Lift-off in
3, 2, 1
Up there in the vast expanse of celestial bodies, hope abounds. There is so much to behold in the unknown. All the impossibilities that we once thought defunct are now inevitable. Join me on my expedition through the cosmos. You have no reason to fear, only that you might taste life in flavours you didn’t even know existed. Didn’t they tell you there’s a whole universe out there? Or did they make your prison walls opaque to sunlight?
I was once a prisoner myself. My prison was an impenetrable tower located in antiquity, there among the dying mangrove trees where spirits used to dance as shimmers under the moonlight. Not a single breath of life to keep me company. The only familiar thing in my proximity was the lazy buzzing of the flies that managed to sneak in on sweltering summer days to take refuge in my damp cell away from the sun.
There were days when I wished I could just jump and be free. I’d I’ve left it all behind if I could, but I knew I had future versions of myself counting on me. So I remained in my tower, overlooking the sea of decaying forest outstretched for miles in every single direction. To the far east, the yellow sun would rise and I would watch until the earth was full of her glow. Then I would close my windows, draw the curtains, and jump into my little bed so I could dream. I would dream during the day, for at night, that’s when the magic would happen…
***
She came in the middle of the night, at that hour when even the crickets chirp a little quieter so as not to disturb their sleeping neighbours. I was in my bed having slept from 4 in the afternoon until the full moon dazzled in the sky. I had not eaten dinner. I was too lazy to get out of bed. Besides, I knew there would be nothing in my cell kitchen to satisfy my hunger.
So when I woke up and I felt my tummy rumbling, I ignored the dreadful sound and walked straight to the tiny window on the wall to draw back the curtain. And as I drew back the curtain, there she was sitting on top of a glowing white pegasus, herself aglow with a haze of golden light. Her eyes were blue like sapphire crystal and her blonde hair danced wildly behind her in the chilling night breeze. On top of her head lay a golden crown seemingly made up of light, or at least that’s how I can best describe it. When she moved her head, ever so delicately, the crown would appear to be multicoloured only to shimmer back into gold in an instant.
She struck out her hand. “Let’s go,” she said, with a twinkle in her eyes. Somehow I mustered up the courage to respond:
“I…I can’t. The window is too small.”
“Oh,” she said with a smile on her face. “Step back.” I did as I was told and the next thing I knew there was a massive hole in the wall where the tiny window had been. The woman on top of her winged steed was now in my bedroom.
“Who are you?” I asked. At this point, my heart was beating so loud in my chest that even the pegasus began to take notice. That’s when he opened his mouth and began to speak coherently like any human would.
“Woah… don’t be scared, little guy. My name’s Swiftwind,” he neighed, “and this is my partner in crime, the one and only–”
“Stop it, Swiftwind, you’ll only scare him even more,” the woman interrupted. Then she turned to me with a soft expression. “I’m She-Ra, but you can call me Adora. My friend Swiftwind and I came here because… well because you asked.”
“What do you mean?” I had no idea what she was talking about. The only thing I knew was that a glowing woman on a horse with wings broke into my cell and was trying to kidnap me.
“Haven’t you been dreaming? About leaving this place?” Adora asked with a look of concern on her face. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but somehow I felt like you needed help and so I came as fast as I could.”
“And this won’t freak him out?” Swiftwind interjected.
“Please. Like you could do any better,” Adora rolled her eyes.
“I think I get it,” I said, clearing my throat. “Let’s go!”
“Wait, really? Aren’t you gonna pack some things first, or…?” Adora asked.
“Not really. Let’s go. The faster, the better.”I shrugged. I was not about to be recaptured by the horrible goblins that locked me up in there in the first place. Rest assured when a Goddess opens a window or breaks a hole into the wall, you take it.
“Well, great! Hop on,” Adora said as I took her hand. She yanked me off the ground and brought me right onto Swiftwind’s back. “Let’s go, Swiftwind!” she commanded, kicking her heels against Swiftwind's abdomen. And with that, we were immediately off the ground, through the hole in the wall, ascending towards the atmosphere.
I shut my eyes and quickly wrapped my arms around Adora’s waist and I could feel a spirit of peace wash over me. It was the magic of She-Ra and it felt like a tall glass of cold water after a day's worth of playing outside as a kid. It flowed through my blood and into my bones. And for the first time since my capture, I felt limitless.
When I opened my eyes again, we were hurtling through deep space, hundreds of light years per second. All around us, infinite space in every direction as far as the eye could see. No horizons, no boundaries just endless space, occasionally glittered with stars and ginormous planetary systems.
I didn’t ask how I could breathe or even withstand the impossible conditions of interstellar travel, but I guess it must’ve had something to do with She-Ra’s magic. I had a sneaky suspicion that if I let go, my body would be eviscerated into a million atoms. So I held on as tight as I could, but on the inside I was screaming with a sense of freedom I’d long forgotten was possible.
And in the distance, I could see a small Earth-like planet orbited by three moons. A tree hundreds of thousands of kilometres long, with branches evergreen, was jutting up from the planet, shooting into space– a beacon of hope for all to see. I could see the celestial light emanating off each cluster of leaves and I knew without a doubt that we had arrived at our destination.
***
A year ago, I used to wake up from afternoon naps in my forlorn tower and do you know the first thing I would do? I would pull my journal out from underneath my pillow and begin to write what I saw and how I felt in my dreams. That became my self-care ritual, all alone in confinement. Yet, I never knew that I'd manifest my destiny by writing my dreams down on a page.
I dreamt that I would one day find a place where I belonged, where I could be with my friends and my chosen family. A family that wasn't 'stuck' with me by circumstance, but chose me because they saw something in me that drew us closer together.
Now I’m writing to you from the terrace at Brigthmoon Palace, overlooking the enchanted Whispering Woods, and I can hear them. My tribe. My people playing in the gardens nearby. I can see triple rainbows in the sky and magic all around. I breathe it all in and I am full. And when I breathe out, I am weightless like a feather drifting in the wind. No longer am I held down by the burden of existence. To exist is to shine, so I shine withholding nothing.
Etheria is not just a place in a fictional realm. It is a state of mind, that feeling of power you feel when you know there’s someone in your corner who will stand by you and you by them. Etheria is love, the kind that acts deliberately with purpose. Above all, Etheria is the hope that shines in the darkness when all seems lost. This hope lifts the words from deep within, transcribing pain into joy, my manuscripts now displayed before you.
It is with this hope we sing:
We must be strong
We must be brave
We're gonna reach inside
Stand together and fight
Never let it go
We must be strong
-Kari Meredyth Kimmel, "Warriors" (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Theme Song)
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