I looked at the canvas laid out before me, as I purposefully arranged the blue and green puzzle pieces into an ideal portrait. I held a piece in my hand and stared at the others, scattered on the ground, adjacent to the landscape I spent hours creating, making sure to choose the right one. Placing the piece carefully into the puzzle’s center, I was ecstatic as to how it laid down so comfortably. I repeated this action, making sure...

“Chioma!” I bellowed across the brown and patchy field that lied adjacent to the rusty, jagged apartments and the two-meter wide, germ-infested swimming pool that we begged our mothers to let us swim in every summer. I stood along the crooked sidewalk, with my off-brand sneakers and my tightly braided cornrows that restricted my curls, desperate to catch my older cousin’s attention. She turned her head, and the intensity of her eyes staring back at me allowed even my...

“If you can have any superpower, what would it be?” asked my friend. I contemplated my question, trying to construct a necessary, yet impressive answer. I critically analyzed the pro’s and con’s of each superpower, making sure I choose one that represented me the most. “Teleportation!” my 11-year-old body screamed. It was perfect. Imagine getting all your questions answered, and being in multiple places all at once! That way I could learn anything I wanted to, without being...