By Macky Vitug | August 2026

Back in 2010, an old Facebook Note captured a whimsical story about “Treacle tops”—a dream-dwelling fairy who enters the constrained, grey-skied worlds of dormant dreamers to remind them of their capacity to fly. In that story, a character named Tony walks down a dreary street, weighed down by heavy winter coats and bound by logic, until a gentle nudge helps him realize he was always meant to soar. 
 
Looking back at this piece 16 years later, it serves as a meaningful pamana—an intellectual and creative inheritance. It reminds us how easily we can fall into the rhythm of the mundane, moving from one daily task to another while wearing metaphorical heavy coats. We get so accustomed to the grey skies of routine that we forget the magic of boundless thinking, creativity, and joy that lies just beneath the surface. 
 
As an echo from 2010, the core message of this story remains deeply relevant to us today: 
 
Stripping Away the Unnecessary: Tony didn’t realize he was carrying extra weight until someone pointed out how warm it really was. We often carry past anxieties, rigid habits, or unnecessary baggage that no longer serves us in our current journey. 
 
Challenging “Impossible” Rules: Tony initially believes flying is impossible because “normal rules” dictate he must stay on the ground. In work and life, we frequently construct artificial ceilings; real growth happens when we allow ourselves to test those boundaries. 
 
The Power of Being a “Treacle Tops”: The true essence of the story lies in how one small, intentional act of encouragement can reawaken someone else’s spark. We all have the capacity to act as catalysts for our peers, helping each other break free from routine and rediscover our full potential. 
 
Passages written years ago carry a special weight. They show us where our minds once wandered and remind us of the timeless truths we believed in all along. May this simple legacy from 2010 inspire you to shed the heavy coats, look beyond the grey, and give yourself—and those around you—permission to fly. 
 
Hello grey skies, where are the shining stars above? 
The flying dreamers are freer thinkers than many but there are others more in harmony still, those that fly, soar then stop completely still, consider for a while, then shoot straight down through where the ground would have been where they awake, knowing full well that the normal rules of waking life do not apply in the Dream World – these she calls the Semi-Lucid; they aren’t fully aware of dreaming but they don’t stick to normal physical laws. There are still others that are able to move from one point to another in Dream Space without moving, simply appearing where they want, fully aware of their dream state and manipulating it for their own amusement or to alter the course of their dream. Still there are those who take it a step further, teetering on the edge of total reality; aware of Dream Space and other people’s Motes, able to enter and react with their dreams, skipping from one to the other but, unlike the Dream Fairy, they would inevitably get caught up in the plot of an intricate dream and stay there till morning. 
 
Treacle tops knew that these dreamers didn’t need her help, for everyone to attain enlightenment she had to work on the first kind, dreamers following their plate-like patterns of never-ending cycles; Treacle tops had to set them free from the mundane and obscurity so they could soar with the emancipated souls of Dream Space. She fixed her attention on a Mote orbiting an invisible, insignificant point some distance away, held her arms out wide and flew towards it; Treacle tops pushed her little fairy nose upon the surface of the Mote to take a look inside, it was a typical case, she pressed her hands together as if in prayer then pushed them through the surface and forced an opening in the Motes silvery skin, just enough for her to easily slip though so it closed neatly behind her delicate feet. 
 
“Hello there, isn’t the sky beautiful today?” A girl interrupted the man trudging down a grey street. 
 
“No it isn’t,” Tony replied, “It’s awful, grey and dismal.” 
 
“Yes I know, that’s why I asked; ‘Isn’t the sky beautiful today?’ You see, it usually is. It’s not too often you see grey skies around here.” The girl smiled at the young man, he didn’t smile back. 
 
“It used to be sunny once, but that was a very long time ago; before…” Tony thought for a moment as a crow slewed gently overhead on the warmer-than-usual breeze, then plopped onto a tree-branch with a ‘caw’. It hurt his eyes to look at the bird, the clouds made them ache like the sun was shining through them without the accompanying rays. 
 
The pigtailed girl smiled at the crow then looked at Tony. 
 
“Where are you heading anyway; can I come along?” 
 
“I’m going to buy bread, I made some soup but I have no bread; can’t have soup without bread!” Tony insisted. 
 
The girl walked silently beside him along the street for a while then took off the winter coat she’d been wearing, just threw it away over a wall; Tony watched as the coat disappeared then looked at the girl questioningly. 
 
“It’s a little hot for that kind of clothing, don’t you think?” She asked while wiping a tiny bead of sweat from her cheek with a smile. 
 
“Do you know, I think you’re right; it really is quite warm,” Tony went to remove his own winter coat but found is already missing, only his green t-shirt remained with his favorite jeans below that and nothing on his feet. He wondered if he ought not to be wearing shoes outside on the street, though the pavement did seem very soft, like he was floating just above it. 
 
“Well, are you going to stay down there for ever?” The girl giggled and looked down at him from where she was flying loops in the air. 
 
“I can’t fly like that, it’s impossible…” Was it really that impossible though? The tiniest glimmer of a glistening memory touched his lower spine, ran all the way up to his shoulders and tingled down his arms. 
 
“Just hold them out like this,” laughed Treacle tops, “and follow me, wheeeeeeeeee!” She flew off into the sky and Tony soared after her, he was a child again at last in his dreams. Treacle tops waved goodbye and seemed to disappear as she pushed her way back into free Dream Space; Tony had been given back his dreams and another soul was once again set along the right path to freedom.