After losing everything, she gained it back. The victory was triumphant. Wrongs were made right. She turned to face her friends standing in a group; smiling faces applauded her for her success. After all, she had saved everything and everyone. But through the crowd, one face mattered more. He called out to her. Her name, a whisper across his lips. She watched his head bobble over the crowd, and she began to run towards him. Their eyes met. A soft connection between two pairs of eyes made the world of destruction disappear. At that moment, it was just two broken souls reconciled together to be one. She ran with a limp so excruciating, yet so small compared to the obstacle of space between them. She was close enough to touch his hands, graze his fingertips and a slight smile began to beam on her face. But a noise erupted from the sky of bleak gray and white. The wind screamed in her ears. She looked to see herself being dragged away from the life she fought so hard to keep. He called out to her, tears choking him. Agony took shape in the faces of the crowd. Tears became puddles at their feet. She tried to latch onto any surface, person. She clawed against the wind, desperate to escape this torment. The noise screeched louder, pounding against her head like a thunderstorm. Light pulsed in her eyes like a bolt of lightning, blinding her until all she saw was black. The once-pounding noise suddenly faded to a small beep. She opened her eyes to see the world of destruction was gone, and she was safely placed in a warm bed. She turned the clock that read 6 a.m towards her. With tears streaming down her cheek, she tore herself from her book and slowly closed the pages of the life she longed to have but would never reach. She peeled herself out of bed and prepared herself for another day where she so desperately yearned for anything but true reality.