A Dream of Two Cities

It was morning and the sun was just beginning to rise
in the North West of England - over the city of
Liverpool - illuminating some tall beech trees and a
red-bricked building that stood in the grounds of St
Vincent’s School for Visual Impairment.

Inside the school, fast asleep in the residential unit,
was a boy called Will.

Will’s alarm clock had just burst into life and was
shrieking like a maniac. It was 6 o’clock in the
morning and it was time to wake up.

Will stretched his arms and yawned, reaching over to
stop the shrill of his alarm.

“Ridiculous noise…”

As Will bashed his alarm clock into submission, a
memory of that night’s dream flashed into his mind.

Will ran his hand over his head, ruffling his hair, as
if to try and shake his dream from it.

“That was a
strange dream.”

“A shark and a
crocodile dancing
together?”

Will swung his legs out of bed and went to get some
breakfast, intrigued by the image of the shark and the
crocodile in his mind.

Will sat down for breakfast. Cathy – one of the
school’s care staff – poured him some cereal.

“How did
you sleep,
Will?”

“Actually, I
had a bit of
a strange
dream…”

Will told Cathy all about what he could remember.

“You should tell
your friends
about it.”

“Yeah – I will. I’ve
got my creative writing
club later.”

Later that day, in Mr. Benbow’s creative writing club,
the group members were all together.

“Has anybody got
any ideas for a
story this week?”

“I have - but it
isn’t going to make
much sense.”

“That’s okay, Will.
Inspiration for a
story can come
from anywhere.”

“Well, in my dream last
night, I was by a
harbour, or something -
somewhere by the sea.”

“I remember a notice board, & on it, I
saw an image of a crocodile & a shark,
circling each other. They looked like they
were about to fight or dance...”

“The place seemed familiar, somehow, and
I remember a river - that was in a city
- and I was walking along a promenade…”

“…seeing lots of different types
of boats and hearing different
sounds. And I remember a great
big statue of a soldier.”

The group members all listened intently…

“It does…
it could be
the River
Mersey.”

“That sounds “There are “And tall
like Liverpool, lots of docks buildings and
to me.” down there.” statues.”

“Could you tell us
anything else, Will? How
did the dream make you
feel?”

“Good work,
guys…it could well
be Liverpool.”

“It wasn’t scary or
anything - it was kind of
a nice dream. I remember
actually feeling hopeful –
like good things were
happening.”

Mr. Benbow
paused for a
few seconds -
thinking to
himself...

“Gentlemen - how about we organise a trip to
town? Head down to the river. See if
anything clicks with Will as something he
recognises from his dream. It’d be like a
treasure hunt – a bit of an adventure -
following the clues of a dream. Could be fun
- maybe even the start of a good story…”

“Yeah! I like “Me too! A treasure
the sound of hunt…”
this.”

Thirty minutes later – after grabbing their coats and
canes – the group were at the Albert Dock, in town.

“Why don’t
we head
down to
the river?”

“See what might
look familiar...”

“Whilst we’re here – does
anybody know much about
the history of Liverpool,
as a port?”

“No – not
really…”

Mr. Benbow gave a little overview to the group.

“Well, Liverpool has a very long history and celebrated its
800th birthday in 2007. Anyway, back in the 1800s, Liverpool
grew to become a major port - as part of the Industrial
Revolution. It handled much of the country’s cargo and freight
– handling raw materials like coal and cotton. The city went
on to become a major point of departure for emigration – with
many English and Irish people migrating to North America.
Another thing that I’ll tell you - and I’m sure you’ll all know
this story – Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White
Star Line shipping companies, and was the port of registry for
the most famous of all ocean liners…”

“TITANIC!”

“Correct, Jack. So, you can see
that Liverpool has a really
important seafaring heritage -
and the Merseyside Maritime
Museum, behind me, was opened
to share the international
importance of Liverpool as a
gateway to the world.”

“A gateway to the world…”

“No – not
really…” “Are you thinking something, Will?”

“Yeah – I am. I’m thinking of a statue I saw
– of a soldier, stood by a river. He looked
like the commander of an army. He was
dressed in a smart uniform - and he had a
sword - and he was staring out to sea. He
looked determined – as though he was about
to take on a storm, or an army. And I
remember that there was a message
underneath the statue. It said, ‘…in the sea,
we are glorious’.”

“Wow, Will… that’s some real detail you
have there – impressive memory. I think we
should go and speak to somebody at tourist
information - see if they know of anything
that matches your description. I know
during the Second World War that the
Albert Dock was used as a base for the
the British Atlantic Fleet. Maybe there’s a
statue somewhere as a tribute to that.
Let’s go and try to find out.”

“This is a bit “It is! The
exciting, Jack!” adventure has
begun, Joseph!”

Outside the tourist information centre…

“Wow, Will… that’s some real detail you “Here’s
have there – impressive memory. I think we hoping.”

should go and speak to somebody at tourist

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Dock was used as a base for the the

IBstrnaisttiiusdehesAottmlhaenewthicteorFeuleraeists.taMiatnryifbboeurtemthaetortei’toshnaat.centre, Will explained to

tLehte’s mgoemfinbderouto.”f staff about what he was looking for.

“Actually, there are a
couple of statues like
that that you could try…”

“Try the statue of Captain
Frederic John Walker, at the
Pier Head. He was a Royal
Navy Officer - and he stares
out to sea.”

“Then, there’s a statue of Major General William
Earle - outside St George’s Hall. I know that he
is in a smart military uniform. He also looks very
‘determined’ – as you put it.”

Outside, Will told the group what he had found out.

“Good work, Will.
Let’s get to the Pier
Head then...”

The group walked along the majestic riverside – passing
the iconic buildings of the ‘Three Graces’...

“This is
an
amazing
place...”

…when suddenly, Joe
spotted the statue.

“There it is! Over
there... C’mon.”

“Well, he’s “But there’s no sword
certainly looking - and these feel
out to sea…” like… binoculars.”

“Yeah – It’s
not your
statue, Will.”

“I still think it’s
interesting that he’s
staring out to sea...”

“No – it’s definitely
not.”

“It is – and remember
- all this came from a
dream. Will didn’t
know this was here.
How unusual is that?”

“It certainly
seems a strange
coincidence.”

“Let’s go for a
look at that
second statue.”

The group then walked across town to the cultural
quarter, with Mr. Benbow sharing a little about what he
knew of St George’s Hall. He explained that it was built
by the Victorians in 1854; that it was intended to be an
outward expression of pride, confidence and ambition for
the city of Liverpool – and was designed to lift the
human soul beyond itself and is now regarded as one of
the finest buildings of its kind in the world.

“I had no idea that “It certainly
Liverpool was such an seems a strange
important city, guys.” coincidence.”

“I hear you, Tom.
Maybe that’s the point
of your dream, Will… to
help us to get to know
our city.”

“That’s a nice “Hey - LOOK!
thought, Joseph…” There’s the
next statue!”

“He’s got a
sword!”

“And he looks
determined!”

“He does – it’s
close to what I
remember. But it’s
not the statue from
my dream…”

“Ah, man. I thought
this would be it…”

“I know – but he’s not
holding the sword in
the same way…”

“…and he’s not
by the river.”

“Well, maybe your “It was only a
dream is a dream, after all?”
combination of
these two statues?”

“Maybe – but my “Good lad, Will – hope
dream felt full of – I like it. That’s a
hope…” real treasure worth
pursuing.”
“This doesn’t
feel like the
right outcome.”

“Right – let’s go…”

“Where to?” “Cake and coffee –
that should help with
the search. We’ll head
to the Museum of
Liverpool.”

The group headed back to the riverside, where the
museum was situated....

“This area feels
familiar…”

“It does,
doesn’t it?”

“We’re back by the
first statue again…”

“Why are we here
again, Mr .Benbow?”

“Well, we felt
hopeful when we
were last here…”

“…and I think the
binoculars that Captain
Walker is holding are a
clue – that we need to
look closer around here.”

“That’s an exciting
idea…”

“It is – but now let’s
get some CAKE!!!!”

Inside the museum café, the group members chose the
cakes and drinks that they fancied...

The conversation went quiet as they all tucked in.

“Mmmmm…”

“This sure does look
delicious…”

“Superb.”

After finishing their snacks, the group then convened in
the impressive entrance hall of the Museum of Liverpool.

“It says in the guide
that there’s a ‘Creative
Liverpool’ section
upstairs. Let’s go have
a look around.”

“Look at this
staircase!”

Up on the first floor, the group members began to
explore – discovering more and more about Liverpool...

There were lots of creative materials about the Beatles
- and, in particular, about John Lennon.

“Hey – look at this…”

“…these lyrics by John Lennon… from
one of his songs – ‘Imagine’ - “You
may say that I’m a dreamer, but
I’m not the only one.”

“Ha! Will is like a “It does appear that
dreamer – his dream all of this seems to
brought us here. be connected,
Could all of this be somehow. So much of
connected, Mr. what has transpired
Benbow?” today has come
together in such a
way that it seems to
be almost steering us
toward something that
we seem destined to
find.”

The group members then split up, to cover more of the
museum in their search for potential answers.

“Hey – look here… this
plaque. It’s about Carl
Jung and Liverpool.”

“Carl Jung was a famous
psychiatrist and thinker from
Switzerland. He never visited
Liverpool, but he once had a
dream about it. Listen to this
passage that he wrote…”

“I found myself in a dirty, sooty city. It was night, and winter, and
dark, and raining. I was in Liverpool. With a number of Swiss, I walked
through the dark streets. I had the feeling that we were coming up from
the harbour, and that the real city was actually up above. In the centre
was a round pool, and in the middle of it, a small island. While
everything round about was obscured by rain, fog, smoke and dimly-lit
darkness, the little island blazed with sunlight. On it, stood a single tree
– a Magnolia – in a shower of reddish blossoms. It was as though the
tree stood in the sunlight and was at the same time the source of the
light. I can still see the greyish-yellow raincoats, glistening with the
wetness of the rain. Everything was extremely unpleasant, black and
opaque – as I felt then. But I had had a vision of unearthly beauty, and
that was why I was able to live at all. Liverpool is the ‘pool of life.”

“This has given me an
idea. Let’s go back to
school.”

Thirty minutes later, the group were back in the school
library, ready to find out what the next course of
action was going to be.

“Right, Will, log on
to a computer and
type in the word
‘statue’ and that line
you remembered, ‘in
the sea we are
glorious’…”

Will logged on to the computer and began his search...

…it brought up lots of images of statues, so Will began
to scroll down through the photographs…

…and then, suddenly, he spotted something that he
recognised. He leaned in for a closer look…

“GUYS! THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE ONE!”

The group members quickly gathered around...

“Wow!”

“That’s incredible, Will! You’ve dreamt of
something that you’ve never known!”

“Click on the link to the
website, Will. Let’s see
where this place is.”

Will clicked on the link from the image to open the
website...

“Surabaya,
Indonesia.”

“How on Earth have
you dreamt this,
Will?”

“I just don’t know…”

“You’re like our very
own Carl Jung…”

“How about you all do
some research to find
out more about
Surabaya?”

The group proceeded to use all of the resources of the
library to find out what they could about Surabaya...

After an hour or so of research, the group gathered
back around the table...

“Right – men, tell
me what you’ve
found out.”

“Well, there seem to be a
lot of similarities between
Liverpool and Surabaya.”

“Both have ports which have really “Very good –
grown again in recent years, with I like that.”
Surabaya being a gateway to
Indonesia - which reminded me of
Liverpool once being thought of as
the gateway to the world.”

“I also wanted to
find out about the
shark and the
crocodile...”

“Oh, yeah! I forgot
about that… that was
the start of all of this
wasn’t it…”

“It was, Tom. I’ve
printed out the logo… it
depicts a titanic battle
between ‘Sura’ – a Great
White shark…”

“…and ‘Baya’ – a crocodile. They fought
for supremacy in a river. The place
became known as Surabaya and the logo
has come to mean ‘bravely facing
danger’.”

“And that ties in with something that
I’ve found out. I read that Surabaya
has a new mayor - ‘Mayor Risma’.
She’s transforming Surabaya into a
city that has now won an
environmental award as an eco-city.”

“Wow – good work,
gentlemen. I think we
could have our next
creative writing project
here…”

“What’s it “It’s going to be
going to be?” about making
connections -
promoting learning,
understanding and co-
operation; about
having common
objectives to make the
world a better place.”

“I’ve been thinking about Carl Jung’s
dream. He dreamt of a place that he
had never seen – it came from his
imagination. Now, imagination isn’t
something that is dependent upon
sight – it’s about insight – and we
don’t have to be able to ‘see’ to
have insight – to be visionary. It’s
potential exists within us all.”

“I’d like you to each imagine Surabaya – to
write a poem or a short story about it. Then,
we will share your work with school children in
Surabaya, and invite them to share their work
with us – to develop a cultural and social
exchange. And the idea is based on the mutual
connection that each of our cities enjoys with
the sea. To realise that just as the waters of
the Earth connect our two cities, so too can our
collaboration and desire to make the world a
better place – and - like the struggle of the
shark and the crocodile – for us to bravely face
challenge and adversity together…”

Creativity in Mind

Programmes of creativity for schools.

To read the full story of ‘A Dream of Two Cities’ visit:
www.creativityinmind.org

To book a workshop, email: [email protected]
To follow on Twitter, see: @InCreativeMind

To engage with St Vincent’s School for Sensory
Impairment, visit: www.stvin.com

Or email the Principal, Dr. John Patterson:
[email protected]

Follow on Twitter: @StVincentsL12