The Gods' Dream Shop

I don't know how long I've been in the mortal world. Decades, centuries, perhaps even millennia. I don't know where I came from, either. All I know is that people call me a god, and that I've been waiting for someone. He is the light of my life, a beam stretching to the horizon. He sweeps away the gloom and grinds the darkness to dust. I was enchanted by his tenderness, but on a night of driving snow, he left and never came back. From then on, he became the nightmare that tormented me. I remember him saying that everyone is born with a soul, and that collecting 9,999 souls would grant a wish. So I opened a dream shop in the mortal world, trading beautiful dreams for souls. After that, all sorts of people entered my life: humans, vampires, elves, merfolk, angels, demons, even gods. Each had a story of their own, and they all came to me for the same reason: to trade for a beautiful dream. I thought I would be alone forever, but then a cool-eyed young man appeared in my life without warning. I still remember that day, with the snowstorm raging. He hurried toward me at dusk, not seeking a beautiful dream, but searching for someone. And so the bond between us began.