Title: Garden of Dreams
Form: story
Language: en
Canonical URL: https://pembaumoja.com/en/stories/garden-of-dreams

A charming con man makes everyone's dreams come true—for a while.

Gardener: "I give them a happiness and exhilaration they've never experienced before.
What difference does it make if it's real or not?
What is real anyway?
What is real is what we feel.

I show them flowers.
I don't force them to pick them."

Listener: Sounds like the Garden of Eden.

Gardener: No. It is a garden of dreams.
Everything is short-lived.
I take people to the Everest of happiness.

Listener: Yeah, but then it's all downhill from there.

Gardener: Yes. But at least they made the summit.

Listener: So you promise people the world?
You make their dreams come true.

Gardener: Yes.

Listener: And then?

Gardener: Does that really matter?
It is the highs in life—the peaks—that count.

Listener: And then?

Gardener: What happens after depends on them.
They make all the decisions.

I only provide opportunities— whatever they want to hear.

Listener: It's up to them to pick the flowers.

Gardener: Exactly.
