Once upon a time, in a little town, there was a boy named Ilu who lived with the Crays. The Crays were not very kind, and Ilu wished every day that he could find a place where he was loved and happy. One day, feeling very brave, Ilu decided to run away from the Crays and find a new home. That night, he dashed into the forest, hoping to find a cozy place to rest.
After running for a while, Ilu discovered a cave hidden deep in the woods. “This looks like a nice spot to sleep,” he thought, feeling relieved. He made himself a comfy space to sleep in using what he could find in the cave and snuggled in, ready for a good night’s sleep.
What Ilu didn’t know was that this cave was haunted. It was home to a sneaky ghost who liked to put a magical sleep spell on anyone who came in. The ghost wanted to have new life-size dolls to play with, so when Ilu fell asleep, the ghost cast the spell and made him become zombie like through sleep for a very long time—30 years!
Meanwhile, as Ilu was in this state of sleep, he drifted into a dream of a wonderful world where he had superpowers and everyone was kind to him. It was the happiest dream he could imagine. For the first time, Ilu felt like he was truly loved and special. He would play and have fun with everyone in this new home, and no body was mean or selfish to him.
After 30 years, the spell finally wore off and Ilu woke up feeling very different. His clothes were old and torn, his beard was long, and his tummy was grumbling with hunger. He rubbed his eyes and stepped outside the cave to see what had changed.
To his surprise, the world outside was very different from the magical dream he had lived in over the last 30 years. The town was also covered in a smelly, smoky & cloudy haze, and everyone seemed grumpy and always in a hurry. People also wore masks to protect themselves from the yucky air.
Seeing this, Ilu realized that this was not the place for him. Even though it was home for him 30 years ago, it was now not the place he wanted to spend the rest of his life. He missed the peace, kindness and magic of his dream world. So, he removed his mask; the one that was protecting him from all the smoke or bad air outside in the hope that this would send him off to find a better, happier place where he would rejoin the adventure he left behind.
And so, Ilu went back to what we hoped was a better place where he could be as happy as he had been in his dreams.
A better place, or so he thought!
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