Page 103 of Barbie: Dreamscape

There is always a way out.

The storm has filled the basement armory, water now up to my knees. The shadows have taken over the walls. Under their command, using Robin’s magic, the stone trembles—then thickens, another layer of brick piling on. Another. The room is getting smaller.

The turret is now filled with spiraling winds, a tornado raging, my hair flying wildly around me. The ceilings are beginning to cave in.

There’s no escape. We’re being trapped in here. Forever.

No way out, the darkness seems to whisper.

You’re stuck.

You’re ours.

I’ve been fighting so long… the thought of giving up is almost a comfort. How nice it would be to just rest. To collapse under the weight of these shackles and let the storm and shadows take me.

I wonder if my mother ever had that thought. If she looked out at the approaching armies of wicked creatures and thought of just turning her back on them. Or dooming the rest of the lands by putting up walls to keep her own land secure.

No. She didn’t. Even as her best friend begged her not to, she put her armor on. She took up her sword and shield.

She faced them all headfirst.

I am my mother’s daughter. And I am also my own person, someone I found hidden deep within, a true self uncovered beneath layers of self-doubt and the constant need for perfection.

I close my eyes.

Even as the world is falling, even as the darkness is winning, I look inward, toward that true self. I ignore the chaos all around, and I search for that feeling of brightness, of hope, of wonder.

Even in this unrelenting night, I find it still blazing within, like a never-ending pink flame, a glow flickering to life from the center of my chest.

Finally.

It’s still there. This darkness is trying to snuff it out, but it’s still burning. Still fighting. Even against all odds.

The flame is weak. But it’s growing.

I grip it with all my senses. I let it take over. I feed its fire with kindling made up of a million moments of laughter and quiet, and courage and greatness, and failing and winning, and flying and falling, and sinking and rising, and grieving and learning, and destroying and creating, and smiling and crying, and being and becoming—because that’s what life is. A mosaic of good and bad that combine to create sparkling magic.

The shadows have smothered the entire room. The water is up to my chin. Soon, I’ll be beneath it.

Darkness wins.

No. It doesn’t.

All at once, a beam of pink light cuts through the shadows and storms, shining… from me.

From my heart.

Magic.

Robin’s eyes widen at seeing me wield magic. Her lips part.

Before she can say a single word, her entire body is overtaken by shadows that wrap around her like a tomb.

No.

You’re too late. You’re too weak, the shadows whisper.

I’m not. I know that for certain.