Fiction by Sophia Zhang (15, Illinois)

fills bookstore shelves
& movie theaters
because everyone wants to escape
& explore
corrupt governments,
destructive pandemics,
injustice & discrimination,
an imperfect world from
the comfortable distance of a page or screen.

---

But then again,
dystopian experiences are no longer vicarious–
the world outside their rosy window
is akin to the one they see
in their favorite sci-fi movie.
They’re filling heads
with empty promises
of a world sans imperfections
& filling lives
with good deeds sans good.
Perhaps they do know,
& are just creating dystopias ready to transpire,
slowly inking everyone into mere words
in an old history book.