Two children, a seven-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, were giggling as they were having fun reading picture books together in a dimly lit room. The girl kept pointing to one drawing and calling out the object’s name incorrectly and when the boy kept correcting her, she kept yelling the incorrect name out of stubbornness.

A man entered the room. “It’s time for bed, you two.”

The boy groaned and pouted, but did listen as he closed the book and placed it on the nightstand behind him. He then carried the girl onto the bed as he climbed up the bed himself. “Dad, will you read a story to us today?”

The man was a bit worried as he checked his watch. “I’m a little busy…”

“Please?” The girl repeated his words.

Their father gave in as he grabbed a stool. “Fine, fine. What do you want me to read to you today?”

“That one!”

Their father was rather bewildered. “That one?” He then hummed. “It’s been a while since we last read it together. Fine, we’ll read that one tonight.”

He grabbed a rather thick book from the nearby bookshelf. As he opened it, he cleared his throat and started reciting the words inside. “Long ago, roaming lavender-colored dragons once inhabited the universe. They traversed through many worlds to find a place they called home. Every planet they went to did not accept them for they already had rules and people.”

“Why couldn’t they accept them?” The boy asked with concern.

“It was because they were big, scary and looked very different from regular animals, which scared humans.”

“That’s not fair.”

The father gave him a gentle smile as he placed a hand to his scarlet hair and patted it. “It definitely isn’t fair.”

“Not fair!” The girl barked out.

He chuckled as he continued, “After soaring through the universe, they eventually found a barren planet. They made a wish for the planet to become their home. The wasteland flourished with nature, and some pieces of land cracked and became their own separate land. They named their new home Terrenter.”

“That’s the name of our planet!” The boy remarked.

His father smiled as he continued, “The three large barren lands became countries named Ilacier, Lamina and Plasma. All three had their own unique climate that each dragon liked. However, the emptiness wasn’t satisfying. Although they were the only inhabitants, they couldn’t call Terrenter home. From the worlds they visited, each had humans and animals. They wanted that as well. They wished for them to appear, and it came true; they were truly satisfied.”

The boy frowned. “The teachers at school say that humans came from animals and whenever I tell them we came from dragons, they look at me weird.”

“People believe only what they want to believe. If something goes against their beliefs, they deny it.”

“Why do they do that?”

“Because they don’t want to get hurt.”

The boy felt a sadness in his heart as he recalled the way kids and teachers had ridiculed him for believing in dragons. It made him feel angry but also lonely. Why couldn’t people believe in him? Why do they choose to deny his words?

I’m not wrong…

He felt a hand on his shoulder, which startled him. He was no longer in a dimly lit room with his sister and father. Instead, he was in a bustling cafe where the scent of coffee lingered. The sudden change in scenery confused him. His reflection on the window showed that he was no longer a seven-year-old boy, but a fifteen-year-old adolescent boy dressed in a school uniform.

“You okay, Arc?” A boy with blond hair asked out of concern as he sat back down.

Arcturus forced out a chuckle. “I’m fine. I guess I was just dozing off…” He took a sip of his coffee before wincing at how hot it was.

“Dude, careful! You’re going to spill some on your book!” His friend pushed the book away so that the drops of coffee fell onto the table.

Arcturus frantically wiped the mess away. He then checked his book. The page he was on was still clean, which made him sigh with relief. He took a deep breath in order to calm down.

“Are you okay? It’s not like you to get absent-minded…”

“I guess I was just thinking about the past after reading this book.”

“About your dad?”

“Yeah, I just remembered an instance where my dad was reading this to me…”

Arcturus then focused back on where he had left off. The dragons found happiness in granting wishes for humans and animals. They were able to communicate with both. Animals didn’t ask for much, but humans continued to make them grant a variety of wishes. As time passed, humans’ wants gradually declined to the point that they no longer had anymore. In turn, the dragons became unhappy; although they had found happiness in calling Terrenter home, a world where they couldn’t function properly was no longer satisfying.

His heart sank when he read this excerpt. He always loved the dragons, but reading the part where they were no longer needed had upsetted him. He couldn’t understand why humans had stopped wishing when there was so much to wish for.

“Are you at a sad part?” His friend asked as he took a sip of his own coffee.

“If you had all the wishes you wanted granted, would you still ask for more?”

“Not really? If I got everything I want, why do I need more wishes?”

He made a good point. If people were full after eating a full course meal, why would they want to eat more? That was normal for people. Yet, Arcturus couldn’t accept that thought.  Even if he had all of his wishes granted, he still wanted more. This thought concerned him; would he be considered as selfish and avaricious?

Arcturus continued reading, Because of their newfound unhappiness, the dragons, save for one, fled the world. The remaining dragon was different. His love for Terrenter lingered; he loved the world, so he knew it was his duty to stay despite not being useful anymore. His dedication moved the people’s hearts, so they did all they could to make him happy; they started by giving him a name: Souhait.

“Souhait…”

“Hey, Arc, look at this! Ariel is in a new Hope Corp watch commercial!”

His friend showed him his smartphone that was playing a commercial of a young girl showing off a fancy watch that looked more like a bangle than the traditional one. He couldn’t help but to smile at her wide smile.

He took a glance at his own wrist. When he blinked, he saw the bangle-watch on his own wrist. He then looked up and saw that he was no longer in the cafe; he was in a small room now.

A voice recited, “As the dependency of wishes diminished, Souhait’s existence was slowly forgotten. One day, a war broke out between the three countries. When humans finally had wishes regarding it, Souhait was gone.”

The worn book was not in his hands, but in the possession of a boy with white hair who was pacing back and forth as he was reading aloud. He started humming as he stopped moving about.

He looked up at Arcturus and asked, “Where did Souhait go?”

“Who knows? People say he’s just fiction and such.”

“But you believe he existed.”

“That’s why I’m on this expedition.” Arcturus stood up from his bed and looked out the window. He saw a sunset and the ocean through it; he was on an airship that just departed and flew through the sky. The sunset illuminated the water, making it sparkle. It felt as if he was floating on a sea of stars. The sight ignited a fiery determination in his heart.

“People dismiss Souhait’s Lore as fiction but I’m here to disprove that. I will find the truth. Are you with me, Kori?”

He took a good look at Kori who was standing next to him. In addition to his white hair, he had long ears that resembled a lop-eared rabbit’s; there was a bright yellow earring dangling on the left. The more he fixated on the earring, the colder the room became.

Arcturus started shivering. The room was unusually cold as if someone opened the window on a freezing winter night. A blast of cold wind blew onto him, causing him to clench his eyes shut.

When he opened them, he realized he had been lying down on the snow for quite some time; he had been reminiscing about the past as if he was on the verge of death. He sat up. The freezing tempest chilled his entire body, preventing him from reverting back to his drowsy state.

“I have to keep going…”

He mustered up all of his strength to get up and keep moving alone.