“It’s almost winter break,” I broke the silence.

The air felt chilly, almost too cold for Mia and me to be studying on the rooftop. “Mia!” I said, which made her snap out of her thoughts.

“Sorry,” she groaned. “The people above my apartment were mining a mountain last night. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Sorry to hear that. It’s almost winter break, you can catch up by taking endless naps,” I said, and shuffled through my notes. “We have this essay due on Tuesday. It’s about…”

I looked up to find her lost in thought, staring at the crows. “You’re not listening, are you?” I almost snapped.

“Huh? Um, sorry. What were you saying?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes and explained, “I was telling you about the essay we have due on Tuesday. It’s about ‘dreams’. I’d like to know yours.”

My words grabbed her attention and without a thought, she started blurting things out. “…I don’t know, maybe a big mansion, designer clothes, a trip to Disneyland, a Tesla for transport…”

I cut her off, “You can’t be serious.”

“What?” she said.

“Don’t act like you don’t feel the same,” she snapped back.

I looked down and smirked. “Maybe I don’t. I feel like we should dream small, something we can achieve easily. Something like getting a job, helping people and having a family. The job could be working in a small café, helping might be giving a penny to a homeless man and family could be that one person. Someone out there is living my dream, your dream. But the important thing is that we are living someone else’s dream too.”

I stood up, “Follow me.”

I walked to the parapet wall and leaned against it as Mia joined me. We could see the entire street.

“Look at that man,” I said, pointing towards a homeless man sitting on the pavement.

While Mia stared at him, I pointed to a girl sitting alone on a bench, having lunch, looking almost too awkward to talk to anyone.

“Imagine her dream being to have a friend.”

Mia nodded, and I knew she had understood.

We packed our things and headed to the front door. Mia glanced at the clock and we said our goodbyes. When I heard the door close behind her, I walked to the window to watch her leave.

As I was about to look away, I saw Mia giving some change to the homeless man. Then she walked over to the girl we had seen earlier and started a conversation.

I smiled, feeling a little lighter myself and went back to finish my essay, knowing that even small acts could make someone’s dream come true.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 27th, 2025