Shattered Dreams, Stolen Lives

first saw

a can, embedded in the ornate gates o

wheel, a faint, serene smile

their faces pale, trying

ldn't st

s stared out, refus

lled it a tra

a brief statement, an attempt to sm

s a way of f

removed, knees bruised with calluses, stomach filled n

ame a nation

ine, demanding #

a wispy, tran

xaminer, refused to be silenced,

t an accide

ivered a

ll mounted, ordering

ing impossib

s closed snapped, and they opened

ernet e

t couldn

rticles about "muse-slaves," human

terrifyi

his superiors, rulin

cry, a full inv

wallet, no phone, disabled GPS, co

scream nam

e wore thin, protest

"Memory-Reader," a device to acc

dds, the auth

ally preserved, wa

in the front row, an obsc

y brother, with a trou

tted a chrome h

rs flicker

at

e voice echoed, "What a was

hen,

atic c

was insi

ly li

and a sha

e," my mother sa

pigment. We can al

gasp filled t

h began