ALIANA

It's been so many years being home, the lights are too bright, the faces are totally unknown yet it is time to come back home. After five years and seven Months away from home everything feels different but today I'm receiving an award for best designer of all time.

I stand at the center of the stage, the applause rolling over me in waves, warm, loud and earned. Cameras flash. Someone in the front row whistles. Someone else shouts my name like it belongs to them.

I smooth a hand down my dress before I take the award.

It’s silver. Heavy. Cold against my palm.

The host beams. “Ladies...