The dream catcher

THE DREAM CATCHER

On a foggy Friday night of the year 1974, I was sitting on a booth at Brenda's Diner, just doing my homework and taking sips every now and then of my chocolate milkshake. I was minding my own business when suddenly I heard the loud sound of wheels squeaking on the ground. I knew right away where that din was coming from, and just by the sound of it, all my muscles got tense. When I heard the little bell that was on top of the door greeting the unpleasant customers, I lowered my gaze to my math notebook, knowing what was about to come. I could hear their rowdy footsteps coming straight to my booth. In the blink of an eye, I was face to face with the one and only Jack Cusack, the degenerate who loved picking on nerdy boys just for fun. He wasn't alone though, he always came with his little gang of stalkers who obeyed every single thing that he said.

He cleared his throat and crossed his arms, making me look at him apprehensively. I noticed that he was wearing his signature rings, the ones with which he tormented all of his victims when he had the occasion.

"What's a little crap like you doing away from home on a night like this?" He said with a devious grin on his face.

"Hey, look! The nerd's doing homework on a Friday night! Don't you think we should give him a lesson, Jack?" The shortest one of the gang took the milkshake and spilled it all over my notebook. The rest of the gang hollered with laughter.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, Madden. 'Cause trust me, the next time I see you doing homework on a Friday night, I'll give you the thrashing of the century. Do you hear me?" Jack made a fist and shoved it right in front of my face, making his voluptuous rings shimmer.

"Y-yeah, it won't happen again, Jack."

"Good boy," he lowered his fist. "Now, do me a favor and get out of my sight."

I took the stained notebook and stood up. Then, the gang sat down noisily on the booth I was occupying.

I sat on one of the chairs in front of the counter and tried to remove the chocolate from the notebook with a napkin, but it was useless. Once again, Jack and his gang had made a fool out of me, and I could feel the rage boiling inside my body. All I wanted at that moment was to give Jack a lesson, but I didn't know how: I was just a scrawny boy and he was well-built and hefty, I had no chance.

I was so concentrated on my thoughts that I didn't notice that the man on the chair beside me was saying something.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I was asking if you were okay. I saw that those guys were bothering you."

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. This happens almost every day, especially if I run into them in high school."

"You should stand up for yourself one of these days, kid."

"Yeah, as if it was that easy. Have you looked at them? They look like five apes and they sure know how to fight."

The man, who was short and stout, had a sympathetic smile on his rounded face. He patted my shoulder with his chubby hand, and then turned in his chair to reach for his briefcase.

"What's your name, kid?" He said rapidly. I couldn't help but stare at his thin lips, which were slightly stained with ketchup.

"Dustin. Dustin Madden."

"Well Dustin, what if I told you that I have something that could really help you?"

"Do you have a gun or something like that?" I scoffed.

"No, something even better," he took out from his briefcase a little dream catcher. Its wings wiggled slightly when he handed it to me. "This makes all your dreams come true on full moon nights. The only thing you have to do is hang it from your ceiling, right above your bed like a regular dream catcher, and dream. But be careful, this tool can be really dangerous depending on what you dream."