Melchior's Dream and Other Tales

Christmas Eve in a house full of siblings, and Melchior dreams of escape. The eldest son in a bustling family, he longs for solitude, for a Christmas of his own making. After a conversation with his father leaves him feeling misunderstood and bitter, he falls asleep and finds himself driving through life alone with his siblings, confronting what his wishes for freedom truly mean. The dream becomes a journey through loss and longing, forcing him to reckon with the value of what he's taken for granted. This collection of allegorical tales, written in 1889, captures the particular ache of childhood: the tension between belonging and autonomy, between the desire to spread one's wings and the quiet truth that home is not a cage but a gift. Ewing writes with tender psychological precision, understanding that moral growth rarely arrives as a lesson learned but as a dream endured. These are stories for readers who remember what it felt like to be young and restless within the walls of love.