The year was 2030, and the cool autumn breeze drifted through the sprawling campus of Columbia University in New York. Students filled the walkways, their voices buzzing with excitement and nervous anticipation. It was placement season—the time when dreams, ambitions, and years of hard work were finally put to the test.
Among the crowd walked Leo, a handsome young man with thoughtful eyes and an easy charm. Beside him were his four closest friends, laughing loudly as they wandered across the campus lawn. Like most students that day, their conversation soon drifted toward the topic that dominated everyone's mind: the campus placement fairs.
Eventually, they settled into a corner table in the campus canteen. Plates of half-eaten food and coffee cups covered the table as the group excitedly shared their news.
"I got the offer from Horizon Tech," one of them announced proudly.
Another leaned back with a grin. "Nova Systems confirmed mine this morning. The salary package is insane."
The table erupted in excitement.
One by one, Leo's friends spoke about their offers—companies, salaries, future plans, and the cities they would soon move to. Their laughter filled the air.
Leo listened quietly.
Unlike the others, he was the only one who had not received an offer.
Though he tried to smile and nod along, something inside him felt distant, almost as if he didn't truly belong in that moment. The excitement around him felt louder than usual, heavier.
After a while, Leo pushed his chair back.
"I've got some work to finish," he said casually.
None of his friends questioned it. They were too absorbed in their celebrations.
Leo left the canteen and stepped outside into the open campus. The evening air was cool, and the sky above New York had begun to fade into shades of deep blue.
He walked slowly along the familiar stone pathways, letting his thoughts drift.
His mind wandered between the future and the past.
For a brief moment, he wondered what would have happened if he had followed the same path as his friends—if he had focused on the same goals, chased the same opportunities, and lived by the same expectations.
Perhaps the placement fairs would have turned out differently.
But strangely, the thought brought no regret.
Leo had always been different.
From a young age, curiosity burned inside him like a restless flame. While others followed the patterns laid out by society, Leo questioned them. He saw possibilities where others saw limits. His dreams didn't always align with the safe, predictable paths people expected him to take.
And maybe that was why he now stood at a crossroads, uncertain but strangely calm.
Eventually, Leo made his way back to his dorm room.
The small room felt unusually quiet that night. Most students were out celebrating their offers or preparing for the next round of interviews. Leo tossed his bag onto a chair and dropped onto his bed.
To distract himself, he opened his laptop and started watching a movie.
The glow of the screen lit up the dark room as scenes flickered across his tired eyes. For a while, the world inside the movie replaced the restless thoughts in his mind.
Hours slipped by unnoticed.
When the movie finally ended, the clock on his desk read 12:47 AM.
Leo rubbed his eyes and stretched. He lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, but sleep refused to come easily. His thoughts drifted again—to the placement fairs, to his friends, and to the uncertain road waiting ahead.
Eventually, exhaustion took over.
By the time he finally decided to sleep, it was already 2:00 AM.
The room fell silent.
Slowly, Leo drifted into the hazy space between wakefulness and sleep.
And then something strange happened.
He felt… lighter.
At first, he assumed it was the familiar sensation of drifting into a dream.
But when he opened his eyes, his room was gone.
Instead, he stood above a vast ocean of clouds. The night sky stretched endlessly above him, scattered with brilliant stars. The moon cast a soft silver glow across the clouds beneath his feet, making them shimmer like waves in a silent sea.
Leo blinked in confusion.
Then a small smile formed on his face.
"Just a dream," he murmured.
He had experienced vivid dreams before, and this one was unusually beautiful. Curious, he pinched his arm lightly, trying to wake himself up.
Nothing happened.
Just as he was about to try again, a cheerful voice echoed behind him.
"So… you're Leo, right?"
The voice sounded friendly—almost playful.
Leo froze.
Slowly, he turned around.
Standing a few steps away from him was a young man, about the same age as Leo. He looked relaxed, as if meeting someone in the middle of the clouds was perfectly normal.
For a moment, Leo's mind struggled to process what he was seeing.
The endless sky.
The clouds beneath his feet.
And the stranger standing calmly in front of him.
Suddenly, the realization hit him like a wave.
This wasn't just a dream.
A surge of fear rushed through his body. His heart began pounding violently in his chest as panic spread across his face.
Leo looked down at the clouds beneath him again, then back at the mysterious stranger.
The truth was impossible to ignore.
He was really standing in the clouds.
And he was not alone.