The dream seller

 A dream seller comes knocking the doors of a dreamer, and instills in her the self-confidencenecessary to succeed in life. A short story



"Knock! Knock!" 



Some one is knocking hard at the door. I gather enough strength to stand up and look through the window and find a salesman at the door.



"Can you please come down, Ma’am? I have something to sell..."



"No," I whispered. My voice was choked… maybe because this is the first word I spoke after such a long time. Maybe because tears had engulfed my voice.



"We have dreams to sell, Ma’am."



Dreams? Dreams to sell? What should I do with new dreams when existing ones are shattering, I thought ruefully. But somewhere in a deep corner of my heart I felt like buying a dream for myself. Just out of curiosity, I opened the door and found a stranger there.



"Are you fond of dreaming? Are you tired of your dreams getting shattered?" the stranger asked.



How could he know what is going on in my mind… I wondered.



"Don’t worry, Ma’am, I am just here to sell a dream of yours to you."



My lips wore a wry smile to indicate that I didn’t believe a word of what he said.





"Ma’am, if you have a moment to spare, please step out and have a look," he pleaded.

He wouldn’t take a a for an answer, so just to get rid of him, I stepped out, only to find a new world outside… like a showroom displaying loads of alluring products. And it took me a moment to realise that those were not products but dreams which I’ve had since my childhood — my own Cadbury shop, a dance scholarship, being a Birla student, a chance to be an IITian, the only owner of the heart of an ocean, a meeting with Tom Hanks, the Miss Calcutta Award, and what not! These were my dreams at different stages of life. While going through all this, I also went down memory lane to recall the events that had made me entertain such fantasies.



When I asked for the prices, the salesman had different replies: Loads of money for a Cadbury Shop, great looks for the Miss Calcutta Award, and so on. While looking at my own dreams as products and checking their prices, I found that the dreams, which had self-confidence as the price tag, were the ones I had achieved.



I also came across some dream products with the "Not for sale" tag. When I asked why, the salesman said, "You didn’t dream that, did you?"



At last I came to the ultimate dream product: a dream of an offer letter starting with "To, Miss Moumita , …From Microsys Corporation Limited." I asked the salesman the price for this dream,the dream I had cherished from the day I first saw Microsys Corporation Limited.



"Your confidence, Ma’am."



I closed my eyes to gather the price for this dream when suddenly I heard a music… it was the alarm. I jumped out of the bed, and it took me a while to realise that I was dreaming.



It’s 8.30 am and I have to get ready for my interview at Microsys Corporation Limited scheduled at 9.30 am. I splashed some water on my face to clear off the traces of tears — a result of the HTC Infotech interview failure — and to start a new day with my best friend, my confidence.



As I stood in front of the mirror to get ready, I saw a new self in my reflection. I made friends with confidence in my dreams, and this best friend lifted me up and helped me, as it had done earlier.

Today I am a Microsys employee. Thank you, my best friend. Thank you my self-confidence.