of her dragon. “My dragon has changed. She is amazing, Dad. I can’t wait to show her to you. It all started when I heard a cry for help…” she began, excited finally to be able to share what had happened.
The Isle of the Monsters
Asahi drifted through the dream world. A part of him knew that he was dreaming, while another part wondered how everything appeared so real. His body, weighed down with exhaustion from the last few weeks of adventure and sated from lovemaking, remained wrapped in his lover’s arms. His mind was a different matter.
He felt refreshed and alert. Vivid colors and strange images floated past him, and he turned around, taking in the amazing vision of stars, planets, and galaxies all around. The dream seemed real, yet when he reached out to touch a planet, his fingers passed through it.
“Hello, Asahi.”
“Aminta,” he replied, startled.
Aminta emerged out of the darkness, looking more like gold stardust than her last form. She solidified as she walked closer.
“Is this a dream?” he asked with a frown.
“Yes—and no. Our conversation is real. The surrounding universe is real,” she said.
“You aren’t going to send me back to Earth, are you? I refuse to go. My place is beside Nali,” he growled.
Aminta laughed and looked at him with an amused expression. “You have a lot of your grandfather in you,” she mused.
Asahi frowned. “You knew my grandfather?”
Aminta bowed her head in acknowledgment. Asahi blinked in surprise when she waved her hand and a planet appeared. He recognized the blue and white marble as Earth. He glanced from the planet to Aminta.
“Yes, as well as Nali’s parents. Many centuries ago, I rescued an infant from a dying world. I knew she was special. Her father found me when I was tired and worn down from a millennium of fighting with another of my kind. My opponent did not share the same faith in the worlds we seeded as I did. Nali’s father gave me hope. In return, I gave him the gift of my blood should he ever need it,” she explained.
“Why didn’t you save her world? Her parents?” Asahi asked.
Sadness etched itself on Aminta’s face. “Alas, even as old as I am, I must live by the rules I helped create. Nali’s world was created early, near a red star. I arrived too late to save her world. I tried to send warnings to her people, but they refused to listen,” she answered.
Asahi watched in fascination as Aminta touched the swirling cloud formation of a massive hurricane, running her fingers through the thick clouds. The edge of the storm sheared off, as if a strong current had cut through it like a knife.
“What about my grandfather?” he asked.
“I saw him first as a young boy. He looked different from most people around him, and he suffered for it,” she shared.
As the clouds floated away, Asahi saw Aiko as a young boy, standing on the beach and staring out at the ocean. Asahi’s heart ached for the bruised and battered boy who refused to shrink from the older boys around him. The boys yelled that he was a monster, that he didn’t belong there, and threw stones at him. Eventually tiring of their game, they left the little boy alone.
“He never told me this story,” Asahi murmured.
Aiko picked up a colorful shell and held it to his chest. “I wish I was a monster and lived in a magical world filled with magical creatures. He sighed and kicked the sand. One day—one day I’ll sail across the oceans and find it, and when I do, I’ll be happy.”
“You gave him his wish,” Asahi softly said.
“Yes, but he knew he couldn’t stay forever. He had left behind too much to live the rest of his days away from his family, and when he asked to return home, I granted him his last wish,” she said.
“I needed him,” Asahi confessed.
“I know,” Aminta said with an understanding smile.
His throat tight at the thought of being torn away from the love of his life, Asahi said, “I never want to return to Earth. My place is with Nali.”
“Do you have what it takes to be a monster, Asahi?” Aminta asked.
He looked at her with a startled expression, then glanced at the adolescent version of his grandfather, standing on the beach holding the shell against his chest. If he could have a wish, would it be any different?
“I wish I was a monster,” he murmured, repeating his grandfather’s words.
“Then, as