Once upon a time There was a girl who dared to dream In the cold, air conditioned room of reality she sat For hours on end Suddenly, her rescuer appeared Golden yarns of sunshine leaked through the windows, Wrapping themselves around her, Pulling her away In the blink of an eye She was no longer in the place of gloom But in a magnificent garden Where flowers of every kind, like her, Dared to bloom She tarried there For hours, days, weeks Sitting amongst the blossoms Admiring them and befriending The other children who would arrive from their own prisons Each backstory unique, Some grotesque, some disheartening But that mattered not For the children would wrap their fingers Around each other's cold hands And begin again In this new, dreamlike place