CHAPTER 8 THE SLEEPER’S DREAM
Many months passed. The world continued to bloom with kindness. People no longer called Graham The Sleeper with curiosity — now they said his name with love. Children learned about him in school, not as a man who slept for two hundred years, but as someone who reminded the world how to feel again.
Graham spent his days quietly now. He didn’t travel as much. He liked to sit near the window and watch people walking together, laughing, helping each other. Mara often visited him in the evenings. She brought news from different cities. “The Circle of Light is everywhere now,” she said proudly. “Your message has touched hearts across the world.”
Graham smiled softly. “It was never my message,” he said. “It was always their dream. I only helped them remember it.” Mara looked at him for a long moment and whispered, “You are too humble, Graham.” He laughed gently. “Humility is just another form of truth, Mara. When people forget pride, they find peace.”
He was growing weaker each day, but his spirit stayed bright. Daniel visited often and said, “You should rest more.” Graham replied, “Rest is what I did for two hundred years. Now I wish to stay awake until my heart finishes its work.”
One night, he asked Mara to sit beside him. His voice was calm, his eyes full of peace. “Mara,” he said, “when I first woke up, I was afraid. I didn’t understand this world. But you were kind to me. You showed me that kindness never grows old. I am thankful for that.” Mara took his hand gently and said, “You gave the same kindness back to all of us. The world is softer because of you.”
Graham looked out the window at the night sky. The stars shone brightly, like tiny lamps in the darkness. “Look at them,” he said quietly. “They shine for everyone, not just for a few. That is how love should be — shared, simple, endless.”
A soft silence filled the room. Mara felt tears in her eyes. “You sound like you are saying goodbye,” she whispered. Graham smiled faintly. “Not goodbye. Just another kind of sleep. But this time, I am not running from the world — I am leaving it full of hope.”
He asked her to promise one thing. “Tell people to keep helping each other,” he said softly. “Tell them not to forget that life is short, but love is long.” Mara nodded with tears streaming down her face. “I promise, Graham,” she said.
Later that night, Graham lay down on his bed. His eyes were half-closed, and his breathing was calm. He whispered, “I once slept because I was tired of life. Now I will sleep again because I am proud of it.”
Mara sat beside him, holding his hand. Daniel stood quietly near the door. The clock ticked softly, and outside, the wind carried the sound of laughter from the street — people living in the world he had healed.
Graham looked up once more and said in a faint voice, “If I ever dream again, I hope to see this same world — full of light, full of love.” A gentle smile appeared on his face, and then he closed his eyes.
The next morning, the sun rose gently, brighter than usual. People in the city woke up and saw a new message on the screens and papers — The Sleeper has gone to rest again, leaving behind a world full of peace.
Everywhere, people lit candles and whispered prayers. Children drew his face and wrote below it, “He taught us to care.” Mara stood before a crowd and said, “He didn’t build the future — he built the hearts that will create it.”
Years later, people still remembered him not as a man who slept, but as the man who made humanity awaken. In every smile, in every kind act, his light lived on.
And somewhere beyond time, in a gentle dream, Graham smiled — watching the world he had loved so deeply. His long journey had ended, but his message stayed forever.
The End..
