cut me loose.

“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.” 



― Stephen King

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The dreamcatcher.

It was said to be able to make bad dreams go away.
It was said to leave only good dreams.
It was said to filter out the bad dreams,
to stop the nightmares.

It was shaped like a magical web,
a protective charm.


--------

Only good dreams were allowed to filter through,
bad dreams stay in the net,
disappearing with the light of day.
Good dreams would pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.

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Knowing the origins of the dreamcatcher,
would that convince you that the dreamcatcher works?

The magical web that could keep away the bad dreams and give you a peace of mind while you sleep.

It's manmade, after all.
It's not a web spun by a magical spider,
or had a spell cast by a magical witch.
Could it be an illusion, a misconception?

So what happens when you find about its origin,
how the dreamcatcher hung on your wall is made.

Perhaps it was from a big business,
 specializing in instilling hope in dreamers.
The owners themselves probably not believe in it themselves,
using this as an outlet of revenue.

Perhaps it was from a third world country,
lowly paid children made to laboriously create this charm,
struggling to bring home some coins to feed their big family,
wishing that the charm could really work and take away their fears.


Would it have mattered?
Knowing about the dreamcatcher,
its functions, its origins,
where it was made from?

Would the dreamcatcher have worked better?

If someone gave you a dreamcatcher,
and convinced you that it worked,
would knowing how it was made affect anything?
Would it have mattered?

So if you're already convinced that the dreamcatcher works,
and have been having sweet dreams ever since,
would knowing about where it was made from -
increase empathy, or distrust?


--------


Take the dreamcatcher,
place it on the wall,
let the magical web of protection
take away the scary dreams,
take away the nightmares,
give you a peace of mind,
give you a good night's sleep.
Whether it works or not, it doesn't matter.
Don't question what it's used for,
don't question what it was made for,
don't question where it came from.
Don't tell me where it came from.

--------

Would you rather not know the truth behind it,
live a lie, and perhaps have happy sleep every night,
or would you rather be told the truth,
and struggle to overcome the nightmares every night.

----------------

M.

my parachute won't let me fly.