What I noticed initially were all the gilded necklaces, crowns, and adorned attire of the guests. Dressed as a gaudy emperor, I shifted my tie to the side as a subtle show of defiance. My aide, Inda, to the left of me, gave me a sharp glance, but didn’t want to make a scene. She’s much more poised than I ever since we were thirteen. I am the emperor who never cared for the title, and she is from t...

These were the dreams my mother would tell me—visions of places I’ve never seen before, following the instinctive drive to go there. Like a song in my head that never stops until I have reached the destination. This time, my first time is a blue foggy landscape at the edge of the water. A broken rundown plane, no one’s present, nothing makes a sound but the water. I am holding a lamp, investigatin...

As I soar through the majestic skies, bright yellow clouds tickling my skin with their dew as I pass, I wonder. What is next? No more laboring from sunup to sundown, gone were the days of cautioning my words to keep the peace. No more fighting alongside friends to create order. Their all dead now, except one. My last moment with him was fleeting, with the only word, “ Fly,” pulsing through my memo...

Whoosh! Bird wings flapping in the wind make a loud, but gentle sound. That’s all I can hear as I slowly open my eyes, blinded by the blue light of the sky. No, wait, is that blue? It’s green; the sky above me is a soft shade of green. Above me isn’t the soft sway of the trees. Rather, red and blue figures are circling above me. I reach up with my hand following the motion of their formation. Like...