My Cardboard Balcony

Six Thousand by Belinda Roddie I dreamed that six thousand genies granted eighteen thousand wishes altogether, but they were all the same, so six thousand people got exactly what they wanted: Long life, love, and happiness in everything they did. Then six thousand witches tried to take it all away, but their wands splintered in the sunlight, and they retired to their holes to ponder their next move.

The middle of nowhere felt more like home to me than my family house had ever been. Now, as I popped open the trunk of my car to fetch a bottle of water, I could feel a strange bubble of comfort growing inside my chest as I looked up at the bare-boned night sky. Without street lamps, building lights, or planes flying nearby, the stars were as multiple as my own far-fetched dreams.