The Dream Pillow

Summary


The Dream Pillow is a short bedtime story that follows a child woken by frightening nighttime visions — a sword-waving pirate puppet, a bending mango tree, a bear that is somehow not quite right. Seeking comfort, the child calls out to Mama, who offers a wonderfully simple explanation: dreams are stories your sleeping mind tells you. Together, they find a way to reclaim the night, turning fear into something the child can hold, fold up, and tuck safely inside a pillow.

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When the stars are out and the moon swings in the sky, and the light in my room is low, things are different.

The pirate puppet waves his sword.
The mango tree bends its branches.
Even my teddy becomes a different sort of bear.

I keep very still in my cave of blankets, or I call, “Maaamaaa! Daaaddyyy!” or I jump into their bed.

I tell Mama about Pirate and Tree and Bear.

“You had a really bad dream.”

“What’s a dream?”

“When we sleep we think about our day, but everything gets mixed up. It feels real, but it’s not real.”

“It is real!”

“You know when we read a story together, it’s made up, but we laugh, or get scared or excited? A dream is the same.”

“You mean a dream is a story?”

“Yes! But it happens at night. You put your head on the pillow, you fall asleep, and then the story happens.”

“So a dream is a story you find in your pillow?”

“Yes!”

“Can I put the stories in my pillow?”

“You can.”

“How?”

“Let’s write down all your best stories, fold up the paper and tuck it inside the pillow.”

When the stars are out and the moon swings in the sky, and the light in my room is low, things are different.


Credits

Originally published by Book Dash under a Creative Commons Licensed BY 4.0. This book can be read for free on https://bookdash.org/books/the-dream-pillow and was created by: Lutfia Kamish-Ebrahim (Illustrator), Nadene Kriel (Designer), Nadia Davids (Writer), Diane Awerbuck (Editor)

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