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Droplet Dreams

Sueños de gotas

Written by Daniel Mesa | Illustrated by Monique Kemboi | Translated by Andrea Ballesteros


[ English / Inglés ] 

Do you have dreams?

There are times when it is difficult to have dreams, and they are certainly not easy to remember, which is why I ask. Dreaming extracts us from this land — in fact, from this reality and takes us to possible and impossible worlds where we could well be the owners, or even just a tiny speck of those who dream; for example, of the serenity of the subatomic world. What was your last dream about?

There are times when I get bored, and therefore I surrender to daydreams. On rainy and quiet days, staring out the window and focusing on a droplet that hastily slides down, I imagine what a droplet, that everyone generally ignores, might be thinking. In fact, the droplet sees us so morbidly from the outside of the window and questions how it came to be that us human beings, being so complex, diverse, and interesting, let ourselves be absorbed by the reality that reduces us to particles smaller than these very droplets. The droplet feels sympathy for those who look at their mobile phones or diaries, too busy to notice those who walk in front of them, trampling their smiles, including those of children and the elderly who greet them when passing by. 

The droplet shakes off such discomfort, imagining herself falling from the sky with thousands of other drops, bouncing off the surface and returning to the top of the sky, falling at full speed and repeating this cycle, savouring it alongside all her friends; as the hours slip away, the droplet dreams that her sisters, springing from the heights, are capable, with their soft little bodies, of falling on the faces and mouths of the famished to satiate them; she also dreams of stroking land animals with her touch, racing marine animals in the sea and embracing the fresh bark of trees, all during the same storm. The droplet slides down through the window and, nearing her evanescence, she does not fear death since she knows that she will soon fall elsewhere on Earth.

While the droplet was contemplating all of this, she noticed that I was watching her, and then I understood that she was expecting me to do the same, just like my friends, hoping that those reading this story would not be afraid to live but would do so without dreams, without imagination… without illusions.

Beethoven dreamt about exquisite musical compositions, Edison about the light bulb, the Wright brothers saw themselves flying amongst birds and designed the first aeroplane and the foundations of aeronautics. Alexander Fleming dreamt about saving lives and created penicillin, and on one occasion a group of friends dreamt about connecting the world through networks, and now we cannot fathom living without the internet. In like manner, activists like Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Mandela dreamt about a fairer world, and achieved it. Dreams and illusions give meaning and direction to our existence. Today we delight in the privileges of dreamers past… What dreams do you have for the future?

A dream comes to me naturally: may yours fly high and come true without exception.

 

. . .

 

Español / Spanish ]

¿Tienes algún sueño?

A veces nos cuesta soñar y ciertamente nos olvidamos de esto. Por eso lo pregunto. La ensoñación nos extrae de esta tierra, de hecho, de esta realidad y nos lleva a mundos posibles e imposibles donde, bien podríamos ser los dueños, o simplemente una partícula para quienes sueñan, por ejemplo, con la tranquilidad del mundo subatómico. ¿Cuál fue tu último sueño? 

A veces me aburro, por ende me entrego a la ensoñación. En los días lluviosos y de quietud, mirando a través de la ventana y enfocando la gota que resbala con violencia, imagino en lo que pueda estar pensando aquella gota que todos normalmente ignorarían. La gota de hecho, nos ve tan mórbidos desde el costado exterior de la ventana y se cuestiona cómo es que, siendo los humanos seres tan complejos, diversos, interesantes, nos dejamos absorber por la realidad que a veces nos reduce a partículas más pequeñas que las mismas gotas. La gota siente pésame por aquellos que mirando su celular o agendas se ven afanados desconociendo a quienes caminan delante de ellos y mezquinando su sonrisa incluso a los niños y ancianos que en el camino les saludan. 

La gota se sacude tal malestar imaginándose cayendo del cielo con otras tantas miles de gotas rebotando sobre la superficie y volviendo a la cima del firmamento, cayendo a toda velocidad y repitiendo este ciclo, disfrutándolo al lado de todos sus amigos; al pasar las horas, la gota sueña que sus hermanas, brotando de las alturas, son capaces con sus cuerpitos blandos de caer sobre los rostros y las bocas de los hambrientos para saciarlos; también sueña haciendo cosquillas con su contacto a los animales terrestres, haciendo carreras en el mar con animales marinos y abrazándose a la corteza fresca de los árboles, todo en una misma tormenta. La gota cae resbaladiza por la ventana y estando cerca a desaparecer no teme a la muerte porque sabe que pronto caerá en cualquier otro lugar del mundo.

Mientras la gota meditaba en todo esto, notó que yo la observaba y allí entendí que ella esperaba que yo hiciera lo mismo, igual mis amigos y que quienes leyeran esta historia, no temieran a vivir sino a hacerlo sin sueños, sin imaginación… sin ilusiones. 

Beethoven soñó con hermosas piezas musicales, Edison con la bombilla, los hermanos Wright se vieron volando entre las aves y diseñaron el primer avión y las bases para la aeronáutica, Alexander Flemming soñaba con salvar vidas y creó la penicilina, alguna vez un grupo de amigos soñaron conectando el mundo a través de redes y la actualidad no se podría imaginar sin el internet. Asimismo activistas como Martin Luther King, Gandhi y Mandela soñaron con un mundo más justo, lográndolo. La ensoñación y las ilusiones dan sentido y dirección a nuestra existencia. Hoy somos privilegiados por los soñadores del pasado… ¿Qué sueños tienes tú para el futuro?

Un sueño me nace genuinamente: que los tuyos vuelen muy alto y se cumplan sin excepción.

    Daniel Mesa

    This is Daniel. When it comes to explaining his writing style, then he needs to introduce what he’s read across the years. When he was a teenager, he started with poetry, mystery novels, short-stories and mythology. As the days passed, he jumped into history, philosophy and academic essays. He writes with literary language, metaphors and uses historical facts as figures to develop the argument or characters in his stories. 

    Follow Daniel on instagram

    Monique Kemboi

    Monique is an Art Director with an interest in storytelling and engaging audiences through play. She creates art that challenges society’s view of the norm and strives to attain representation of minorities in her work. 

    view more of Monique's work

    Andrea Ballesteros

    Andrea is a Mexican historian, archaeologist, translator and educator. She is fascinated by all things past and is an avid researcher and reader. She loves taking her dog for walks, going to art galleries or museums, playing board games or doing jigsaw puzzles, trying out new recipes, and spending time with her family.

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