“Between the Tides,” by Nyshita Lakkakula: April 2025 1st Place

“It’s as if all of Marisveil is here, Marina!” my brother gasped. Before I could respond, he was already bolting off. It was Kai’s first Wishveil Ceremony, where the town gathered to watch the sky change colors and send wishes off to the sea.

The sky was beginning to change, the colors spreading like watercolor seeping on a page.

I took the slip of paper in my pocket and walked off, surrounded by stillness.

My heart sped up.

I wish to know what I’m meant to do with my life, I wrote, my hand shaking. I always wanted to study the ocean, but in Marisveil, only men and myths belonged to the sea.

I dropped the wish in my jar, closing my eyes against fear. I held the lid in my shaking hand.

What if the answer is something I don’t want?

A future unfurled in my mind - marriage, a quiet life under drawn curtains. My minute of hesitation was enough. My wish fluttered out of the jar and was carried into the sea. It glowed once it made contact and vanished, swallowed by the ocean.

I stood frozen.

Panic surged.

I held my skirt up, bunching the fabric in one fist and ran - well, trudged - through the wet sand to retrieve my wish. I plunged headfirst into the frigid waters and was dragged away into the ocean.

I curled into a ball and gasped when the water formed an orb around me, letting me breathe underwater.

Bubbles bloomed in front of me. I watched, amazed, as the bubbles began moving as one, building my future for me.

There I was, older in a lab coat. Smiling. Living a life I only dreamed of. The scene broke, my wish floating back to me.

I reached out.

The ocean pulled me upward.

I stood up gingerly, shocked when I came back dry, as if it never even happened. But my sudden, overpowering realization was the only proof I needed.

The time for wishing was over.

Now, it was time to make them real.

And I won't let fear hold me back.