𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭

i wake up at 5:30am sweating from an apparent fever. i get out of bed to take my temperature, taking notice that a storm had passed through overnight and now rain droplets embroider my window. i drag the thermometer over my forehead, 101 degrees. so it is a fever. i sigh, knowing that i'd get in trouble for waking my mom up so early and trudge back to bed where i lay awake for a few minutes before falling back into a deep slumber. as i fall asleep again, i have a dream where i'm in a pitch black room and there's a light coming towards me.
i walk closer to it and realize it's a glowing blue butterfly. it whizzes past me but flitters back to me as if wanting me to follow. it keeps on flying as i follow it and in the distance, i see a white dot. as we near closer, i see that it resembles a white crystal ball only it has a bunch of swirling colors like psychedelia. i reach out to touch it but instead, my hand plunged right through it. i feel a pull on my arm but i stumble back, in time to see the butterfly surrounding itself with a whirlwind. when the whirlwind subsides, a woman takes the place of the butterfly. she's dressed in a white dress and an angelic white glow surrounds her that makes me feel at ease. she doesn't say anything, only motions towards the crystal ball as if urging me to touch it again. i hesitate but decide to do it anyway and i stick my hand inside, the familiar pulling feeling once again sucking me into the sphere. as i look back, i see not only the woman but another me, my clone. they're both waving back at me and with tears in her eyes, my clone says, "thank you, sandra. you have done well and i wish you a happy new life. i will always carry on your legacy and promise to make the world better."
i could barely hold back tears as i allowed myself to be sucked into the sphere completely. i closed my eyes, scared of what would happen. when i reopened them, i'm crying and i'm in the arms of my new father. i'm in a hospital and my mother's still in the hospital bed in the corner. my two older twin brothers are sleeping on chairs by her bedside but they awaken when they hear my cries. one of them holds out their finger and i instinctively curl my own tiny hand around it. my crying ceases and both of brothers smile adorably.
my thoughts fly back to my old reality and i smile softly, thanking the universe in my head for how truly grateful and happy i am. within the next ten minutes i would revert to becoming a normal newborn and carry on my desired life. i feel my father's thumb rub against my cheek and he cooes softly, "welcome to our family, my little hwayoung. we love you."