Alisha fell asleep as she always did, tears in her eyes and pain in her heart.

The world wasn’t fair, nor kind, it was hardship and hatred beaten into you from the moment you first opened your eyes. It was always tough, trying to keep a smile on her face as she swam through the muddy days that kept trying to drag her down. Fake people, fake smiles; just lies and lies on top of a big “screw you”. Never good, never enough...never good enough.

Stuck somewhere with no people to hold dear, no love to keep her going - but that was ok, Alisha was stubborn, and she would make it through this by force if need be. It didn’t matter if she cried herself to sleep, as long as tomorrow she kept herself alive again.

“Open your eyes…” a whisper sang to her, but she didn’t understand it. So once again it whispered; a voice as melodic as bells and sweet as honey - it was so familiar, but so far away, she couldn’t remember.

As the whisper grew louder, she woke up startled. Yawning she sat up, taking in her surroundings she rubbed her eyes in confusion - was she still dreaming? It certainly was odd, waking up in the middle of a colorful forest when Alisha remembered falling asleep in her crappy bed.

Well, could be worse - shrugging she got up and noticed she wasn’t wearing her pajamas either, instead she was wearing a green tank top, jeans and boots. They were pretty comfy, and somehow she felt lighter, different, better. Alisha wasn’t sure where she was going, or why, but she felt free, something she hadn’t felt in years, and so she walked.

For a dream, it was quite realistic, she could feel the breeze on her face and she could smell the earth, feel the warmth of the sun on her dark skin and the pain in her feet as she kept walking without stopping. Maybe it really wasn’t a dream...but as familiar as this unfamiliar place was to her, it looked strange, not quite the same as things usually were. The colors were more vibrant, and the earth gave off an energy she wasn’t used to, the forest almost seemed as if it was singing to her - how silly.

A fantasy world, coming from the mind of a teenager in need of a safe haven, that’s all this could ever be. Hopefully, here nothing could ever hurt her.

“Help me.” someone groaned to her right, and Alisha noticed another girl, clutching her stomach and collapsed on the ground.

Kneeling down next to the girl, Alisha wasn’t sure of what she should do, “A-are you ok? What can I do?”

“You could kiss me.”

Staring at her Alisha blushed, unable of speaking out.

“Just a joke, a really bad one, sorry, but now you don’t look as panicked.” she smiled through the pain.

“Great, first time someone flirts with me and it’s a joke.” Alisha rolled her eyes jokingly.

“I’m Katie.” the girl laughed, extending her hand.

Taking her really soft hand, a tingling went through her spine, and a warmth spread out from the center of her very being. A bit flabbergasted she finally spoke, “Alisha...I’m Alisha.”

“Thanks for healing me!”

“What?” Alisha screamed.