There was a man named Adrian, who had the rare and terrifying ability to enter people’s dreams. He wasn’t sure how or why he had this power, but it began when he was a boy, slipping accidentally into the slumbering minds of his friends and family. He quickly learned to keep this secret, for when he told his mother, she grew pale and called it a curse.

By the time he reached adulthood, Adrian had learned to control it. At first, he only used his ability for fun—playing pranks inside people’s dreams, twisting their fantasies into something surreal or amusing. He would alter the landscape of their minds, turning an ordinary beach into one made of glass, or making animals speak riddles in strange tongues. No one knew the tricks were his doing, and people woke confused but none the worse for wear.

But things changed when Adrian encountered a woman named Elara.

Elara’s dreams were different. They were filled with shadows, old traumas, and things she kept buried deep. The first time Adrian entered her dreams, he found himself in a dark forest where the trees whispered secrets and the ground shifted beneath his feet. The air was thick with tension, as though the dream itself resented his presence. He saw figures—people from Elara’s past, their faces contorted in anger and fear—and realized that these were her memories, twisted by pain and regret.

Adrian knew he shouldn’t stay, that this dream was too personal, too raw, but something compelled him to return night after night. Each time, he ventured deeper into the labyrinth of Elara’s mind. He saw fragments of her life—moments of loss, betrayal, and love—but they were always tinged with darkness. It became clear to Adrian that Elara was trapped by her own memories, reliving them over and over in her dreams.

One night, as Adrian stood in the middle of Elara’s dream, a figure emerged from the shadows—a version of Elara, but different. She was older, weary, her eyes hollow and her voice barely a whisper. “Why are you here?” she asked, her voice echoing through the dreamscape.

“I... I don’t know,” Adrian replied, though he knew it wasn’t true. He had been drawn to her pain, to the depth of her suffering, as though trying to fix it. But he realized now that he couldn’t. It wasn’t his place.

The dream-Elara studied him for a moment. “You can’t help me,” she said. “No one can.”

Adrian felt a pang of guilt, but before he could say anything, the dream began to crumble around him. The trees withered, the sky turned black, and the ground opened beneath him. He fell through the void, tumbling deeper into her mind until he landed in a place he had never been before—a small, hidden part of her psyche where she kept her most fragile hope.

It was a memory of a field of flowers, sunlight streaming through the clouds, and a young Elara laughing as she ran through the grass. Adrian realized this was her sanctuary, a place untouched by the darkness that plagued the rest of her dreams. He wanted to preserve it, to protect this one bright corner of her soul, but he wasn’t sure how.

Suddenly, the real Elara appeared in the dream, standing beside him. She looked around, her eyes widening in surprise. “I haven’t been here in years,” she whispered. “I’d forgotten.”

“This is yours,” Adrian said softly. “You don’t have to live in the shadows.”

Elara turned to him, her gaze filled with uncertainty. “How do I stop it?”

Adrian didn’t have an answer. He wasn’t a healer or a guide; he was just a man who wandered through other people’s minds. But he knew that the only way to truly escape her nightmares was for Elara to face them herself.

“I can’t fix this,” Adrian said, his voice heavy with regret. “But you can. This place—this hope—it’s still inside you. You just have to choose to fight for it.”

Elara stared at him for a long moment, then slowly nodded. The dream began to shift, the darkness receding as light filled the space. Adrian could feel the change, the weight lifting from Elara’s mind, and he knew it was time to leave.

As he withdrew from her dream, Adrian realized something had changed within him too. He had always thought of his ability as a way to explore, to meddle in the lives of others without consequence. But now he understood that dreams weren’t just playgrounds—they were windows into the soul, fragile and precious.

From that night on, Adrian stopped entering dreams for fun. Instead, he used his power to help, guiding people through their nightmares and helping them find the strength within themselves to heal. And though he never saw Elara again, he often thought of her, knowing that somewhere in the depths of her mind, a field of flowers still bloomed beneath the sun.