Dreams

 He had his nose pressed against the glass door of the bakery, peering at the colorful and tasty-looking pastries, the glazy brownies, the sugar-coated biscuits, and all of the items at the bakery, just the sight of them made his mouth water, "How lucky are the ones who can afford all these things, I wish I too could pamper my taste buds with all these varieties" he thought.

"Oy you, get lost", the guard yelled at him, and he instantly ran away.

He was passing by a school building, looking at the students enviously, as they passed him in a hurry, bumping into him every other minute and uttering a low sorry, the one he could barely hear. "I wish I too could go to school, were those uniforms with the schoolbag, how proud then I would feel, and how honorable it would be for me to have the label of "Student", and be eyed as someone respectful", he thought, "Can't you please stand a little by the side, you've left no space to walk by", said a teacher excruciatingly as he bumped into him, and nearly tripped. "Sorry" he muttered and walked away.

He was standing by a wooden fence on a lawn of a big bungalow, admiring the evenly mowed grass, and the colorful, well-managed flower beds that lined the grass, and at the same glancing at the bungalow that stood against him. "Hey you, get off my father's premises" he heard a voice and looked up to spot a well-dressed boy of his age, standing in one-of-the-many balconies, and looking down at him with a mixture of contempt, and disgust. 

He silently walked away, still looking back at the bungalow, as he added it to his wish list.

He was standing under a tree by the roadside, trying vainly to protect himself from the heavy rain, when a car whooshed past, showering water around it from the puddles on the road. 

Drenched in muddy water, he stared at the car as it mixed into the traffic "I wish I too could own a car" he thought.

He entered his house, trying not to make a creek as he pushed open the door, his younger sisters were sitting cross-legged on the floor with their mother, learning embroidery, they all looked up as he entered, and their eyes sparkled with joy as their gaze fell to the shopper of bread in his hand, "I sold outside the school today, earned loads'' he announced as he handed his mother the shopper to distribute the two loaves amongst her children equally. They all chatted away as they gobbled down their pieces.

He was driving his car as he entered his street and honked in front of his gate. The guard pulled open the gate.

He parked his car in his garage and stepped out, carrying a box of cake in his hands. He let out a long sigh as he entered the hall and discovered that no one was home to celebrate his special day with him.

He just dumped the box in the already-crammed refrigerator and bruised and battered than ever, went to his room.

His mind whirled back in his memories as he remembered his dreams as a kid.

A dream to buy those bakery items, a dream to attend school, a dream to own a car, a dream to have a bungalow and so many more.

Why how foolish he was to dream of all these useless things when he had the biggest blessing. In his attempt to pursue his dreams, he had, at last, got everything he had ever dreamt of, but had lost a single thing, that he hadn't even cared about when he had, but now when he had all the luxuries of life, he didn't have what was known as "Happiness".

A mere nine-lettered word that was equal to every comfort and luxury of life. A tear trickled down the corner of his eye and absorbed in the pillow, leaving a tiny, microscopic dot on the cover as his memories washed over him.