ugly-lookingpygmywearingtheeborateesofthegDynasty．Hishatandcoatweremadeofmaterialwovenwithgoldthreadandwereshininginthemoonlight．thed🚇👍oorofthehouse，whichletelydark，hedrewafoot-longkeyfromhispocketandtriedtofititintotheold-fashionedeselock．Hestoodontip-toesaledwiththelodkeyforalongtimebuttonoavail．Heflewihrewthekeyontothegroundandstompedonitagainandagain，makingsqueakysoundstoexpresshisflustration．Thenhecalmeddownabit，pickedupthekeyandtriedagain．Thistimeitworked．Hecarriedtheheavylockboriouslyintothehouseandclosedthedoor．Ititchdarkinside．Heopehetrunkothedoorandimmediatelytheroomlitupwiththebrilliahegemsirunk:pricelessdiamonds,rubies,pearlsandsapphiresallytherepiledinaheap．
Itwasargeregurroom,lihsturdytrunksonbothsides．Thepygmyjumpedaroundopeningthistrunkandthatuntiltheyen．Hejumpedontoadeskattheendoftheroomandlookedattheimmehspreadbeforehim．Sometrunksheldgoldingots，goldsa🅋ndgolds，rings，bracelets；others，silver．Hecrossedhislegsetedlyandshouted："HowrichIam👯!”Justthenahugepythonslitheredsoundlesslyoutfromtheerofthedarkroomandwounditselfroundandrouablewherethepigmysatcross-legged．Ohepython，thepygmyflewinteandscreamedshri♄🅺lly，
"Wherehaveyoubeento?Youweresupposedththereguardireasures！Ihadtoopenthedoormyselfandalotoftroubleitcausedme!”Hegrewangrierashespoke．Onseeinghimsoangry，thepythonuncurleditselfandturoaseductiveagnakedwoman，andlikeMedusa，shehadhairofsnakes．Shekbeforehimandaskedfivehepygmypulledoutawhipfromunderhisbeltandcrackeditonherinfury．Shecriedandkowtowedtobeghimforpardon．Redweltsappearedonhersnowwhiteskin．Sh⛅elookedathimbeseegly．Thepygmystoppedandturoacreaturewiththestrongmuscurbodyofamanbuttheheadofamonster．Oneeyewasinthemiddleofhisfadtheotheratthebackofhishead．Therewasarhinoceroshornoopofhishead．Hepulledthewomantoherfeet．Thegemsandtreasuresintheroomthenturomulti-colore👽dclouds，driftingandfloatingintheroom．Someofthemcametogetherandformedasoftmattressforthetwomoomakelove．Attheheightoftheirlove-making，theybothtransformedagaintohugepythowiogetherinaricableknot．
"Dimitri！Dimitri！！"Marianna’sboomingvoicetohisdream．Hewokewithastartle，hisbodystillglisteningwithsweat，tofindMariannashakinghim．Whenheopenedhiseyessleepily，theseductiveagfemalemonst🙞erwasgoneandbeforehimwasMarianna’sfat，affabletenance．"You’redreamingagain!”shesaid．Dimitrismiled．Hefoundthathispantsithnoalemission．
"Howey🈀🞡🕮o🆥udidogetyourdi💭🕄night?"
"ButIdid．Yougavemesh🐢🁥rimpsandsteak．"
"Thatwast🕌hedaybeforeyesterday．Aren’tyou🝧🍠hungry?"
"What！I”vesleptforsolong？Nowthatyoumentionit，I’mstarved!”saidDimitriandheheardhisstomachgrowlinprotest．Mariannahandedhimacupofhotcho🌯🂩cote．
"Thereisfrieddhamsandwithebag．Heatitupa．Why’tyoustayawakeandfindso🛍🛆🛍🛆meworktodoinsteadoflivinginyourdr🟒🜣eams?"shescolded．"Whydon’tyoueandliveinmygarage?Youwon’tbeinanybody’swayandyou’llhaveadetroofoveryourhead.”