BEEP BEEP... BEEP BEEP...

The alarm clock rang; that means only one thing: it should be 7am, time to wake up to go to college.

I rolled over to the other side of the bed and still sleepy I reached it with my hand to turn it off and then I grabbed my diary.

Every morning I had the habit of writing down on the diary my dreams and this routine of mine sounded odd to almost everyone when for me it wasn't, better it was essential. My dreams were vital to me as they were inspirations for my drawing and writing passions; they used to be surreal and sometimes they were so fantastic that I myself wondered how could I dream such dreams... they were so vivid and real they seemed movies, fantasy ones.

Anyway... As usual I took my time writing down my dreams on paper and then I looked out from the window admiring the sunny weather.

"Another school day" I sighed while looking out and just a second after...

"Y/n! Come or you will get late to school!". Mom was calling for me from the kitchen.

"Coming!" I shouted while rushing down the staircase with the bag in the hand.

I managed to took a shower and after getting dressed I had my breakfast quickly; I drank my coffee and snatched a sandwich and after greeting mom and dad I rushed out.

"See you later" I shouted from outdoors and then joined my best friends to get to school...

yes... another normal school day of a normal teenager, like me, just started.

"Uff... school again" one of my friends sighed on the way to school. "Always the same.. always boring".

"Oh come on.." I intervened "today will be different. There is the visit to the art gallery. Remember?".

Yes, that morning with the class and art teacher we would visit the Hayward Gallery that recently was prepared to show paintings of Joshua M. Evans, a new entry and young prodigy in the art world as the journalists liked to describe him. I never saw one of his paintings but I heard of him and his talent was known around almost all the world... and wondering what kind of paintings could he draw to be so famous I looked forward to that visit; and actually I would be the only one ecstatic among my classmates for that because I really loved arts and had a passion of drawing.

Once arrived at school, as the first bell rang, me and my friends got in the classroom and we sighed in advance of what was awaiting us as first lesson: the dreaded and damned mathematics & physics.

– Time passes by –

Finally... Finally also this boring history lesson finished and knowing what we were about to do I smiled brightly. The art teacher came into the classroom and once we packed all our things we headed out.

A good half an hour passed by walking through the streets of London to then arrive at the museum in the Southbank Centre, complex of buildings that form Europe's largest art centre.. and to wait for us out in the entrance there was the guide.

And once we joined him the visit inside the building began.

By already standing out in the square, right before the entrance, I shuddered in anticipation imaging what kind of works I would see.. and once entered I remained amazed; from everywhere the atmosphere was filled with the magic that came out from the paintings and many people were there to assist the exhibition... but most of all I remained astonished for the works I was looking to.

Paintings were hung on every wall of the corridors and halls and for how surreal they were I thought I just entered in a fantasy world... and not only I felt this feeling; everyone there was like me. It was like those works contained some kind of magic, a mysterious one.

With that feeling inside me the visit went on and as I admired the works I was astounded; not only because his drawing talent surpassed mine a lot but for the content. Those fantasy sceneries were so well-made, so detailed that seemed real as if they were real landscape... as if that boy actually took photos of real places; they were so real that I didn't know how to describe my feelings. But it was like every drawing wanted to teleport me inside themselves to admire with my own eyes those wonders...

until when I felt even more that magic feeling. I was walking through a corridor with my classmates until when I felt something that made me stop instantly in the middle of the hallway... I felt inside something strong that attracted me like when a magnet attracts a body to itself; and in fact it was like that: in my situation the magnet was a painting and I was that body that was pulled. It was as if that art work was calling out my name and I, being enchanted by the magic that came from it, halted right in the middle of the way like a statue separating myself so from my classmates.

I was perfectly fine until when all of a sudden I felt falling under some kind of spell.. that stopped me right in front of the picture and so made me fall behind my group to remain all alone.

And there I was standing motionless as a statue and bewildered to look at the painting and I remained amazed... well to tell the truth I didn't know how to describe my state in that situation; maybe it was right to say I was astonished and confused at the same time. I was astounded for the utter majesty of the landscape that left me speechless for how it was painted; but I was also confused because in that instant I thought I had seen such a scenery somewhere else... it was familiar.

It was a fantasy landscape and there was a huge building prevailing almost all the painting (foreground and centre), that encircled a wide square where at the sides of its entrance there were solid and really high columns... and there, on that place, there were lots of people gathering and among them there were soldiers, archers and other persons. At the centre of this square there was a small and simple monument covered by plants. However I couldn't recognize well what kind of building it was that encircled the square but for the size and for the simple yet regal decorations (for example the very long and narrow blue drapes hung by the parapets that looked out on the square) gave me the feeling that it was a building of a certain relevance. And two huge statues representing two winged and seated dragons divided in half the building separating the parts from each other to form an entrance that offered a passage for people to go to another structure, huge and important too, that was on the background... and the sky was clear with few clouds and a bright sun was shining over all the landscape; and among the clouds dragons were flying majestic and with such a grace.

And all of that seemed familiar to me... it was like it was a part of me somehow; could that seem one of my many dreams? It could be so but I wasn't sure about it. However, in the meantime I was there admiring that painting in utter awe.

It was amazing, every detail was perfect... I was speechless... and I was there admiring it and as I observed the drawing I felt like that picture emanated such a strong attraction as if it wanted to grab m to make me catapult inside itself to let me experience that landscape in person.

And indeed it was: from the silence of the corridor I felt like my soul was grabbed to then get closer and closer to the art work until when, once it was near it only few centimetres, it felt like as if something or someone grabbed on to it by force to then being hurled in the picture with the speed of light... in this way in a second I was teleported in that fantasy world that seemed the world of the dreams.

At first I felt the heat of the sun wrapping me and and making my body warm to then listen voices of people all gathered in a square.. it was really that of the drawing and it was the popular image of a town square where there was the typical confusion of the many and different voices of the persons there. I felt then my body being moved around the place maybe by some kind of magic and in this way I could admire that landscape from different point of views that let me see many other things that from outside I couldn't see in the painting... until when I noticed myself being at the feet of the dragon statues. Oh how they were huge!! I was in utter awe while I was looking at them and then all of a sudden I heard a powerful roar that caught my whole attention. I raised my eyes to the sky and as I saw a dragon flying almost at ground level almost touching the building's roof I felt my heart beating madly.

I stretched out the hand in front of my eyes towards the belly of the flying dragon as if I wanted to touch it and....

"Stop! Don't touch the painting... please". A masculine and young voice called me back from reality.

I woke up as I was having a dream and as I turned to see who could be there with me I noticed a boy and for his appearance he could be of my same age.

At first sight he didn't look so tall, he was average, and he was slender and had a pale complexion... and thanks to his paleness his blue eyes out stood even more looking more bright. His face was oval and had high cheekbones and his eyes and that short black messy hair of his with a tuft at the side made him adorable.

" Ehi".

"Oh... I'm sorry". That was al I was able to say in that moment.

"Are you okay?" he asked while approaching me dressed with grey trousers and a red t-shirt with short sleeves.

"Y-Yeah" I stuttered and in the heat of the moment to close my dream diary (that I opened to check the landscape of the painting) as fast as I could and while I was trying to hide it between the sheets and books I had in my hands I combined a great confusion... that made everything fall on the ground.

And right in the moment I was picking up my things and when I was getting my agenda I felt my hand being touched... by his. I blushed and retreated.

We both stood up silently and still having in his hands the diary he looked up at its cover.

"Hum... Dream diary?" he asked looking at me after reading out loud.

For embarrassment I only nodded and he chuckled.

"Joshua... I'm Joshua Evans" he presented himself and extended his arm and hand in front of my eyes to be taken by me.

"A-Are you the young talent?". At my question he smiled and nodded.

I grabbed his hand to greet him. "Y/n.. I'm y/n" I presented myself as well.

"Why are you all alone?".

"Oh.. Looks like I fell behind my classmates to admire this painting".

He smiled brightly for the compliment I just did to him and then he offered himself to accompany me to join back with my friends.

"So... dream diary?".

"Y-Yes... I keep a diary of my dreams when I can... they help me a lot for my passions of writing and drawing" I tried to explain at him and at my explanation he chuckled.

I looked at him a bit confused.

"Oh sorry.... I didn't mean it" he apologized "... but it's good what you do.. really... on the contrary, did you see something familiar to you here?".

I remained silent and when he noticed me he went all quiet too... and we kept on walking through the corridors of the museum together.

And luckily that silence became awkward at the right time that is when we arrived at the entrance where my classmates and teacher were waiting for me.

"Y/n! Finally you are here! We were waiting for you!" one of my best friends called for me.

"I'm sorry... I remained entranced by a painting and I fell behind and I got lost" I told to her.

"So... this is where we greet each other, eh?" he asked me catching my attention once again.

"Hum... yeah... sorry" I answered back. "It was nice to get to know you even if it was only for few minutes, Joshua" I smiled genuinely at him.

"Yes it was indeed, y/n" he smiled too... and then just before letting me rejoining with my classmates he put out from his pocket something: as it was little I thought it could be a lucky charm. It was a little silver circle that contained a silver star where in its centre there was a blue rock; and by the lower part of the circle, and so of the star too, three little silver feathers were hung.

"Take it please" he handed that thing to me. "It's a little thought that can help you".

"What is?" I analysed it once I had it in my hand.

"It's a dream catcher, a lucky charm that holds back nightmares.. well, this is what legends say" he smiled.

I thanked him and then went to my classmates and I joined my two besties.

"So... looks like you used well your alone time to hit on a boy" they laughed a bit.

"Who is that cutie?" one of them asked.

"Oh.. he's..." and turning to see him again behind me but still speaking with my friends I kept on "....he's an interesting guy.".

And waving at him again just before leaving to return to school I smiled... and for a second I felt I would see him again.