The world had changed since he last looked upon it. Night had turned into day. As it had every time he slept. But today, today was different. It wasn’t really anything significant; at least, not in the grand scheme of things. But something was missing. Something special, something that should have been.

It was hard to say what it was, but it felt like ‘family’, something which had always been an alien concept to him. Something he’d never really had before. The one thing he’d always longed to have. Maybe that had been what he had dreamed about this particular night, perhaps. The reason the world looked different, sadder, lonelier.

But the sun shone as bright as it did the day before, the grass as green as ever, birds chirping and singing happily. Nothing was different except his perspective. So he shook his head, got out of his small bed, and did what he always did. Continue on, hoping for the best, hoping for his dreams to become a reality. Settling for less had never been his style, after all.

Waking up is no reason to stop dreaming.