Chapter1The🞦🖖💥Dream-Maker
Nightfallslowlydesded.Dimitricouldn’tcealhisexhiration．Nightwast🁾🚆hehappiesttimeofthedayforhim，becausethenheakedre🜉⛽☔ams．Dimitriwasahomelesspersonaosleepingwhereverhecould．Butnowhewasgettingolderaheneedofashelter.,soheputtogethersomediscardedoldboardsandtisandbuilthimselfamakeshifthomeinanarrowalley．WithcoldwindwhippingathisraggedovercoathepushedashoppingcartwhitainedallhisworldlypossessionsinfrontofhimandheadedtowardsafancyItaliaauraheariannaoftengavehimleftovers.Mariannathrustapaperbagathim,taininghalfasteakandsomepraasta．Dimitriwasetedandrushedhome，lookingforwardtoaluxuriousmeadreams.Joethebartenderlookedonwithjealousy．AfterDimitrihadleft,hesaidsarcastically，
"Whyareyousogoodtohim，Marianna?Heisonlyahumanscum，burrowingthroughthegarbageslookingforfoodandclo🗢thes.Heisabum,sittingtherealldayfeedingpigeonsbytheke.Hemaynotevenlikeyou.Heprobablythinksyou’retoofat！""Howdoyouknow?"snappedMarianna."Dimitrimaynotknowhowtoexpresshimself，butheisapoetatheart.He’samillioterthanagood-for-nothingdrunkardlikeyou!"
MariannafirstmetDimitribesideagarbage.ThatdayDimitrifoundaursewhilehewasgoingthroughthegarbage.Ittaiwo-☇☽🄹karatdiamand
3,000incash.Poorashewas,Dimitrididnotcovetwhatwasnothis.Hewaitedtherebythegarbageanyhourshopingtheownerwouldshowup.MeanwhileMariannahadfinishedherday’sworkandwasfranticallylookingforherpurse.Whenshecouldn’tfinditany🔀♇wherei，sheintuitivelykhatJoe,whowasusuallyhalf-drunk，musthavethrownitinto🅲thegarbagebagtogetherwiththegarbage.Sherushedoutsideandbeganrummagingthroughthegarbagebagsfrom🄿🃓🗛therestaurant.
"W☵🃱hatareyouupto?"askedD🍬imitriically.
"Iamlo🚍💇🏲okingformypurs🇿🞕e”repledMariannawithoutlookingup.“Joemusthavetosseditou🐵twiththegarbage."
"What’sthepurselikeandwhat’sinit?"Mariannastoppedshort,arayofhopegleamedinhereyesasshegavehimadetaileddescription.Dimitrihandedherthepurseandturogo.Mariannaranafterhimandtri📰🞞edtopersuadehiminvaintotakesometh🃩🚞ingasareward.ToDimitri,worldlywealthdidnotmeananythingsohereplied,
"WhyshouldI🞦🖖💥takethissinceIdonotevenwantyandmohustheybecamefriendsandshe🛥🞟🕙alwayskeptchoicebitsofleftoversforhim.
Dimitriwasacu🃂🕂riousexampleofararespeanbeing:absent-minded，carefree，notknowingwhathewasabout，andsatisfiedwiththemerefactthathecouldstillthinka🚬🖟he.Hewasahalfbreed，withsomesortofAsianbloodbutdidnotknowwhohisparentswere.Heseemedtorememberbeinginschoolforafewyears，butwasnot🛡reallyliterate.Heworkedforawhilebutdidnotdomuchofanythihoughthewasmarriedothenmaybeheonlylivedwithawomanforawhile．Hewasnotsure．Hehadasocialsecuritynumberormaybehedidn’t．Hehadawidecircleofacquaintanoddingandsmilingtopeoplewhereverhewent，evenexgingjocurreMarks，buthedidn’thaveasinglefriend．
Hewasonlyawakeinhisdreams．OnsunnydayshewouldgoovertothelongabandonedwoodendockatLakeMerritt,filthyandsmellywithbirdexcrement.Buthedidn’tmind．Birdstohimwereflyingmessengersfromheavenwherea🚁🐚llhishopeswere.Hewouldsitonthebehem，lettingthemflyaroundhimatleonhishead，shouldersandp．Hewouldstareatthemulti-coloredcloudsihroughthecracksofwhichleakedouttheughterofparadise.Whenduskwasnearhewouldgetupandgobacktohis,pushinghisshoppingcartinfrontofhim.
Thefirstthinghedidwhehomewastotakehisdirtyoldsleepingbagfromtheshoppingcartandspreaditoutatitsusualer．Theedhis"spoils"fromthegarbage．Apairofhalf-worntennisshoes，hissizeandstillserviceable．Whydopeoplethrowthesethingsaway?Hecouldn’tuand．Then，therewasashirt，quite．Yes，hecouldthrowhisdipidatedoneaway,andtomorrowhewouldputonhisnewshirtandshoesandfeelquitedebonair．Hepyasariwhohadjustmadeamilliondolrs．HelighteduphiskerosenecookingstovetoheatupMarianna’sleftovers，andafterthissumptuousmealwouldgotob🄽🂾🔗ed．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．"Whatclotheswouldgo🗐withthem？"hemused．"Astraplessroyalblueeveninggownperhaps，ingbi-skirt?Bothwoulddo”hedecided．Justthen，thesalesgirl’sarmreachedoutandtooktheshoesawayfromthewindowdispytotrythemonaer．Dimitriwascurioustoknowwhothewomanwas，sohewalkedtotheentraheshopandpeeredin．Thebrilliaoenailspeekingfromthesilvershoesmesmerizedhimandkindledfmesofprimitivelustfromwithinhimlikelightedmatchesthrownintoabarrelofgasoline．
"MayIhe🁟🕟lpyou?"avo🔸🅝icecoldly．Itwasthestoremanageringtodrivehimaway．
"Nowayyou🐄☾🅅helpme”mumbledDimitriandpushedhiscartaway，thinkingmeanw🁾🚆hileabout"morematerialfortonight"．
Heimmediatelyydowntosleepafterhisdinnerandinnotimeheseemedtoseeanobscuremoonintheskyshiningonawindingmountainpath．Ashlitteringformsuddenlyemergedfromthewoodsarouhandstartedwalkingtowardsadarkaesehousefurtheron．Itwasafreakish，ugly-lookingpygmywearingtheeborateesofthegDynasty．Hishatandcoatweremadeofmaterialwovenwithgoldthreadandwereshininginthemoonlight．thedoorofthehouse，whichletelydark，hedrewafoot-longkeyfromhispocketandtriedtofititintotheold-fashionedeselock．Hestoodontip-toesaledwiththelodkeyforalongtimebuttonoavail．Heflewihrewthekeyontothegroundandstompedonitagainandagain，makingsqueakysoundstoexpresshisflustration．Thenhecalmeddownabit，pickedupthekeyandtriedagain．Thistimeitworked．Hecarriedtheheavylockboriouslyintothehouseandclosedthedoor．Ititchdarkinside．Heopehetrunkothedoorandimmed🂂🞥iatelytheroomlitupwiththebrilliahegemsirunk:pricelessdiamonds,rubies,pearlsandsapphiresallytherepiledinaheap．
Itwa🟤🟊sargeregurroom,lihsturdytrunksonbothsides．Thepygmyjumpedaroundopeningthistrunkandthatuntiltheyen．Hejumpedontoadeskattheendoftheroomandlookedattheimmehspreadbeforehim．Sometrunksheldgoldingots，goldsandgolds，rings，bracelets；others，silver．Hecrossedhislegsetedlyandshouted："HowrichIam!”Justthenahugepythonslitheredsoundlesslyoutfromtheerofthedark🔨🃆🕟roomandwounditselfroundandrouablewherethepigmysatcross-legged．Ohepython，thepygmyflewinteandscreamedshrilly，
"Wherehaveyoubeento?Youweresupposedththereguardireasures！Ihadtoopenthedoormyselfandalotoftroubleitcausedme!”Hegrewangrierashespoke．Onseeinghimsoangry，thepythonuncurleditselfandturoaseductiveagnakedwoman，andlikeMedusa，shehadhairofsnakes．Shekbeforehimandaskedfivehepygmypulledoutawhipfromunderhisbelt🂩andcrackeditonherinfury．Shecriedandkowtowedtobeghimforpardon．Redweltsappearedonhersnowwhiteskin．Shelookedathimbeseegly．Thepygmystoppedandturoacreaturewiththestrongmuscurbodyofamanbuttheheadofamonster．Oneeyewasinthemiddleofhisfadtheotheratthebackofhishead．Therewasarhinoceroshornoopofhishead．Hepulledthewomantoherfeet．Thegemsandtreasuresintheroomthenturomulti-coloredclouds，driftingandfloatingintheroom．Someofthemcametogetherandformedasoftmattressforthetwomoomakelove．Attheheightoftheirlove-making，theybothtransformedagaintohugepythowiogetherinaricableknot．
"Dimitri！Dimitri！！"Marianna’sboom🄽🂾🔛i🃠🙍ngvoicetohisdream．Hewokewithastartle，hisbodystillglisteningwithsweat，tofindMariannashakinghim．Whenheopenedhiseyessleepily，theseductiveagfemalemonsterwasgoneandbeforehimwasMarianna’sfat，affabletenance．"You’redreamingagai🕃🕆n!”shesaid．Dimitrismiled．Hefoundthathispantsithnoalemission．
"Howey🚍💇🏲ou🜉⛽☎didogetyourdini🍬ght?"
"ButIdid．Yo🞦🖖💥ugavemeshrimpsandstea🅂🃯🛕k．"
"Thatwasth🜤edaybeforeyesterday．Ar🅂🃯🛕en’tyouhungry?"
"What！I”vesleptfo🔸🅝rsolong？Nowthatyoume🗭🞴ntionit，I’mstarved!”saidDimitriandheheardhisstomachgrowlinprotest．Mariannahandedhimacupofhotchocote．
"Thereisfrieddhamsandwithebag．Heatitupa．Why’tyoustayawakeandfindsomeworktodoinsteadoflivinginyourdreams?"shescolded．"Whydon’tyoueandliveinmygarage?Youwon’tbeinanybody’swayandyou’llhaveadetroofovery🌇ourhead.”