The Window of Dreams

At twelve, there was one thing - and one thing only - spinning through my mind: rock music. I’ve always been into progressive rock, alternative rock, pop rock, electronic rock and all kinds of subgenres that might exist within this genre of music. Therefore, my biggest dream was to become a rockstar. Even though I didn’t have a real guitar by the time, I had made one of my own with the sticks I found in the neighbourhood. Yes, no. It was not a great one, I know. But with it, at least, I could practice some movements. I exercised my fingers with scales, arpeggios and riffs. I would watch different musicians’ tapes for hours as I tried to mirror what they did. 

Never did I pay attention to math class. While Mrs. Smith explained something about polynomials and who-knows-what, I imagined myself on stage. I imagined myself playing the hardest solos and riffs you can think of. 

Well, to be fair, I didn’t pay attention to most things. That year, I didn’t even realize there was a new girl at school until she speaked directly to me.

“Boring, isn't it?” commented my new classmate as she sat in the chair beside mine. Her carrot-orange hair was tied up in a pink pony tail and a million freckles covered her face. 

“Totally. What 's your name?” I asked. 

“Maya,” she answered with a smile. 

From the moment I met her, Maya was one of the most transparent and straight-forward people I have ever met. As soon as we started talking, she told me about her dog Ringo and her cat, Phineas. She even revealed to me about the bullying she had suffered at her previous school and expressed how eager she was to make real friends. Until then, never have I told anyone about my dream of becoming a musician. However, after she told me of her desire to become a vet, I just blurted it out. My new classmate seemed surprised when I mentioned I didn’t even have money to buy a real guitar. That same day, Maya invited me over to her place. 

That afternoon, on our way to her house, Maya repeated over and over again that she wanted to show me something. “Your life will never be the same, I’m sure. It is the greatest discovery ever” my red-haired companion postulated excitedly. The more we walked, the more my intrigue intensified. Finally, when we got to her house, she guided me upstairs to her bedroom. 

“Ta-daa!” Maya grinned as she pointed at the window right behind her night-table. Immediately, a rush of disappointment rushed through my body. What was I supposed to be seeing? The curtains did have an extravagant and multi-color design, I must say. Other than that, it was a pretty common window whose wooden frames seemed to be a bit rotten. 

“Er - it’s a nice window, I guess.” I commented, forcing a smile. 

“Oh, but I haven't shown you yet!” giggled my new friend.

Maya, then, proceeded to formulate a fairly basic explanation. Supposedly, this was not a simple window through which the garden could be glimpsed. In theory, it was some kind of magical window that could transport you “where your heart desired to go”. Quickly, she commanded me to stand in front of the “portal”, close my eyes and concentrate on my dream as much as I could. Even though I questioned my host’s mental health, I followed her instructions to the letter. After all, even if I was skeptical, what could I lose? It was only 3 pm and going home meant studying for biology’s test. As you may imagine, I was not excited at all about that. 

Therefore, I closed my eyes. I closed my eyes and I imagined myself on stage. I pictured myself playing my favorite songs. As soon as I opened them, I gasped. The garden was gone! The trees, the grass, the neighbour’s house… everything that could be seen through the window seconds ago was gone. Everything had disappeared and the window showed nothing but total darkness. 

“Woah, it worked!” screamed Maya in excitement. “Sorry for being all over the place with this thing. To be fair, I wasn’t sure if it worked for anyone other than me”. 

My eyes met the blackness in complete astonishment. 

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go!” insisted my friend.

Without thinking it twice, I opened the window and dived in the… thing. To be honest, I don’t know what the darkness was made of. It could have been air, but not exactly. It could’ve been water, but it wasn't liquid. Whatever it was, frozen chills toured through my skin and my heartbeat sped up. In a matter of seconds, my feet touched some kind of hard ground. The floor in which I stood seemed to be made of wood, as opposed to the smooth lime-grass that covered Maya’s backyard. Slowly, the darkness started dimmening and I realized that my school clothes were gone. Instead, I was dressed in black ragged jeans and a blue leather jacket. 

The darkness continued to dim until my surroundings were completely unmasked. Suddenly, I found myself standing on a stage with an electric guitar hanging from my neck. Before my eyes, a massive audience cheered and cheered. Strangely enough, my fingers started playing the instrument in a professional way and, from one second to the other, all of my daydreams became tangible. I could feel, with my fingers, the metal strings and I could smell the blue smoke that covered the stage. My ears could listen to the melodies that emanated from the amplifier and I could watch, with my own eyes, the crowd that cheered and cheered. 

I don’t know how long the experience lasted. It could’ve been two minutes or a thousand years. To my disappointment, the moment came when darkness began to cover my surroundings until I was somehow thrown into Maya’s bedroom again. 

“Finally!” my new friend blurted. Apparently, she had been reading a magazine.

“It was…” I couldn't even express my amazement. Even though I tried, words didn’t seem to be enough to describe the episode. 

“I wish I could go back” I sighed in nostalgia.

“I mean, I guess you can”.

“Can I?”. Suddenly, a ray of hope lightened my heart.

“Yeah, but why should you? You already got the experience, you know how it feels. If you want to live in the window, you might as well make a window out of your life”.

At first, I didn’t want to accept what she said. All I wanted was to go back to that strange world. However, I knew she was right. I knew that I couldn’t just live in a daydream. I knew that a guitar could be expensive but I had to find a way to get it. I knew that, if I wanted to get better in music, I’d have to commit to my dream like never before. I knew what I wanted and I knew why I wanted it. The only thing left was to find the way.  

“For now, I’m gonna start selling some lemonade,” smiled Maya, “college will not pay for itself and there are sick dogs waiting for me. Wanna come?”