Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by the Beast
***"Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a box. But she wasn't alone. She had a thousand friends, and together, they built a ladder made of light."
As I wrote, the children began to chant. Their tiny, fragmented dreams began to merge. The shredded data on the ground rose up, spinning like a cyclone. Discarded scripts, rejected poems, and deleted memories formed a massive, spiraling bridge that arched over the Shredder’s wall.
"Go! Walk the bridge!" I urged the children.
They began to climb. They looked like a line of fireflies ascending into the purple dark.
I stood at the base of the bridge, holding back the "Shredded" fragments that were trying to tear the structure down.