"I trusted you! You promised to be with me and help me but you didn't."

Ordinary's step was light as he travelled into the Unknown. Around each corner, he expected to find the Land of Promise where he would find his Big Dream.

But he didn't find it. Instead he soon found himself at the edge of a wide chasm. A haze obscured the view below. When he reached the bottom, he saw what lay ahead. And what he saw made his heart sink. He saw miles and miles of nothing but sand, rocks and a few scraggly trees. He was standing on the edge of an empty Wasteland.
"How could any wonderful Dreamgiver live here?" he thought. He wasn't sure. But the path continued, curving away into the dreary distance. So he decided to go on.

Ordinary walked. Amd walked. Everytime he became hungry, he opened his suitcase and ate. And everytime he became thirsy, he opened it and drank. And everytime he thought about his dream, he decided to keep going.

Time past. Ordinary's skin burned. His feet blistered. His bones ached. One day blurred into another. And then one day he became hungry and opened his case - and didn't find anything to eat. That was the day Ordinary began to worry. He called out to the Dreamgiver for food. But he got no answer.

Two days later, he ran out of water. He called out to the Dreamgiver again. And again, heard nothing. Fortunately, that was also the day Ordinary managed to find a trickle of water coming from a rock. At least now, he was only starving.
But if he was smart enough to find water, maybe he could find food. Sure enough, it wasn't too long before he spotted a strange bush with some strange desert fruit hanging from its branches. Ordinary tried one. It didn@t taste sweet, but it didn't taste sour either so Ordinary ate his fill.
Still the Dreamgiver was nowhere in sight.

More time past. The longest hours and days Ordinary could ever remember passed. Desperately, he began to look for a way out. One day he followed what looked like a shortcut over a ridge. But it led to a canyon that ended in quicksand. He tried travelling at night when it was cooler but he kept losing the trail.
Every delay made him more determined to find a quicker route. But every attempt only led to another dead end.
Again and again, Ordinary lost his way. Again and again, he cried out to the dreamgiver to show him the way. But no answer came. Why had he ever trusted the Dreamgiver to guide him in the first place?
The day came when Ordinary finally gave up. He sat on his suitcase and refused to move until the Dreamgiver showed up with a plan.
But the Dreamgiver didn't show up that day, or the next.
Ordinary had never felt so lost and alone. He became angry. he got angrier and angrier.
And then a hard, hot wind began to blow.

The wind blew all that day and all the next. Sand blew into Ordinary's eyes. It blew into his teeth and ears.
When the wind finally stopped, Ordinary stood up. But as far as he could see, there was only sand. The path to his dream had disappeared completely. Obviously his entire trip through the wasteland had been a waste.!
Hot tears coursed down his dirty cheeks. "You're not a dreamgiver!" he shouted at the sky. "You're a dreamtaker! I trusted you! You promised to be with me and help me, but you didn't"
Then Ordinary stumbled in despair across the sandy Waste, dragging his empty suitcase behind him. His dream was dead and now he wanted to die too.
When he came to a straggly tree, he lay down in its straggly patch of shade and closed his eyes.
That night, he slept the sleep of a dreamless Dreamer.

The next morning, Ordinary heard something. Startled, he peered up to see a shimmering Somebody sitting in he branches of the tree.
"Who are you" he asked, as she climbed down to the ground.
"My name is Faith", she said. "The Dreamgiver sent me to help you."
"But it's oo late!" cried Ordinary. "My dream is dead. When I needed the Dreamgiver most, he was nowhere in sight."
"What do you need that you have not received?" asked Faith.
"Well, if it weren't for the few springs of water I found," answered Ordinary "I'd be dead of thirst by now!"
"Yes, and?" she asked.
"If it weren't for the fruit I found, I'd be a walking skeleton," he replied. "Wait, I am a walking skeleton! I could die of starvation any minute!"
"Oh my!" Faith murmured, "And?"
"Well," huffed Ordinary "A little guidance would've been nice. Ever since I came here, it has been one delay after another. I've been wondering in circles since I don't know when. What a waste!"
"I see," said Faith, "So what will you do now?"
"Just tell me how to get back to Familiar" he said.
"I'm sorry" she said "but I can't help you with that."
"That figures," said Ordinary. "The Dreamgiver sends me a helper that can't even help."
"You might be right," said Faith, "But that's for you to decide."
Then faith walked away in a direction Ordinary felt sure was wrong.

It wasn't long before Ordinary began to have second thoughts. What if he was wrong? He wished he hadn't been so rude to the somebody called Faith. And he had began to miss her. He realised that while they were talking, he had felt hope for the first time in a really long time.
Ordinary jumped to his feet and scanned the horizon.
"Faith!" he cried, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Faith" he cried again, but there was no reply.
Then Ordinary had an idea. He climbed the scraggly tree to the top. From there, he could see Faith in the distance. As quickly as he could, he climbed down and set off in the same direction.
Later that same day, Ordinary was eating some fruit beside a trickle of water, when he saw his journey through the Wasteland in a whole new way.
Food enough for the day.
Water, when he needed to drink.
A path to follow that led to faith.
How could he have been so blind? Even when the Dreamgiver had been nowhere in sight, he had always been near.
That was the day, too, that Ordinary looked at his empty suitcase and decided it was time to leave it behind.
He made a makeshift knapsack, took his Dream Journal and feather and ink, and walked on.

After that, whenever Ordinary saw a straggly tree, he climbed it and looked for Faith. And when he had her in sight, he marked the direction and started walking again.
One day, Ordinary met some dreamers returning to Familiar. They told him a sad story. They had crossed the Wasteland and nearly reached the Land of Promise. But then they encountered Giants so large and overwhelming that the dreamers felt as small as grasshoppers. And the Dreamgiver had been nowhere in sight.
The Nobodies sounded convincing. And he recognised their weariness. But as they continued talking, he saw something more. The had stopped trusting the Dreamgiver and now they were travelling in the opposite direction of Faith.
When the Nobodies strongly warned him that what lay ahead was too hard, he saw something else. He had changed. His trip through the wasteland had not been a Waste. Now he was prepared for what lay ahead no matter how hard.
"Travel safely," he told the returning Nobodies, "But I'll be going on."
As Ordinary pressed on through the desert, his Dream beat brightly in his chest again. And the more the sun blazed, the more Ordinary believed that he could find the Land of Promise, no matter how long it took - if only he took the way of Faith......

This is an excerpt from "The Dream Giver" by Bruce Wilkinson...