My Mentors

 Throughout the world, there are people we look up to.

Mine are different than yours and probably different than most.

In the case of mentors, mothers, fathers, grandparents, or teachers

are the people we look at for guidance.

We ask them for help, for advice, and to be a trusted confidant.

Aunts, uncles, and friends make amazing counselors.

The thing with my mentors is that they are different than most others.

Since I was a little girl, I have been afraid of the dark.

My dreams have haunted me, have made me fear the demons of sleep.

Every night as I go to sleep, pictures form in my head.

These pictures come from my deepest secrets

My most hidden thoughts

They come from the most buried and forbidden parts of my mind

Some are vibrant and exuberant

But most are not

Dreams of swimming in the ocean, having a tail, and flying through life with a smile

Dreams of monsters lurking in the hallways, ridiculing me

Dreams of those I’ve lost, those that I loved

and no one remembers them.

Those are the ones that break my heart

Some days, I don't want to sleep.

These dreams scare the sleep away

I’m being beaten in them

Or chased and unable to run.

With just the darkness of my dreams there to hold my hand.

My books come to save me then.

At 3:00 in the morning when I am still awake.

Knights in shining armor there to save me from the demons of sleep.

Alanna the Lioness, Lady Knight

Feyre, High Lady of the Night Court

Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen

Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior, warriors in their own right

Clary Fray, June Iparis, and America Singer, saviors of their worlds.

These powerful women are my mentors.

They inspire me, they encourage me.

Each of these amazing women has guided me in their own way.

Even though they aren’t real people,

they are more real than most others to me.

They help me to block out the darkness of night.

They encourage me to do better and to make my world a better place.

In them, I see light.