“The grass…”

“…Was green,” Lexi whispered, her lips forming the words alongside her mother.

“The sky was blue. The trees grew tall, and the mountains were giants.”

“The world was magic,” Lexi said, getting ahead of herself and sitting up in bed. “And we were free.”

Her mother laughed and leaned down to press a kiss against her forehead.  “The world was magic. But given that you know the whole story off by heart, do you want me to keep going?”

“Yes!” Lexi said indignantly. 

“Or maybe you should read to me.” Her mother pressed one warm palm to Lexi’s belly — just hard enough to make her wriggle. 

Lexi’s protests turned breathless, delivered between giggles. “No, Mummy — you’ve got to. It’s my bedtime story. Those are — the rules!”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Alright, then,” her mother finally had mercy, and with a smile playing at the corners of her mouth turned the page. “The clouds rolled through the sky, and animals of every shape and every size roamed the land, ready to be our friends.”

Wiping impatiently at the tears of laughter that were crowding her eyes, Lexi looked.

Another page rustled. Lexi’s mother spoke very softly now. Scarcely more than a whisper. “Some day, the doors will open. And we will walk up there together, all of us hand in hand. Some day we’ll go outside again.”

Knowing she was supposed to be asleep by this point in the story — or at the very least sleepy — Lexi peeked up from under lowered lashes. There was moisture shining in her mother’s eyes, too, but that didn’t make any sense. She hadn’t been tickled.

“Goodnight, my little adventurer.” The soft pressure of a kiss on her forehead, the soft bump of the storybook being placed on the table, and the hiss of the door closing behind her.

Lexi snuggled deeper into her bed and pulled the standard issue recycled sheets up close to her chin. Imagining that they were made of clouds, puffy and white just like in the storybook. The stainless steel walls of her little room shone dimly in the light that crept under the door from the corridor outside, and the soft hum of machinery was a comforting monotone in the distance.

Everything was just the same as always. 

“Some day,” said Lexi, very quietly, repeating to herself the last line of her favourite story, “Some day we’ll go outside again.”