The village of Anuli stirred awake each morning the same way it always had—with the crowing of roosters, the creaking of wooden carts, and the smell of fresh bread wafting through the air. Life moved in circles here: quiet, predictable, and safe.
But for sixteen-year-old Kaira, safe had started to feel like a cage.
She sat on the old stone steps outside her grandmother's mud-brick house, chin resting on her knees. The sunrise painted the sky in soft oranges, but Kaira barely noticed. Her thoughts were heavy. That morning, she had found a rejection letter tucked inside her school notebook. The scholarship she had hoped for—the one she believed might lift her out of this small life—was gone.
Gone like every other dream she had dared to speak aloud.
Inside, Grandma Dena was humming softly, stirring a pot of pap. Kaira could hear the wooden spoon tapping against the side of the pot in rhythm. Her grandmother never said much about dreams, but there was something in the way she touched Kaira's hair at night, something in her eyes when she stared at the moon, that told a different story.
But Kaira was tired. Tired of dreaming, tired of trying, tired of feeling like she didn't belong in a world that didn't seem to want her to grow.
She grabbed her sandals, stood, and walked toward the edge of the village, past the narrow footpaths, past the yam fields, past even the whispering trees where the elders said spirits lingered. Her feet moved without thinking, following a strange pull in her chest.
It was then that she saw it—a broken fence, half-covered in wild vines, hiding a narrow opening she'd never noticed before.
Curious, she stepped through.
What she found on the other side made her gasp.
A garden.
But not just any garden. This one shimmered with color, light, and life. Flowers she'd never seen before bloomed in impossible shapes. Trees bent gently, as though greeting her. And there was something in the air—like a song just beneath hearing, like a memory waiting to be remembered.
At the center of the garden, an old man knelt beside a glowing blue plant. He looked up and smiled.
"You've found it," he said gently. "The place where dreams go when they're forgotten."
Kaira blinked. "What… what is this place?"
The old man stood. His eyes twinkled like the stars. "This, child, is the Garden of Unseen Dreams. And I've been waiting for you."