Was it Really a Dream?
Sara Coelho (Portugal)
A few weeks ago I experienced one of the most unpredictable things that could ever happen. It was Sunday and as usual, I binge watched films, but on that particular afternoon I only saw sci-fi movies.
After watching many films where aliens, from far away galaxies, arrive on Earth to destroy everything, I went to sleep. Around 3am I jumped out of the bed due to an intense light that came from under my bed. It was one of the aliens from the movies I had watched!
As soon as I started screaming in fear, the green boy asked me: “Excuse me, but why are you so frightened?”
Scared, I replied to him: “because you’re green and you have three big eyes, you’re so different!”.
He answered me in a rush saying that I was also different from him, I was white and only had two eyes, but he wasn’t afraid of me because being different is good – it makes us unique.
I really felt bad after that moment, I didn’t know him and I had judged him only based on prejudice. Eventually, I calmed down and he asked me how Earth was. “It’s amazing,” I said. “It has beautiful beaches, the weather is pleasant, the food is great… not to mention the amazing monuments and the superb music like Fado.”
Quickly I found that I wasn’t describing Earth but only my country, Portugal. That’s the power of borders. They divide us… I mean we set foot on another continent, or country and everything is so strange to us, we can’t relate with anything. Once a planet, Earth is now several different worlds because everyone lives on their own culture without embracing others.
The alien then started explaining to me how his planet was and it seemed to be so boring. It didn’t have houses, or sea, and their inhabitants were clones! From hearing that I became aware of the fact that I’m really fortunate to live on Earth. We own a planet with a major diversity, where it’s enough to get on a plane to be in touch with new customs, new food, different architecture and people from different ethnics.
He was talking when I suddenly heard my mother call me to go to school. But why was she awake at 3 am? Apparently, my moment with the alien was no more than a dream! It was so strange because it looked so real to me.
Well, I woke up and turned on my television. The news was the same as the other days. People want to close the borders, build walls, terrorist attacks towards the cultural minorities are happening, the refugee crisis…
My dream may not be true but the problems are real! Let’s celebrate diversity and learn from each other’s cultures to make this world a better place because if our planet is like a puzzle, every single one of us is a piece to make it complete.