“A father” = protagonist

” presumed dead” = inciting incident

” explains to his son the connection between his dreams and heaven” = main character goal

A father is archetypal, an emotionally powerful relationship bridging generation and ensuring genetic immortality. ” presumed dead” is evocative, but vague. Who caused the death, the son? Was it an accident or … murder!?

While a philosophical debate about heaven’s relationship to dreams may engage some audiences (I for one certainly believe dream work is a valuable tool for story development), it lacks tangibility. In particular, the Adventure genre is very ‘physical’, outwardly moving toward a clear and material goal. The hero must get the Witch’s broom, the police Chief must kill the man eating shark, Batman must capture the Joker, etc …. you get the picture.

Perhaps a McGuffin resides in heaven/dream land, that must be stolen by a hero, to win back his son’s love … just riffing ideas!