Almost every book I read in middle school–and some in high school–are set in a post-apocalyptic world, a dystopia. The grisly aftermath of something terrible; a war, or maybe a natural disaster. The Earth, protesting her mistreatment one final time.

None ever talked about a utopia. What would it look like, if one day we woke up and the world was exactly how each of us wanted it? If everything in our society that makes our time here terrible was gone?

The answer is different for everybody. For my mom, it would probably look like the Library of Alexandria, risen from its ashes like a phoenix. A world of knowledge at her fingertips, waiting for her to take and take and take. For my dad, it would be a house by a Greek beach, where he would never need to work again, and he would be free to immerse himself in his music.

Like my dad, I dream of the seaside. I’d be curled under sunlight like a cat, saltwater on my lashes and the sounds of waves in my ears. My utopia would be a world where every day would make me feel like that, where I would be able to carry that feeling of absolute peace with me, even far from the sea. Is that too much to ask? Every corner of my country is hugged by the sea. Is my utopia that impossible?

I hope not. Living in a dystopia gets exhausting after a while.

By Rodopiani C., 19, Greece