By Sofia Ruiz, TIWP student

The World I Want to Fight For. . . 

. . . is a world where every child gets to read every book. It is a world where people receive a proper education, and where people understand the value of sharing a story, of sharing a fact, of sharing a feeling, of walking alongside someone else. And the world we live in now may laugh or ridicule anyone who can tell their story with conviction, and strength. The world we live in now may shriek with delight to watch us falter, to watch us ashamed, to watch us tear up in front of them. Maybe they will laugh even when we forgive them for interrupting us. The world I want to fight for listens to the jokes and the ridicule, and asks, without hate or malice, what has spurred along such vile behavior, from someone who could just as easily be a friend? And the answer is that they have not heard stories other than their own. And the answer is that maybe we have not done our best to listen to theirs.

And even listening or telling stories for 1,001 nights cannot cast out all the demons that fracture the bridges between us. But, even just one story, can be enough for two people, worlds away, to share a glance, a feeling, a mutual understanding that perhaps was not there before.

So you tell your story, and let them laugh, or gossip, let them bite and bare their teeth. Let them spread their lies. Tell them your story, anyway.

And, in spite of it all, once the dust settles, find it within you to listen to theirs.