Inspiration. It was a button I hit when I was bored or desperate, a crutch that went unused though not for a lack of trying. I assumed that it would never work.

Idly, I hit it again and to my surprise neon letters appeared on the screen.

LOADING…
INSPIRATION IS DOWNLOADING…
PLEASE DO NOT SHUT DOWN OR RESTART YOUR COMPUTER…
INSPIRATION WILL BEGIN IN 5…4…3…2…1

The screen went dark just before blinding light exploded from my monitor. I screamed incoherently as thousands of images streamed past my eyes. They all looked like puzzle pieces, fragments of a greater whole, and each one a window: Fae nobles bargained with fearful humans, cities floated over a broken world, monsters climbed into people’s mouths and piloted them as if they were machines, stories were spent as currency, and mighty heroes battled clever villains.

I awoke sometime later drool bridging my keyboard and mouth. Groggy, I knew there was something I needed to remember- something important. Dreams- somehow dreams were the key.