In a quiet and distant town called Coldmind, there is a castle that for thousands of years has been the strangest and most mysterious place, a place that many would consider abandoned and lonely if it were not for the majestic garden that resides among its fields, a garden that shines night and day, brighter than the sun and with more charm than the moon.
It is said that who resides there is someone called "Lady Floravella", a woman who has been the sole owner of that gigantic castle. Strangely, no one else has seen her for many years, and although many think that perhaps she is no longer alive, what no one can object is that someone has been in charge of maintaining that garden in an exceptional way. No one has been able to approach the castle's shores for fear of finding what has not been lost.
Many rumors and news were spread, and with this, an experienced reporter decides to take what for her could be the case that marks the beginning of her great dream, to be a successful journalist. Her name is Hellen, a woman who has made the longest journey of her life to find the scoop on a story that has never even begun. Why?
The inhabitants of Coldmind say that many have tried to photograph, see or enter Lady Floravella's castle, but the truth is that many have returned without knowing what they have found, not being crazy but with a rather strange attitude. Even so, this does not seem to discourage this young and reckless adventurer of information, and being already in that town she prepares to go to the famous castle.
Already in the vicinity of that place, Hellen begins to practice her dialogue in case she meets someone who can give her valuable information about the castle and its owner. She starts to pull a recorder and a notebook out of her bag, but as she does so she drops a few things.
"You can't go astray on this special occasion my friend," Hellen reasoned to herself as she bent down to pick up her pen.
And so all ready, Hellen stood at the gates of her destination, and a large barred wall stood in front of her. There was no need to knock for it to fly away and leave the field in full view of the reporter.
"It must be an optical illusion to scare away the curious," said Hellen as she moved forward.
And in a few steps she came upon the beauty of that garden, which seemed to smile at her as she came closer and closer. It was a very beautiful field, lined with many flowers, trees that floated above the ground and plants that sang as they embraced each other. The ground seemed to be made of diamonds and sapphires, and everything seemed to be sprinkled with stardust, for everything sparkled, even down to the dry leaves.
"Our mistress has arrived"-said the lilies and gardenias.
But they were not referring to an astonished Hellen who did not understand what was happening, but at the end of a corridor adorned with clocks that did not run and were frozen on the Sabbath, the figure of a woman was beginning to come into view, a very tall young damsel as white as snow, adorned in a green dress that matched the brown of her eyes and the scent of her hair.
"Are you the daughter of the landlady? -Hellen asked in her palpable confusion.
"I am and always have been the sole mistress of this castle. My name is Lady Floravella" -Responded the beautiful woman.
Not quite believing it, the reporter steeled her sanity to say:
"If you are the owner, can you tell me what you have done to the garden?"
"Of course. That's the work of the dream collector" - nodded Lady Floravella.
"Ah ok, that's the name of your gardener. But how does he keep it so beautiful and shiny, apart from those well put together tricks?
Then that mysterious lady understood Hellen's intention, and so she replied:
"The dream collector is not my gardener, it is just a little hummingbird who night by night fills its thimble with the dreams and ideas of all the inhabitants of this place. Then, at dawn it waters the fields by overflowing its thimble over them, and at the end it goes off to play with the sun to see who is cleverer at chess."
"What nonsense is this!" -Hellen said in a mocking tone.
But that did not seem to disturb Lady Floravella who kept dancing to the beat of her own voice.
"Can you tell me where the real owner of this castle is? Obviously you are just a young dreamer" - exclaimed the reporter.
But Lady Floravella ignored the tone and accepted the compliment as she replied:
"You will see my nights and you will see my days but you will never see the old age of my life. Since the hummingbird began to bring all the dreams for my garden, I have given it my years so that it may live, and so this garden is our written pact, as I exchange my days for the beauty and charm it sheds with its thimble."
And is it not an unjust act to take someone else's dreams? -Hellen asked with some indignation.
"Not at all, my friend. This star made hummingbird only takes the dreams that in human hands will never come true, and by putting them in its thimble it purifies them and pours them into this beautiful field before you today. Now I must leave you dear visitor, we will never see each other again but it was nice to meet you, and please be careful because today is precisely Saturday, the day the sun does not like to play chess".
Those were Lady Floravella's last words as she faded into the green of her dress and lay down on the shores of a place that seemed to sigh and live for her. On the other hand, Hellen understood nothing of what had happened, and back in the village it was much that she thought and little that she learned.
Bewildered and astonished, Hellen could not explain anything that had happened, and the little she remembered no one believed it, and so she ended up just like those characters who at some point came with a purpose to that castle and it was taken away from them by the dream collector.
So much was the impact of that experience, that Hellen gave up her interest in being a reporter, and after several months she discovered her great talent as a writer, and since then she has dedicated herself to writing books and poetry books that have given her more than success, satisfaction and happiness for her work. Sometimes Hellen tries to remember something of that visit to Lady Floravella's castle, but nothing comes back to her even though on certain Saturdays a hummingbird perches at her window with a chessboard under its wings.
