Glitch: A Short Story
Hazel dropped the small cardboard box
next to the couch and fell back onto the soft cushions. She let out a sigh of contentment as she
propped her feet upon her coffee table and her hand found its way around the
stem of a glass filled with red wine.
Over the past week she had unpacked most of her belongings and that box
was the last one. She had created her
home. Reveling in the comfort of that
moment and the taste of the Merlot she sank deeper into the cushions. Sleep surely would have overcome her had it
not been for the knock at her front door.
Hazel, curious and slightly annoyed,
opened her door to find a tall auburn haired man standing on the painted planks
of her porch. “Yes?” She
questioned. “Miss Verity I presume?” The
man stuck out his hand in greeting. “Uh,
yeah, that’s me.” Hazel shook the man’s hand and he smiled warmly as he said,
“Wonderful! I’m Ron! Ron Devot that is. I live next door in the red bungalow. I just wanted to welcome you to the
neighborhood.” Since moving to the small
town of Black Crane, Oregon Hazel had only met a small handful of people. She didn’t start her job until Monday and she
spent most of her time unpacking. “Well
thank you Ron. It’s a pleasure to meet
you.” “Well, I’ll let you get back to
what you were doing; I just wanted to stop by.
Oh! And if you’re looking for
anything to do this evening a group of people are heading over to the Peppered
Coyote at eight. It’s a fantastic
restaurant and you are more than welcome to join us.”
Ron started to make his way off the
porch as Hazel called out to him “I’ll think about it… Ron?” “Yeah?” Ron said turning back. “How did you already know my name?” Ron laughed. “That probably did seem a little
weird didn’t it? Well you met my friend Violet
a couple days ago at the grocery store; she told me all about you since she
knew you had moved in on my street.” “Oh…” Hazel said, remembering her
encounter with a nice young woman named Violet. “I’ve got to go now Miss
Verity, see you at the Peppered Coyote!” With that Ron made his way across the
lawn.
Hazel spent the rest of her day doing
various tasks around the house.
Organizing, dusting, and then dancing around the kitchen to numerous
records as they spun on the turntable.
She loved old things like vinyl, they reminded her of simpler times when
the world wasn’t so concerned with technology.
At one point in the afternoon Hazel wandered back into the den where her
record player was to flip the record over.
She got distracted and stopped when she saw the picture frame next to
the player. She picked it up and looked
at the happy family staring back at her.
It was her family: her mother, father, brother, and herself. Hazel smiled until suddenly her head started
pounding. A headache unlike any she had
ever experienced overwhelmed her and her world seemed to break apart and fall
away from her. Her whole vision went
black and the frame fell from her hands, glass breaking as it hit the
ground. As soon as it had come, it left
her. Standing, unsure of her environment
for a couple more seconds, Hazel surveyed the room and stuck her hands out to
balance herself. She thought to herself,
“Whoa, now that was an intense one. I’m
going to need to take some Aspirin if I end up going out tonight. Better safe than sorry.”
On the outskirts of town a light blue
Volkswagen Beetle sped past the town sign.
David Burkhard gripped the wheel tighter as he began to anticipate his
arrival. He breathed in the air that
rushed through the window which was cracked open. The damp Oregon air refreshed his mind and
worked to calm his nerves about entering this new stage of life. Moving to Oregon was never part of David’s
life plan. He always thought he would
live in Pennsylvania his whole life.
From a young age up to his present 26 years of age he knew his home was
the east coast. But now? Now he was on his way to Black Crane. David couldn’t even remember the moment he
had made the decision to move. All he
knew was that his goal now was to get his Beetle to his new house and enjoy his
new life.
He watched the sun start to peek out from
behind a cloud and illuminate the top of a grey van approaching him from down
the road. He didn’t take much notice of
it until the van began to phase in and out of sight before his very eyes. Instantaneously it would become static and
disappear only to be there again in the blink of an eye. “What the…” Escaped his lips as he squinted
his eyes and strained to make sense out of what he was seeing.
Ch. 2
Ron picked fries off his plate and
sipped his water. His eyes kept
flickering from Jim and Violet, across the table from him, to the busy
doorway. He enjoyed getting to talk with
his friends, but now they were so focused on each other that Ron started hoping
more people would be showing up to the Peppered Coyote. Sipping on his straw his gaze eventually
drifted to the windows and he watched a slow rain begin outside. “Great,” he thought, “Now nobody is going to
come out tonight.” Violet interrupted
his thoughts. “Who all did you say was
coming tonight?” Ron blinked and stopped his somber pondering. “Well Christine was supposed to come this
week, but I think she told me she was sick.
And Mark had to work.” Violet
seemed to be checking off a list in her head.
“Did you invite the new girl who just moved in down the street from
you? She seemed nice.” Violet
asked. “Well I mentioned it to her… but
it’s started to rain. I doubt anyone is
going to show up.” Ron trailed off and he looked back towards the window. “Wow, man.
You’re an optimist if ever I saw one.” Jim smirked at Ron.
The trio peered out the window at the
rain which was beginning to fall harder.
Through the growing grayness they saw the figure of a young brunette
woman in a purple coat holding a large blue umbrella approach the
restaurant. As she came closer it became
clearer who she was. “That’s her!” Ron exclaimed. “Oh, you’re right, Ron.” Violet agreed.
“That’s Hazel.” All three turned to face
the door as she entered the Peppered Coyote.
Ron waved her over to the large circular table that they had
reserved. Violet welcomed Hazel as she
approached the table, “Hi Hazel! It’s so
good to see you again!” Violet stood up and gave her a small hug then motioned
for her to join them. “Nice to meet you
I’m Jim.” He said, shaking Hazel’s hand enthusiastically. “Nice to meet you, Jim. Violet told me a bit about you when I first
met her. She mentioned that you work
with computers.” “Yes,” Jim leaned back
in his chair, “actually, I’m a networker.”
“He makes computers ‘play nice’ with each other.” Violet said, patting Jim on the arm. The group continued chatting as they ordered
more food. The rain, which pounded on the
windows of the Peppered Coyote, continued steadily.
As David watched his wipers furiously
swipe the rain off his windshield he was glad he was getting the house keys
from the realtor tomorrow. This storm
would have made moving in miserable. He
parked his blue VW along the street and hoped he would be able to find some
good food before he checked in to the hotel for the night. He strolled along the sidewalk, enjoying the
smell of rain as it pattered against the hood of his jacket. He spotted a restaurant that seemed promising
and started towards it, but before David crossed the street he noticed
something that stopped him cold.
In front of David’s eyes there was a
raindrop. Steady, unmoving, it hung
before him. David reached out to touch
it and in doing so he hit another raindrop with his hand, breaking it. He looked down at his hand, now wet with this
new rain. David looked around as
overwhelming astonishment and confusion flooded his mind. Rain, across the entire street hung suspended
in mid-air. And yet, what concerned
David the most was the fact that though the raindrops seemed paused, he could
still hear the sound of rain hitting the ground.
Laughter surrounded the table inside
the Peppered Coyote as the group of four continued to get to know one another
better. Hazel felt as if she had known these
people a lot longer than the half hour she had been there. Her eyes settled on the rain falling outside
of the restaurant. The rain splattered on
the street outside with a sense of newness.
Her eyes then seemed to deceive her.
It looked like the rain had stopped moving. She could still hear the
rain pounding on the window but she couldn’t deny it; the rain was hanging over
the street without movement.
“Hey guys,” Hazel interrupted Jim
mid-sentence. “Look outside. Do you
notice anything weird?” “What? Did it stop raining?” Ron asked as he turned
to look outside. “In a way…” Hazel
replied as she continued her stare out the window. She hoped she was not alone in what she
saw. Suddenly it seemed to hit
them. Jim slowly rose from his chair and
paced towards the window, his gaze unbroken from the scene outside. The other three followed his lead and
surveyed the rain in wonder and silence.
Hazel watched as a young couple walked on the sidewalk across the
street. She expected them to stop and
take in the bizarreness of the hanging rain.
Yet, they seemed unfazed and continued walking.
Ch. 3
In a small dark room two monitors sat
at their stations. Screens littered the
room displaying statuses and codes.
Their director sat at his own station sending reports. “Sir?” A monitor sat at his tech station
watching a notification flash on his screen.
“Yes Johnson?” He said approaching the station, “what is it?” The technician pointed to the notification
and nervously said, “There’s… There’s an error message coming up.” Director McGregor read the status of the
error message. “Fix it, now.” The director
walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Johnson looked at his colleague Peters. Fear was clearly on both of their faces.
David looked at the girl in the
window. Some of her dark hair hung in
front of her eyes which looked just as bewildered as his own surely did. The group of people beyond the restaurant
window seemed to be the only other people besides himself that had taken notice
of this phenomenon. Surely if they were
taking notice as well then he was not just hallucinating. His attention was drawn back to the corner of
his eye. There a raindrop hung,
shimmering. He watched intently as it
glimmered for a split second more then fell to the pavement. With that the rain began to fall as
before. David almost jumped back out of
pure shock. The group in the restaurant
was still watching him so he decided to go in and find out if they were losing
their minds as much as he was.
Someone seemed to hit play as the
rain began to fall again. Hazel heard
Violet gasp. She watched the man from
across the street as he stood looking at her.
He then started walking determinately towards the restaurant. All four of the spectators at the window
turned to watch the door as this man, drenched from the rain, entered the
restaurant. He walked up to them and his
blue eyes seemed to search their faces for an explanation to what they had all
seen. His sight rested on Hazel’s
face. None of them quite knew what to
say. Jim broke the silence finally, “So
you saw that too.” His hands were
trembling a bit. Violet noticed and
grabbed his left hand with her right to calm him down. “Yeah, I did.” David seemed to be grasping for the words to
say. “Um, so what even… What just
happened?”
“I’d say we all just figured out why
perfectly normal people go crazy.” Ron
looked back at the rain running down the window pane. “Let’s be serious now, Ron.” Violet shot him an irritated look. “How about
we all just sit down and take a moment to settle our nerves. This doesn’t happen every day.” Violet stuck out her hand in introduction to
the man. “David Burkhard” He said. “Hi David.” Violet said as she shook his
hand. “Come sit with us. We have a table over here.” Violet led the group back to their round wooden
table. Once they all sat the
introductions continued. “Ron Devot.”
David shook his hand. “Jim Aqil.” He shook Jim’s hand as Jim was sitting down
next to Violet. Violet then said,
“Violet Hyun.” David nodded at her. Hazel’s turn had come. David reached out and grabbed her hand to
shake it. “Hi David, I’m Hazel
Verity.” “That’s a beautiful name,
Hazel.” Violet noted that David’s
handshake lingered a little bit longer before he let go of Hazel’s hand. She also noticed how Hazel was blushing.
Still no one really knew how to start
the conversation. Jim, who was in a
state of contemplation, started to verbalized his musings. “Have any of you ever been playing a video
game when all of a sudden the gameplay started acting up? Environments not functioning properly, graphics
freezing, objects pixelating?” “What are you getting at Jim?” Violet asked him
while resting her chin on her hand.
“Glitches.” Hazel said in an
epiphanic manner. “He’s referring to
glitches, right Jim?” Jim confirmed his agreement with a nod. “But things don’t glitch in the real world
guys, c’mon. There’s got to be a real
explanation for it.” Ron couldn’t admit
it out loud, but he knew that this didn’t seem to have anything to do with the
reality he knew to be real. Silence
began to fall on the table of five again until interrupted by David’s stray
thought. “But, what if this world isn’t
real?” They all looked at one
another. Nobody had even considered that
as a possibility especially since it seemed too impossible to be true.
“Did anyone notice?” McGregor had reentered the room and stood
with his arms crossed behind Johnson.
“I’m not sure. They could have.” He gulped after his answer. “Well, then let’s make sure that never
happens again. Or else. I hope you don’t just take this as some silly
game now, Johnson. A lot is riding on
these pawns in play, and that means there is a lot to lose.” With his last word McGregor
slammed his hand down on Johnson’s desk causing him to jump in his seat.
“How do you mean, David?” Hazel asked
with anxiousness growing inside of her.
“Well, on my way into town I had a strange experience. A car driving opposite of me on the road seemed
to flicker in and out of sight. Then as
it passed me it disappeared completely.
I thought it was a trick of the eyes or light. But after the rain thing, I’m not sure
there’s another explanation.” “That’s
what I’m talking about.” Jim jumped into the conversation. “That sounds just like what I was referring
to. Whether it’s because there’s not
enough data, or there’s an actual bug in the system, it seems as if we’ve
experienced some glitches.” “If any of
what you’re saying is true, then what are we going to do about it?” Violet posed.
“Find out what’s real, I guess.” David said.
Ch. 4
“You’re suggesting we test this world
we’re in to see if it’s real?” Jim asked David.
“Yeah I suppose so.” David
answered. “Ok,” Violet said while
thinking, “how would we go about doing that?”
They all thought for a second.
“Well, I don’t know if we really can test our environment. Our minds are fully immersed in this reality
for the time being. Convincing them
otherwise would take a lot more mind power than we are capable of at this
juncture. It’s going to take something
big.” Jim explained. “Why is that, Jim?”
David probed him for more information.
“As I once heard, ‘Reality is whatever your mind infers from the nerve
impulses sent by your sensors based on its model of the world.’ That is what is at the heart of virtual
reality being different and more powerful than everything that has come
before. There is still too much other
information for our brains to take in that is convincing us this is
reality. All subconsciously that
is.” “There must have been awareness on
an even deeper level of our subconscious that something was wrong though,
right? I mean we knew something was off
in those moments, we didn’t just accept it as reality.” Ron had a good point
and it triggered Hazel to remember her headache from earlier; she still wasn’t
sure what meaning it held however.
“If we try to test reality in some
way I doubt it will yield anything.
Reality, well at least this reality, obviously has something wrong with
it. Cause and effect are no longer
lining up. The program either has
something wrong with it or we’re just noticing things more. Either way, I think our best bet is to just
be watchful and figure out a few things.” Jim leaned back in his chair as he
spoke and became aware of all he could see in his peripheral. Ron spoke up, “I think we need to figure out
who we can trust.” “What do you mean?”
David prosed. “Well, are we the only
actual people in this reality?” Ron
noted how they were the only folks to take any notice of the rain that
suspended itself in the air.
The waitress made her way back to
their table. “Hey guys, how are you all
doing? Can I get you something sweetie?”
She directed her attention at David, who hadn’t had time to think about
ordering dinner yet. David quick skimmed
one of the menus on the table and ordered the first meal to stick out to
him. Before the waitress had walked away
Violet asked her, “Actually before you go, I was just wondering. Did you notice anything odd about the rain earlier?” The waitress paused a moment before
responding, “Not really, I’ve been really busy, I have had barely any time to
look out the window.” She joked then continued, “Though I do remember hearing
something about some freak rainstorms expected in the area. They were said to be really unique, a rare
environmental phenomenon.” The waitress
then walked away to put David’s order in.
The group all looked at each other without a word as she left the table
and the looks on their faces said it all.
The night ended with them all deciding to go home and sleep on all the
new information they had just learned.
David woke up in a cold sweat on the
stiff hotel bed. He must have had a
dream. He couldn’t remember it though;
he hadn’t been able to remember his dreams for a while now. David laid his head back on the stale pillow
beneath him. The memories from yesterday
flooded his mind, swirling around in a pixelated blur. That seemed fitting enough. The smell of rented room seemed real enough
he thought. Sitting up, he took in a
deep breath and remembered that he had to get the keys from the realtor for the
house he just bought. “What… is… the
point…” he mumbled as he rubbed his face in his hands and yawned. David was the one to suggest to everyone last
night that they should sleep on what they had learned. But now he wondered what came after
sleeping? Did he just continue his day
like he would have otherwise? Thinking
out loud he said, “Jim said be on the lookout, I guess that means act like
everything is normal.” David scoured the
room with his eyes as he got ready for the day half expecting to find someone
watching him.
Hazel awoke with a start, much like
David, her hair stuck to the sweat on her forehead and her lungs were short of
breath. “Fake. It’s all fake.” The thought paraded through her mind. Damp morning air lazily crept through her
window and across the room to her. The
smell of last nights’ rain lingered on the wind. “Real.
I’m real, though… right?” She
hadn’t processed this thought until now.
If the world around her was fake, how could she be so sure that she
herself wasn’t just a facsimile of a person; a program? She pulled on a light sweater, which had been
sitting on a chair next to her bed, as she turned to sit on the edge of her
bed. “Of course I’m real. I’ve lived a full life, in the real world up
until now. To think otherwise would be
ridiculous.” Her mind retreated back to
her early years, to a memory in which she is playing outside with her
brother. She could feel another headache
coming on so she tried to just stop thinking altogether, which just led to her
mind being filled with one image. All
she could see in her mind was the image of a man standing across the street
staring back at her through hanging rain.
David. He had been on her mind
ever since she had first seen in in the midst of that freak weather
scenario. Hazel lazily pulled socks on
over her slender feet and scuffled leisurely into her living room. Her hands ran over her record collection as
she perused her library of albums searching for the perfect one to start the
morning with. Her fingers settled on an
album and she took the vinyl out of the sleeve and set it on the player. She set the needle where she knew it would
play the song she wanted to hear and soon The Crystals filled the room with And
Then He Kissed Me. Real world or not,
whatever she was feeling between her and David felt 100% real to her.
Tapping and clicking filled the room
in a deafening roar. Peters and Johnson
raced to amend the bug they had overlooked in the system. Both monitors were thankful that McGregor
was out of the room taking another call.
His absence eased the pressure that hung over both of them. Peters looked over at Johnson. “Johnson, are we sure that none of them noticed
the glitch?” Johnson rubbed his eyes in
a frustrated exhaustion. “Honestly, it
may have been possible that they did.
They weren’t being monitored at the time.” Peters paused, in thought. “If so, say they did see what happened, what
would we do to keep them from realizing the reality of the situation?” Johnson pondered for a couple seconds then
responded nervously, “They would probably have already figured it out.” “Ok,” Peters calculated plans of operation in
his mind as he talked, “So they know the world is not real. They wouldn’t know how to leave it yet. Our job is to keep them there so… our best
bet at keeping them in the dark about how to leave is to keep them separated.” “Yeah…” Johnson seemed to be renewed by this
thought and started to type code into his computer at a furious pace. “We have to be subtle though, Johnson.” Johnson continued to type, the file name
stagnant at the top of his screen: Black Crane.
Ch. 5
Ron looked out his window towards
Hazel’s house. He should ask how she’s
doing or at least that’s what he thought to himself as he sipped his morning
coffee. Last night was a stressful time
for all of them and the morning was no different. The tan mug, now empty of coffee, was set
down as he slipped into a light jacket of forest green which complimented his
auburn hair and blue eyes. The door
closed as he meandered down his porch steps and across his lawn towards Hazel’s
bungalow of brown. The wet grass
squished under his shoes and approaching he heard the soft tune of 60’s music
wafting from her open windows. As he had
done once before Ron reached Hazel’s door and knocked. Through the window next to the door he saw
Hazel coming to the door in her pajamas and a sweater. Her feet swished across the floor in her
socks and she finally got close enough to see Ron through the window. “Hey there, Ron!” Hazel said, reaching the window, which was
cracked open. “What are you doing here
so early in the morning?” “Well it’s not
too early, and besides I wanted to make sure you were alright after last
night’s incident.” Ron’s concern seemed
to hug Hazel. Finding people to connect
with in a strange new place was never easy, especially in a place like this,
and she already felt connected with these people she had known only for one
night. “Aww, thank you Ron. Why don’t you come in?” “Sure.” He said as he heard her unlock the
door. That was it though, all he heard
was an unlock and then the door stayed in place.
No opening upon which revealed the
inside of her house. Ron patiently
waited and could hear the rattling of a handle being jostled around. “It won’t open.” Her voice came from inside
the house. “I just unlocked it and it
won’t open.” “Let me try.” Ron grabbed the outer handle of the door and
turned it with force, putting pressure on the door urging it to move
inward. Still nothing. Her mind started to spiral. She ran to the back of her house, the back
door seemed to call to her. Seemingly
she leaped towards it and tried to pry it open.
The door didn’t give. She
scrambled back to the entryway and tried the front door one more time. Ron knocked on the window and startled
her. “I’ll be right back, I have an
idea.”
Ron raced back to his house as Hazel
ran from window to window in her house trying to open them further than they
already were. There was no avail. After some time she heard Ron return. Through her window she saw he had brought
with him a crowbar and a hatchet.
Firstly he tried to pry open her door with the crowbar. That proved to be as productive as their
tugging and pushing had been. Ron then
cautioned Hazel away from the door and picked up his hatchet. With a mighty blow Ron brought his hatchet
down on the door. And yet, no puncture
or mark was made on the door. Ron stood
aghast. Hazel began to understand what
was happening. “Ron, they’re trying to
keep us all apart from one another. We
know too much.” Ron agreed and started
pacing on the porch. “You know, Ron, I
think I know why the hatchet didn’t work.”
Hazel leaned against her window and began to speak with understanding in
her voice. “It doesn’t actually exist. The door I mean, it’s not real. What can a hatchet do to something that’s not
real? And if it’s not genuinely here,
what is it to keep me in my house? Can’t
we just think it away? Reality in here
is what your brain makes it to be, isn’t it?
Ch. 6
Ron called Violet with his cell phone
while Hazel ran to get dressed. “Vi,
it’s Ron. Hazel and I need to meet up
with you and Jim at the park. I’m going
to try the number David gave us last night to reach him as well. We’re heading there now, It’s important. Come as soon as you can and if for any reason
you hit a roadblock on your way remember.
You’re real, it isn’t. See you
soon.” Ron hung up the phone as Hazel
came bounding down the stairs. She had a
lot of pep. The duo got in Ron’s jeep
and started out for the park.
David listened to the message on his
voicemail as he set another box down in the foyer. Ron’s voice rang through his phone. He grabbed his jacket and keys then locked up
the house and the secured the door of the moving truck which was parked
outside. He got in his vintage blue
beetle and tried to start it up. The car
refused to let the engine turn over with a creak and a groan. Again, David tried to get the engine to
start. Urgency surged through his veins
as well as frustration. Luckily, David
had already unloaded his mountain bike and it was sitting on the porch only a
few feet away. He lifted the bike down
off of his porch and headed in the direction of the park Ron had indicated
which luckily was a short distance from his new house.
Wind rustled through the trees of
Foster Park. The breeze picked up
Hazel’s hair, tousling it this way and that.
She pulled her hair away from her face as she searched for signs of
Violet, Jim, or especially, David. Ron
sat next to her on the park bench nearest to the entrance. Hazel had an idea in her mind that she had
been ruminating on ever since she walked through her now door-less doorway; a
way out, a way home.
Violet and Jim ran, hand in hand,
towards the park entrance. They saw
their friends sitting on a park bench just inside the park. They ran up and embraced Hazel and Ron and
began to excitedly tell them of the troubles they faced getting there. “So you’ll never guess what happened,” Violet
spoke speedily as Jim nodded enthusiastically, “We were driving and all of a
sudden we realized we had been passing the same place over and over again. So Jim told me to turn in another
direction. I did, but we still kept
passing by the same storefronts, the same buildings, everything! We tried over and over again, but we were
caught in a loop.” Jim took over the story
from Violet, “Until that is we remembered what you said when you called
us. At least Violet did. You said to remember that we were real and it
isn’t. So we both made a decision in our
minds that the next road we turned onto would be leading us towards the
park. And next thing you know we turn
and this time it’s a different street and we were able to make it here.” “Wow!”
Hazel said, almost tempted to say “You should hear about my front
door.” But she stopped herself. She had more important things to tell them,
once David joined them that is.
David, throwing his bike on the
ground, ran towards the group of four standing in the park. “I’m here!
I’m here, what’s the big news?”
Hazel looked around at her friends.
Yes, she considered these people, who were practically strangers, her
friends. Clearing her throat, she began,
“I… I believe I know how we can get out of here.” Jim smirked and Violet’s eyes widened. Everyone hung onto Hazel’s words with
anticipation. “I had an experience
yesterday which has since proven to me to be of great importance, though at the
time I thought nothing of it. I was
looking at a photo of my family and remembering some memories I have with them;
things that don’t exist here except for in my own mind. As I was thinking about them I felt a huge
headache come on and the world seemed to fall apart into darkness. I didn’t realize it until Ron and I
discovered how to make my front door disappear on my house. I was pulling myself out of this world with
memories. Thoughts of things that can’t
exist here are the key.”
“Wow, seems so simple.” Violet said in a hushed tone. “And yet, I don’t think it will be.” Jim
stated. “We are going to have to do this
together, we have to encourage each other not to lose sight of the memories
we’re grasping for. Otherwise this world
will suck us back in. It has such a
strong hold on our minds already.” “Then
let’s overcome it together.” David looked
at Hazel and she looked back at him. As
the trees swayed in the wind, the five held hands and stood in
anticipation. “Remember, you have to
remember. Remember your families, your
pets, and your home. That’s where we are
supposed to be; home.” Hazel spoke these
words with extreme certainty. David
winked at her from across the circle and she smiled back at him. Soon after she began to close her eyes, but
not before she noticed a glimmer coming from Ron’s direction.
Wires; attached to her! Computer monitors all around the room sat
beeping and whirring. She began to
detach the wires from herself and lift herself out of the reclined seat she had
been in. Looking around the room she saw
the others awakening themselves from the virtual sleep they had been under;
everyone that was, except for Ron. The
glimmer she had noticed made sense now, though she never could have predicted
it. Her heart sank deep into her chest. The others, taking in their surroundings as
well, seemed to come to the same conclusion.
Violet started sobbing and Jim tried to settle her down. Hazel’s somberness soon transformed into
anger; anger at whoever had done this, whoever had tricked them this way and
played mind games with them. “Well guys,
I guess there’s just one thing left to do,” David said from across the room,
“Get out of here.” “That. And figure out who did this to us and why.”
Hazel said flatly. If it was the last
thing she was going to do, she was going to find out why.
Thanks for reading!
XOXO- Juls
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