Chapter1T⚗👥heDre🄼🂸am-Maker
Nightfallslowlydesded.Dimitricouldn’tcealhisexhiration．Nightwasthehappiesttimeofthedayforhim，becausethenheakedreams．Dimitriwasahomelesspersonaosleepingwhereverhecould．Butnowhewasgettingolderaheneedofashelter.,soheputtogethersomediscardedoldboardsandtisandbuilthimselfamakesh🙝🙸ifthomeinanarrowalley．WithcoldwindwhippingathisraggedovercoathepushedashoppingcartwhitainedallhisworldlypossessionsinfrontofhimandheadedtowardsafancyItaliaauraheariannaoftengavehimleftovers.Mariannathrustapaperbagathim,taininghalfasteakandsomepraasta．Dimitriwasetedandrushedhome，lookingforwardtoaluxuriousmeadreams.Joet🞙🔤hebartenderlookedonwithjealousy．AfterDimitrihadleft,hesaidsarcastically，
"Whyareyousogoodtohim，Marianna?Heisonlyahumanscum，burrowingthroughthegarbageslookingforfoodandclothes.Heisabum,sittingtherealld📠ayfeedingpigeonsbytheke.Hemaynotevenlikeyou.Heprobablythinksyou’retoofat！""Howdoyouknow?"snappedMarianna."Dimitrimaynotknowhowtoexpresshimself，butheisapoetatheart.He’samillioterthanagood-for-no🙇thingdrunkardlikeyou!"
MariannafirstmetDimitribesideagarb🔐⛕age.ThatdayDimitrifoundaursewhilehewasgoingthroughthegarbage.Ittaiwo-karatdiamand
3,000incash.Poorashewas,Dimitrididnotcovetwhatwasnothis.Hewaitedtherebythegarbageanyhourshopingtheownerwouldshowup.MeanwhileMariannahadfinishedherday’sworkandwasfranticallylookingforherpurse.Whenshecouldn’tfinditanywherei，she🝼🐠🁓intuitivelykhatJoe,whowasusuallyhalf-drunk，musthavethrownitintothegarbageba🈷🂺📶gtogetherwiththegarbage.Sherushedoutsideandbeganrummagingthroughthegarbagebagsfromthere🟦staurant.
"Wha👦tarey⚗👥ou🜨🄨upto?"askedDimitriically.
"Iamlookingformypurse🝼🐞”repledMariannawithoutlookingup.“Joemustha🌕⚡💾vetosseditoutwiththeg🆋🍽arbage."
"What’sthepurselikeandwhat’sinit?"Mariannastoppedshort,arayofhopegleamedinhereyesasshegav🍟ehimadetaileddescription.Dimitrihandedherthepurse🁘andturogo.Mariannaranafterhimandtriedtopersuadehiminvaintotakesomethingasareward.ToDimitri,worldlywealthdidnotmeananythin🈱🂇gsohereplied,
"Whyshoul⚗👥dItakethissinceIdonotevenwantyandmohustheybecamefri🆗endsandshealwayskeptchoicebitsofleftoversfo🅻rhim.
Dimitriwasacuriousexampleofararespeanbeing:absent-minded，carefree，notknowingwhathewasabout，andsatisfiedwiththemerefactthathecouldstillthinkahe.Hewasahalfbreed，withsomesortofAsianbloodbutdidnotknowwhohisparentswere.Heseemedtorememberbeinginschoolfora🍄🅡fewyears，butwasnotreallyliterate.Heworkedforawhilebutdidnotdomuchofanythihoughthewasmarriedothenmaybeheonlylivedwithawomanforawhile．Hewasnotsure．Hehadasocial🐧🂒🎌securitynumberormaybehedidn’t．Hehadawidecircleofacquaintanoddingandsmilingtopeoplewhereverhewent，evenexgingjocurreMarks，buthedidn’thav🈯🁶easinglefriend．
Hewasonlyawakeinhisdreams．Onsun🞤🖆🐚nydayshewouldgoovertothelongabandonedwoodendockatLakeMerritt,filthyandsmellywithbirdexcrement.Buthedidn’tmind．Birdstohimwereflyingmessengersfromheavenwhereallhishopeswere.Hewouldsitonthebehem，lettingthemflyaroundhimatleonhishead，shouldersandp．Hewouldstareatthemulti-coloredcloudsihroughthecracksofwhichleakedouttheughterofparadise.Whenduskwasnearhewouldgetupandgobackto🀪⛋😴his,pushinghisshoppingca🌧🁡rtinfrontofhim.
Thefirstthinghedidwhehomewastotakehisdirtyoldsleepingbagfromtheshoppingcartandspreaditoutatitsusualer．Theedhis"spoils"fromthegarbage．Apairofhalf-worntennisshoes，hissi🈚⚞💝zeandstillserviceable．Whydope☠🀳oplethrowthesethingsaway?Hecouldn’tuand．Then，therewasashirt，quite．Yes，hecouldthrowhisdipidatedoneaway,andtomorrowhewouldputonhisnewshirtandshoesandfeelquitedebonair．Hepyasariwhohadjustmadeamilliondolrs．HelighteduphiskerosenecookingstovetoheatupMarianna’sleftovers，andafterthissumptuousmealwouldgotobed．Hislifewassosimple．Toputitintoaformu，itwouldbe：limitedmaterialsneeds＝unlimitedsatisfa．Thatwasbecausethefocusofhislifewasnotwhenhewasawake，butwhenhewasasleep．Heytodaybecausehehadgatheredalotofmaterialtobewovenintohisdreams．Forhim，thiswasjustlikefeedinginformationintotheputertanizedandrepyedonthes．
Whilehavinghisdinner，heweheeventsoftheday：Thatmhepassedanimposingofficebuilding．AbckRolls-Roycestoppedsmoothlybeforeitandaliveriedchauffeurgotouttoopenthedoorforamaneandapipeinhismouth——obviouslyanold-fashioy．HewasallegedtobethepresidentofWorldBank．"Sowhat?"thoughtDimitri，"Ibeoooinmydreams”．Thenhepassedahigh-cssshoestoreforwomen,sellingshoesandotherleathergoods．Apairofglitteringtoelesssilverhigh-heeledshoesdispyedinthewindowcaughthiseye．"Whatclotheswouldgowiththem？"hemused．"Astraplessroyalblueeveninggownperhaps，ingbi-skirt?Bothwoulddo”hedecided．Justthen，thesalesgirl’sarmreachedoutandtooktheshoesawayfromthewindowdispytotrythemonaer．Dimitriwascurioustoknowwhothewomanwas，sohewalkedtotheentraheshopandpeeredin．Thebrilliaoenailspeekingfromt🀱hesilvershoesmesmerizedhimandkindledfmesofprimitivelustfromwithinhimlikelightedmatchesthrownintoabarrelofgasoline．
"MayIhelpyou?"avoicecoldly．Itwasthestoremanageringtodriv🜛🂳💻ehim🆗away．
"Nowayyouhelpme”mumbledDimitriandpushedhiscartaway，thi👀🅯nkingmeanwhileabout"morematerialfortonight"．
Heimmediatelyydowntosleepafterhisdinnerandinnotimeheseemedtoseeanobscuremoonintheskyshiningonawindingmountainpath．Ashlitteringformsuddenlyemergedfromthewoodsarouhandstartedwalkingtowardsadarkaesehousefurtheron．Itwasafreakish，ugly-lookingpygmywearingtheeborateesofthegDynasty．Hishatandcoatweremadeofmaterialwovenwithgoldthreadandwereshininginthemoonlight．thedoorofthehouse，whichletelydark🟦，hedrewafoot-longkeyfromhispocketandtriedtofititintotheold-fashionedeselock．Hestoodontip-toesaledwiththelodkeyforalongtimebuttonoavail．Heflewihrewthekeyontothegroundandstompedonitagainandagain，makingsqueakysoundstoexpresshisflustration．Thenhecalmeddownabit，pickedupthekeyandtriedagain．Thistimeitworked．Hecarriedtheheavylockboriouslyintothehouseandclosedthedoor．Ititchdarkinside．Heopehetrunkothedoorandimmediatelytheroomlitupwiththebrilliahegemsirunk:pricelessdiamonds,rubies,pearlsandsapphiresallytherepiledinaheap．
Itwasargeregurroom,lihsturdytrunksonbothsides．Thepygmyjumpedaroundopeningthistrunkandthatuntiltheyen．Hejumpedontoadeskattheendoftheroomandlookedattheimmehspreadbeforehim．Sometrunksheldgoldingots，goldsandgolds，rings，bracelets；others，silver．Hecrossedhislegsetedlyandshouted："HowrichIam!”Justthenahugepythonslitheredsoundlesslyoutfromtheerofthedarkroomandwounditselfroundandr⚝ouablewherethepigmysatcross-legged．Ohepython，thepygmyflewinteandscr👾eamedshrilly，
"Wherehaveyoubeento?Youweresupposedththereguardireasures！Ihadtoopenthedoormyselfandalotoftroubleitcausedme!”Hegrewangrierashespoke．Onseeinghimsoangry，thepythonuncurleditselfandturoaseductiveagnakedwoman，andlikeMedusa，shehadhairofsnakes．Shekbeforehimandaskedfivehepygmypulledoutawhipfromunderhisbeltandcrackeditonherinfury．Shecriedandkowtowedtobeghimforpardon．Redweltsappearedonhersnowwhiteskin．Shelookedathimbeseegly．Thepygmystoppedandturoacreaturewiththestrongmuscurbodyofamanbuttheheadofam🛳onster．Oneeyewasinthemiddleofhisfadtheotheratthebackofhishead．Therewasarhinoceroshornoopofhishead．Hepulledthewomantoherfeet．Thegemsandtreasuresintheroomthenturomulti-coloredclouds，driftingandfloatingintheroom．Someofthemcametogetherandformedasoftmattressforthetwomoomakelove．Attheheightoftheirlove-making，theybothtransformedagaintohugepyt🙗💋howiogetherinaricableknot．
"Dimitri！Dimitri！！"Marianna’sboomingvoicetohisdream．Hewokewithastartle，hisbodystillglisteningwithsweat，tofindMariannashakinghim．Whenheopenedhiseyessleepil🎻🖎y，theseductiveagfemalemonsterwasgoneandbeforehimwasMarianna’sfat，affabletenance．"You’redreamingagain!”shesaid．Dimitrismiled．🗀Hefoundthathispantsithnoalemission．
"Howe♌🕤youdidogetyou👃🆉rdinight?"
"🙆ButIdid．Yougavemeshrimpsandsteak．"
"Thatwasthe🜨🄨daybeforeyesterday．Aren’tyouhungry?"
"What！I”vesleptforsolong？Nowthatyoumentionit，I’mstarved!”saidDimitriandheheardhisstomachgrowlinprotest．Marian👳🌻🄕nahandedhim⚟💭🕅acupofhotchocote．
"Thereisfrieddhamsandwithebag．Heatitupa．Why’tyoust🌁ayawakeandfindsomeworktodoinsteadoflivinginyourdreams?"shescolded．"Whydon’tyoueandliveinmygarage?Youwon’tbeinanybody’swayandyou’llhaveadetroofoveryourhead.”