If every sleep was a goodbye to your lover, how would you spend your last day?
When Safir Soykan opened her eyes, she found herself in an unknown universe. While thinking she could start a clean slate, she was a stranger to the world she came to in...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
One night, I saw the Earth in my dream.
After the stars that began in my heart gathered and were set ablaze, they appeared in my eyes, and a voice inside my head told me that it was the Earth. At first, it was strange to comprehend because it was a peculiar universe where countless struggles, conflicts, and different souls coexisted—some beings could speak, but not all their voices were heard.
At the beginning, it was strange because it didn't resemble the realm I lived in, and it made me anxious. I had always been someone who avoided new things. I knew I was still dreaming, but for a moment, as if I could bend time, I passed through the light. While I imagined waking up as a flower, I woke up in a human body. It was a human body that could fly, but my soul told me that in time, this body would stand on its own feet.
One night, I saw the Earth in my dream but I never thought I would see something so beautiful and so ugly at the same time. I couldn't understand what made the Earth so ugly.
In my first dream, I was on a mountain, calmly gliding through the forests, letting the sun bite my skin. The creatures I passed by didn't see me, but it didn't matter; I was nothing to them as I passed by. I must have come here just to wander, I thought. There was no need for a purpose. It was just a dream.
As I wandered in my soul form, I felt free. It was as if rivers were flowing through my heart.
"Is it really so? What if this place isn't real?"
After a few seconds of asking the question, I couldn't help but think that I didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the present moment and what I felt.
When I saw the dark-colored bear dozing at the top of the mountain, I got even closer. It was lying on its back, belly exposed. When I looked up at the sky, I saw the planet. The word 'Sun' came to mind, but I didn't know why. With birds chirping in my ears and trees rising around me, I shifted my perspective back to the bear and realized that the Sun was warming its skin, and the bear enjoyed it.
I couldn't help but smile. The side of the Earth where nature thrived in health was filled with peace.
But I could distinguish reality from illusion; this place was real. As I spent more time here, I might not be sure of the reality of the realm I spent every day in when I woke up.
"Sister?" I started hearing voices from behind, both conversations and footsteps. I felt like I was beginning to detach from the Earth. I didn't want to let go. The thought of leaving this serene forest filled my heart with pain. My job here wasn't finished, and it felt like a storm was raging in my heart, as if I were being torn away from someone left inside. The peace abruptly vanished with the sound in my ears. "Sister, wake up... Mom!" The footsteps came even closer.
