The boy loved listening to people's stories, always wondering how to make them happier. He would often slip away into the nearby woods, lie back in the tall grass, and dream of a world devoid of sorrow.

One day, he drifted off right in the middle of a meadow. The gentle summer breeze, the scent of wildflowers, and the rustling grass pulled him deeper and deeper into slumber. Yet, the boy felt the exact opposite—that he had finally woken up. He found himself standing at the peak of a mountain, its slopes dotted with every story, movie, and fairytale in existence.

It was unbelievable. Mere steps apart lay entire houses, cities, countries, and planets... And every character there was flesh and blood, every event entirely real. You could actually live inside the worlds you had only ever read about!

The next time, he brought his friends and neighbors along, but they couldn't see a thing. Yet to their guide, everything was still as clear as day. So, he began taking each visitor by the hand, personally leading them into the magic.

And suddenly, it all came alive. Adults became as joyful and carefree as children.

Before long, crowds began gathering outside his house at the crack of dawn, seeking out the one they had dubbed "The Little Wizard." They brought gifts, begging him to take them back to those alternate lives.

From morning till night, he escorted them into their favorite fairytales: Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and countless others that populated the mountainside.

Gradually, the young enchanter grew utterly exhausted. He had no time to eat, rest, or enjoy those breathtaking journeys himself—his own path blocked by the thousands of hands constantly reaching out to him.

To make matters worse, the people surfacing from these daydreams began to complain that they weren't the main characters. And it was true—only Cinderella gets to ride in Cinderella's carriage, because that road leads to her prince, not someone else's. Even if we ousted her and managed to slip our foot into the glass slipper, we might find we have precious little in common with the prince anyway.

That is precisely the advantage of reality: we paint the canvas of our own days through our actions. In reality, we are the main characters. Every person's life story is simply a sequence of their own choices.

The young sorcerer grasped this secret and made an announcement:

"We have to learn how to dream again! It helps you see beyond other people's stories so you can start creating your own! And yours are just as good. They just aren't as famous, and their deeper meaning hasn't been polished by centuries of retelling like the old familiar plots."

A murmur immediately rippled through the crowd on the mountain. Some resisted—after all, it's so much easier being led by the hand. Now, they were suddenly being told to do the work themselves. Others, however, breathed a sigh of relief. It was time to leave this overcrowded place. More importantly, it was time to start chasing their own dreams.

Those who wanted to fly went off to enroll in flight school. Those who dreamed of the stage threw themselves into acting. And the rest began forging their own unique paths as well. Because now they knew for a fact: even failures are just plot twists designed to make the story more interesting.

The Little Wizard was happy: he could finally see dreams reflecting in his neighbors' eyes once more... And now, he was the one telling the stories. His tales were kind and instilled a profound sense of hope. The listeners would add to them and carry them forward, illuminating their own lives even brighter. And that was exactly how their own fairytales were born.

Nelli Verkhovska PhD in Psychology For more on alternative relationships, check out my YouTube channel