Once I was a girl who didn't dream—a girl who thought dreams killed people.
I glided onto the stage, a spotlight illuminating me as I embraced the man and moved to the podium. "Friends," dreaming had taught me that the light always shines eventually, "family," it taught me that I could always get back up, "I would like to welcome you all this evening."
I began my speech slowly, meeting the eyes of as many people as I could see: my family and Dr. Kumar, Brigitte and Carlos, Aria and Paloma, Philippe...
I drew a breath and continued, "children and adults, girls and boys, suffer at the hands of abusers and rapists every day." Dreams are what lit the candle in me; what burned the embers of survival, "I was supposed to be another stat, another brushed-away death; yet here I am—I survived." My hands moved in time with my words, signing with controlled precision.
Dreams had once been a burden, but now they were the life force that kept me moving, the things that had freed me from my prison.
"My brothers helped me through so much, but not everything," this was it. "A worker so close she was family kept me afloat on my darkest days, ensuring the waves didn't pull me under. But not everyone has this—not everyone can escape and survive as I did."
And deep down, I never suspected that those dreams would be what saved me from the monsters.
"Without any more delay... I present to you all The Annette Laurent Fund for the Lost and Forgotten." The rest of my speech was a blur. My ears rang with the sound of blood pumping and people clapping. I'd done it... I succeeded.
Dreams were what brought people together and saved the world—
just like how my family saved me from my nightmares.
YOU ARE READING
Her Heroes
Teen FictionIn a world where voices are all, a girl without one hides in the shadow. Fearful of her future and hunted by more demons than she can remember, Nadia Perkins is lost. But, when a sudden incident sends the teen to a family she's never known, and a co...
