My name is Lisa, and I live in India.

  To be honest, I hate my life. I don’t like studying. I can do various things, but I’m average at all of them—playing guitar, dancing, studying…

  Yeah, I’d give it a name: the curse of being average in everything.

  Every day, I’m forced to live in this trashy world. I’m a coward—I can’t even stand up for myself in my own life. I don’t have many friends. The few people I do talk to? I’m nothing special to them. They have lots of friends, just like me, and I hate that only I consider them special.

  But I do have one thing: the power of imagination. There isn’t a single day when I don’t think about my friends, the people I’ve met in the past, the ones I’ll meet in the future, and imaginary people whose special person is me… and me alone.

  I hate my parents. They don’t even try to understand me or listen to my thoughts. They force their idea of the “ideal daughter” on me, hitting me over the simplest things.

  Days passed, and my final exams for Class 9 were approaching. Day after day, their voices pressed into my ears: “What are you going to do in the future? Clean Sharma’s house? Beg from strangers for food?” Sometimes, they even told me to die. There wasn’t a single day I didn’t hear them taunt me, curse me.

  I don’t understand how their brains work. According to them, I don’t even get to decide what I want to do or who I want to become—unless it’s JEE or NEET.

  As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to become a pilot. Why? The reason is simple: I wanted to fly. Fly far away from this world, away from my parents, into the clouds, touching the wind…

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Whenever I closed my eyes, I could feel myself flying into nothing. That’s what peace feels like. It feels… perfect. But when I opened my eyes, I was back in my cramped little room.

  The only thing that kept me alive was anime. Yes, anime—my everything. My world, my friend, my hope, my source of energy, the fuel that powered my imagination.

  The only time I felt glad to be alive was when I watched anime. ??

  On that day, I had just finished watching a new episode of my favorite anime. I noticed a button was missing from my school dress—and school was the next day. I decided to buy a button, along with some stitching items to fix my shirt.

  It was an unusually silent night. The full moon glowed, but there were no stars. It felt odd, but I didn’t think much of it and set off shopping.

  Needles, thread, scissors, button—yes, everything I needed was available. Oh, and snacks and a drink too.

  As I finished shopping, a mysterious figure passed by me. I didn’t see their face clearly—they were wearing a hooded cloak that hid everything.

  I walked home, listening to my favorite anime opening. I was very careful with my earphones. I even had a spare pair, just in case. (Don’t ask why—I just like personal choices ??)

  Of course, one earphone got tangled in my hair. While untangling it, I accidentally dropped the other one. It rolled into a narrow space between two shops. I went to pick it up.

  Aaah, there it is. How did it get there? I hoped it wasn’t broken.

  But when I reached for it… something was wrong.

  It wasn’t just a narrow space anymore. I was in complete darkness. A void. Nothingness stretched in every direction. I couldn’t see, but I could feel the vast emptiness around me.

  Panic set in. I ran, my feet pounding, my heart thumping. A strange breeze blew past me, carrying a scent I couldn’t identify.

  Wait… a light. A ray like a bright rainbow, cutting through the darkness.

  I ran toward it as fast as I could. My breaths came in ragged gasps.

  Thump… thump… thump.

  Finally, I reached it. I could escape this dark dream.

  Huff… huff… huff…

  I couldn’t believe my eyes.