City council passes a law: every citizen must tithe one dream per week to the State Dream Bank. Dreams fuel public works, powering streetlights and buses. People line up at kiosks, pressing foreheads to glass, exhaling dreams into vials. At first, it is novel. Streetlights glow with surreal hues. Buses hum lullabies. Then side effects appear. Citizens wake groggy, creativity dulled. An underground movement arises, hoarding dreams. Zara joins reluctantly. She likes contributing but hates feeling emptied. The group hacks kiosks, redirecting dreams to shelters and art studios instead of infrastructure.
The city notices crime drop near studios where dream-rich art blooms. Officials investigate. A councilmember, secretly part of the underground, leaks data: public works do not need that many dreams; budgets could handle more electricity. The sleep tithe was about control, not power. Protests erupt, fueled by vivid dreams of freedom. Council repeals the tithe, replacing it with voluntary donations. Buses run on batteries again. The Dream Bank remains for those who want to share. Zara keeps a dream journal, tithing when she choosesâa dream about flying becomes street art projected on buildings. The city hums with chosen dreams, not taxed ones. Kiosks are repainted with murals of open eyes, a reminder that dreams are wealth best spent freely.
Years later, tourists visit to donate dreams for novelty. Zara becomes a guide, explaining consent and scarcity. She keeps one vial from the tithe era, labeled "fear of drowning." She releases it into a fountain during a summer heatwave, watching the water ripple with borrowed courage. Kids splash through it, unafraid, proof that dreams shared willingly can cool more than streetsâthey can ease old laws' burn.
The city museum mounts an exhibit of early dream vials, dimly glowing. Visitors listen to audio of donated dreams, laughing or crying. Zara records a tour in which she says, "When someone tells you to pay in dreams, ask for their receipts." The line becomes a slogan printed on protest shirts nationwide.