Poet’s note: This poem is written by the perspective of Sophie Foster from the series Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger.

I was never normal
I could do something no human could do
Because I was never the same
As her or him or you

Until that one day
I could hear what you would say
But not to me; to yourself
Inside your brain

Yes, I was young
And I tried to be strong
All the things I was hearing
Of the ways I was wrong

But then, that one day
I met someone
Just like me
An elf, since I was born

I found myself somewhere new
With people just like me
Waking fantasies
It was like a dream come true

But then I found out
Not everything was perfect
One by one
Everyone became a suspect

I was drawn into the horrors
Came to know the elvin ways
Screaming for mercy
Was all I could do those days

Slowly, things got better
With my friends standing by me
Although they were still out there
I stood confidently

Friends and allies, all together
Foes and enemies among
But through the war and through the struggle
I finally felt, I belonged