Mysteria

Chapter 4: A Ray of Hope

- The dream continues:

Oleboheng could not believe the sight in front of him. Was it really his father? His grin spread wider as he slowly approached him. He looked the same as when Oleboheng was younger; there were no changes at all.

At that moment, he wanted to run to him and hug him extremely tightly, but something held him back; his hairs stood on end and he felt goosebumps all over his body, with every step his father took towards him, his heart seemed to beat faster; he felt scared.

Oleboheng wondered why he felt like this, it was his father, and he was supposed to be happy to see him after all this time, he always wished he was there to witness his success, but that wasn't possible; sometimes he would wish to tell him all about it. But this time, he couldn't. Something just didn't feel right.

"Dad, is it really you?", Oleboheng's voice was shaky and he was almost out of breath.

"In the flesh, son.", He finally reached him and stood still in front of him, towering over him, "It's good to see you again, son; you've grown."

"It's hard to believe.... This is really you...", He touched his father's arms and felt them up and down, he was solid, but was cold to the touch. Because of this, Oleboheng quickly pulled his hands back, and his father let out a deep, guttural chuckle, which sent shivers down Oleboheng's spine for some reason he couldn't understand.

"I understand, son. But I am real; I came to visit you since I missed you.", He smiled warmly at him. Oleboheng couldn't help but shed a tear; he threw himself at him and hugged him extremely tightly, ignoring his cold surfaces.

"I missed you too, father. Things haven't been easy ever since you were gone, but I managed so survive...", He sobbed.

"I know, son.", His father hugged him back for a brief second before pulling out. He looked deep into Oleboheng's eyes, making him a bit nervous. "I'm sorry that you had to suffer; but don't worry, things are bound to get exciting.", He smiled.

"How? Even if that's the truth, I don't think it'll be anytime soon because I just feel worthless... I feel like I'm gonna fail you father, I won't be able to become the World's Greatest Magician, there are so many people better than me out there..."

His father scoffed softly, he turned his head down and smiled, "That is why Moleboheng was able to learn everything faster than you did; you always doubted yourself, my son, without realizing your true greatness."

"What true greatness? I been practicing hard my whole life for this competition, and nothing seems to improve! I'm not like you, father; you were born great...", He looked down onto the black dunes on the floor, "...Unlike me."

"I wasn't born great, I worked hard to achieve everything I used to have. If you do the same, you can achieve more too."

"You're just saying that to motivate me or something."

Oleboheng's father laughed out loud, still with his guttural voice. He looked at Oleboheng questionly, "You have achieved great things already, what makes you think you can't go further?"

"I feel like there's a limit to the type of things I could achieve; I achieved goodness, but I can't go beyond and achieve greatness."

"Of course, you can. And that is why I'm here...", He grinned wider, looking deep into Oleboheng's eyes.

"Oh? Why are you here?"

"I came here to help, you are falling behind because of your lack of confidence, so I came to fix that."