[ WP ] Dreams have all been tests , and someone finally passed .

`` Listen, friend,'' continued Sid, his face remaining serene yet steadfast, `` I can help you. For all your life, you have been the land of a beautiful kingdom. A fertile kingdom that can not only rule them all, but *help* them all. The throne of this kingdom has been vacant since you were born, yet you are the the only one who has a true claim to this throne. You are this limitless kingdom's heir. Ward off the invaders, the false claimants to this throne that is rightfully yours!'' Sid grabbed Leonard's shoulders, his hands that of a comforting father. `` Join me, Leonard.'' 
 
 Leonard looked over at his old friend. They were sitting on a bench in Central Park, and this was Leonard's last-ditch effort to reclaim the childhood buddy he had known. Sid was once a knockout in both the bedroom and the boardroom. Sid was the envy of all his friends only a year ago. Now, Sid had morphed into a social pariah. 
 
 Leonard stuttered, trying to gather the right words to say to his childhood friend. `` Sid…why? Look at you! You're jobless, you have n't been laid in months, you, you --'' 
 
 `` But that's exactly it!'' interrupted Sid, his eyes growing wider with discovery, `` I appear so hopeless from another's perspective. Yes, you're right, once upon a time, I had all a 25 year old young man was *supposed* to want. Every day, I came home from work having *asserted* my dominance over others. Every night, I came home having *asserted* my alpha position above all other males, prize in hand and in bed. Yet every night…my dreams spoke to me. Once I listened to what they meant, what they said, I found the truth of these assertions I would make. I was lost asserting myself over others I never saw the ultimate battle -- assertion over myself. I had been nothing more than a prisoner. The bidding I did for the machine of society was what had been my true existence.'' 
 
 `` Listen to yourself, Sid!'' cried Leonard, `` You were doing no one's bidding. You were the man in charge, the alpha dog above us all. Why throw it away?'' 
 
 `` Why throw away what my self, my *real* self never asked for? Every night in those days, I would wake up in tears. Though by day my fears, my insecurities were well obscured by these superficial victories, by night I was a serf in the fields of my own kingdom. These temptations I have thrown away is the heroin of society, Leonard. We have been weened on these drugs since we were able to discern the figures in *GQ*, in *Forbes*. Everyone wants to be on TV, Leonard, but does anyone have any good reason *why*?'' 
 
 `` Respect, Sid, Respect!'' incredulously remarked Leonard, `` Look at yourself. You have become a black mark on your family. Others view you now as nothing more than an ungrateful, selfish bastard. You were once an inspiration to me, Sid. It breaks my heart.'' 
 
 Sidney looked into Leonard's eyes. `` That is where I wish to lead you from the blinded. Self-fulfilment does not equate to selfishness. To look within one's own mind is the only sane thing I can think of at this point. All my previous success, all my sexual conquests, they were fed by my untended insecurities, my fears, ignoring my untapped potential. Every night, those insecurities came alive, a beast let out of its cage once a day. This beast's madness only grew with each dollar I earned for the wrong reasons. This beast's sadness only grew with each woman I slept with, using lust in place of love, of empathy. Look at me, Leonard,'' pleaded Sidney. Sid's stylish wardrobe had been reduced to misconfigured rags. `` For others, I once was a peacock, and now I am a pigeon. Yet this pigeon has far more confidence in himself, far more resolve than what the peacock ever had. I do n't need colorful feathers any more.'' 
 
 Leonard tried to formulate in his mind the best strategy to conquer the puzzle that was his lost friend. `` Sidney. I love you. I care for you. It's great to hear that you have conquered your insecurities, these fears you think others have planted in you. But to other people, that's not what *matters*. What matters is you in *this* world! Not some, some... kingdom you like to think is in each of our minds. While you may give stock in this kingdom, others do n't. These ideas of yours ca n't be grounds to simply turn your back on the world around you. That's not right. You had the power to change the ways you speak of, why leave that?'' 
 
 `` Simply because I am no longer listening to the model for life others have structured for me,'' began Sid, his cadence remaining steady, `` does not mean I disregard all that is going around me. I am simply reversing the process we all have become so accustomed to. My dreams, my nightmares, are my source for growth. The system's self-serving ideas no longer impacts me. Rather, the opposite shall occur. I will seek to effect the change I wish on society. I want to help others. To try to do so within is impossible. How can a puzzle piece fit together its own puzzle? I can not force anything on you, to believe what I say -- that is counter to all that I seek.'' 
 
 Leonard stood up from the bench, breathing a sigh of frustration. His hopes of any intervention had faded by now. Leonard looked over to the young family nearby. A father was playing with his daughter. It was picturesque, yet Sidney was blind to what lay in front of him. `` Okay, Sid, go ahead. Throw it all away. Take advice from the silly dreams you have when you go to sleep. Just know that no one's following you right now. You are declaring yourself an exile. I beg you, just please think of that.'' 
 
 Sid remained at peace on the bench. He looked at the father and daughter in front of them, smiling. The picturesque scene was only tainted by the father always checking his watch. `` Well, Leonard, I guess I'm now an exile from society. What to do now, I guess?'' mused Sid, `` maybe I can look at some other exiles I know,'' smiled Leo, with his head turned to the blue sky, and back at Leonard, `` Two men by the names of Jesus and Buddha.''
