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I open my eyes, and the first thing I feel is warmth. 

It is the warmth of the sun. It is calming, spreading throughout my skin. 

I’ve finally made it. I went to sleep in my old world, and I woke up here. 

I always thought that when I did, I’d jump and scream in an avalanche of joy. But this transition just feels so…Natural. Like this was always meant to me. Whatever cosmic error caused me to be born in the wrong world doesn’t matter anymore. I’m here now. I’m where I was supposed to be, all along. 

The world smells of cherry blossoms. They float above me, pink and white, aloft in the lightest of breezes — a warm hug from the springtime, and an unbreakable promise of a long hot summer. The sky is the purest blue, with only a few wispy cirrus clouds strung across it, like rags fluttering on a laundry line. The birds sing, a contrast from the cold, wintry silence I used to live in. They are joined by the chatter of a nearby brook. In the distance, I can hear ocean waves. 

I check my pockets. Yes, my phone is there, next to a magic wand. My smartwatch is on one wrist, my wristbands on the other, and my fingers are adorned with the same rings I always wore. I tap my shoe against the granite cobblestones, and it lights up with a small flame of blue fuel. I smile — the first real smile I’ve had since I was a child. 

I have everything I need now. 

I am sitting at the edge of a marble fountain, in a small courtyard graced by old wooden benches. In its center, behind me, a statue of a dolphin spouts water into the clean spring air. The water glistens with a billion specks of sunlight that vanish in an instant. To me, they look like diamonds. 

I can make something of myself here. I can write my stories, learn my instruments, and make my art. I can work at a job I love, and that no one will ever take from me. I can learn even more about mathematics, programming, engineering, and science. I can learn and master magic with friends that will last forever, and fly spaceships to distant planets. I can feel loved and be held. Because this is a world where romance is forever and magic never dies. 

Once upon a time, I thought I’d return to my old world — one time only. I’d go back there as a multiversal traveler, to teach others who wanted to follow the same path. Then, after a few more months, I would leave again for good. 

That ship sailed a long time ago, its white sails adrift as it left that harbor which has always shimmered with sunlight not quite from any one world. After a few years of trying and failing, I knew that I would never return to my old world once I succeeded in leaving it, not for a moment. I never belonged there, and I had no happiness. 

No longer are the nights I forcibly held my breath so that my crying didn’t make any noise. No longer are the slow and cautious steps along icy paths, or careful and slow driving while being tailgated by aggressive pickup trucks. No longer are the fears of running out of time, failing at my dreams, being stuck in a place I hate, losing a job I love, or dying alone. 

I had so much sadness there. But now, I am happy. I’m gone forever. I’m done. I’ll never have to return to my old world ever again. Never again alone, never with them to part. 

I kick off from the ground and soar into the air above the cherry trees, my shoes alight with blue flame. My house isn’t too far from here, and it is a beautiful mountain mansion with a view of the ocean. 

very loose inspiration