Dream seller

In times when there was no TV, neither radio, when people didn’t know what a telephone is, Dream Sellers lived in the world. If you would ever want to see you beloved who is far far away, or to send regards to your old friend whom you haven’t seen for years, or you wanted just to spend a night in a magical garden without stepping out from your house – you could go to a Dream Seller and buy a dream, and then simple sleeping was turning into a marvelous adventure.
Selling dreams was not an easy profession, it required a lot of knowledge and wisdom, as dreams are not always good, and one has to know how to protect customers from nightmares.

One evening Dream Seller was returning home after a trip to a neighborhood town. The day was counting its last hours, and he turned thro the magic wood to shorten the way. He was in a hurry (no one would like to spend a night with creatures of the wood). The last drops of sunlight were playing between treetops and Dream Seller was walking without looking around, but suddenly, right in a middle of the path, he saw something shining. It appeared to be an egg. “Where is your mommy?” asked Dream Seller, the egg remained silent of course. Mommy wasn’t around, the night was falling unavoidably. “It is not safe for you here” told Dream Seller to an egg, and picked it up. The egg was warm and smooth – very nice to touch. Some creature was moving inside…
Dream Seller eached his home right before the first star appeared in the sky. He made fire, boiled some tea then brought a soft pillow from his bed and put an egg on it close to a fire place to keep it warm. “Be my guest” he said smiling at egg and drinking smelly tea. “Crack Crack” said the egg… or wasn’t it what it said…? Dream Seller looked at it with a big interest (hopefully you are not the dragon’s egg). Next minute a bright shiny birdie was looking at him thro a big hole in an egg-shell.
“Oh, dear! A phoenix!” It was a small baby phoenix. He looked at Dream Seller curiously happily and said “Mommy!”
Many days passed since that evening. Baby phoenix appeared to be a very smart creature, also very playful. Once he escaped from the house while his owner was in a business trip, and burned three houses (by accident of course). It took two days to rebuilt everything with help of people and of magic, and more than a year had to pass so people stop blaming poor Dream Seller for his carelessness. How ever since that accident he made a cage from unburnable wood and was carrying the small phoenix with him where ever he was going…