I have always felt like an outsider. A red rose in an otherwise white garden. The one who drowns yet floats simultaneously. While everyone around me was partying and creating this scandalous lifestyle, I was sitting at home with my nose in a book and my head in the clouds. Despite being warned to be cautious of Icarus, I admired him. I suppose flying too close to the sun was worth it if he could soar near the stars. One book after another, I found that literature took me to new worlds, safer, more beautiful places. The kind of places I would only dream of finding here on earth. In a sense, that could be viewed as a melancholy revelation, but, instead, it gave me a new sense of determination. My determination to create a magical land where everyone is accepted for who they are. A place that anyone can visit when life becomes too much or when the day gets too overwhelming. My heart and soul in literary form, 'Beyond the Darkness.'