Virtual Reality

I was the outcast. I was the boy who was utterly incapable of maneuvering my foot to make contact with a ball and proceed to kick it into a goal. I was the boy who even after 3 years of excruciatingly, tedious social tutoring with the school psychologist, had never

been able to talk to a single human of the female sex without the result of going green in the face. I was the boy who was repeatedly notified I verbalise at an extraordinarily expeditious rate and in agonizingly, awkward sentences while still having the ability to take only one quick breath after conjunctions like although, but and and. I was the boy who would have never been selected to battle against skilfull swordsmen, defeat petrifying demons and return with my head attached to the seven cervicals in my neck; but I was. And If wished for me to disclose my story with you, I shall, so let us begin. And by the way, I will be writing about myself in 3rd person and calling myself Asher.

A never ending stream of fetid and heated bodies pressed against Ashers chest as they sped past; driblets of saliva escaped from many mouths as they spoke in a frenzied manner. The class had recently returned from PE and were heading off somewhere that (apparently) was immensely exciting.

Not really acquainted with an extensive list of pupils, Asher trudged along listening in on others’ conversations and soon gave up on attempting to translate words like lit, noob and swag into the english language. After what seemed like ten minutes of trekking through the school, a brick like hand firmly seized Ashers left shoulder as its rotund fingers subtly pressed into my clavicle causing discomfort.

“You look like you’re up for it” came the surprisingly placid voice that held possession of the hand.

“Up for wh…”

“No time for trivial questions” the man reached into his backpack, rummaging through it as he spoke, “Hurry up! Time is of the essence! Take your jacket off and wipe that foolish look off your face.”

“Sir I don’t underst…”

“Now go out there and fight like you’ve never fought before!”

“Where’s out the?”

Suddenly, the same, brick like hands emerged from behind Asher, sleekly placing something over his furrowed visage.

Ashers eyes were compelled to shut tight as he was barricaded in a wall of utter shock. Heart rate subsiding and muscles alleviating, he detached his eyelids. Unanticipatedly, a unique sound of unmitigated bewilderment escaped Ashers mouth.

Red. Red all around. Asher felt it. The heat of lava. Already, beads of sweat were dripping off Ashers philtrum and onto his lip. Finally bold enough to take a look at his surroundings, he lifted his head.

“What the flippin mother of pie r squared....”.

Asher was standing on a tremendous block of what looked like basalt, and above him the roof was carpeted by jet black stalagmites. Asher gasped as he saw the black spears jut out in all directions but what really unnerved him was the immense heat:

“Heat and volcanic rock put together means lava,” he thought.

Sure enough, Asher was surrounded by flaming, bubbling lava.

Asher was confused. Confused by where he was, how he got there and why he was there. His surroundings reminded of minecraft, the nether world, except it was pretrifying in real life.

“Ayeeeeeeeeeee!!!”, a shrill voice came from behind and Asher instantaneously spun around in its direction.

“Another little morsel for me to snack on, hmmmmm?”

Ashers blood turned to ice and he froze in fear. Asher didn’t know what it was but it was like a creature from a nightmare.

“Well pick up your sword and lets battle!”, suddenly, a dappled sword appeared in front of both Asher as well as the monster and instantly, his opponent grasped his weapon.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,”

Asher hastily but hesitantly picked up his sword panicking while figuring out how to hold it.

“Now before we begin, let’s do a quick test of wits,” at a distance, Asher and the monster began staggering around each other; the monster began again,

“I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?”. Immediately, Asher answered,

“An echo!”

“Hmmm clever boy. But let’s see how clever when handling a sword!”, the creature shot towards Asher sword flailing but just in time, he tripped falling to the ground missing impalement by an inch.

“LUCKY, BUT NOT LUCKY ENOUGH!”, the monster ran towards his competitor once again but before he could make a move, Asher struck the sword against his enemy and swiftly stood up. A gush of adrenaline rushed through Asher’s veins as he heard the same voice that belonged to the brick hand,

“You have it in you, just have confidence,” and with that, Asher commenced the duel.

It was almost like he had done it for years. Asher was brandishing his sword side to side with his left arm against his back just like a professional fencer. Feet tip-toeing forward and back, both the monster and Asher maneuvered themselves around each other. They had been going for what seemed like hours and drenched in sweat, Asher continued to power on. He didn’t know how he obtained so much skill but he absolutely loved it!

“This is amazing!!!!”, Asher roared as he continued to duel with the monster.

“You are better than I thought and I’ve had fun,” began the creature, “but I think it’s time to finish you off now,”

In the spur of a moment, Asher was shoved to the ground by two mangled hands. He felt the skin on his back graze off as he slid across the basalt surface and whimpered in pain. The monster approached Asher, knees bent and face almost touching his victim. The foul breath of his enemy entered Ashers nose and he tried to evade it with the energy he had left. With a smirk, the monster whispered, “You are going to die now,” he reached for his sword, stretching his arm behind him. Asher widened his eyes,

“Quite the contrary,” grasping his sword, he slit the throat of the beast.

Suddenly, two familiar hands smothered Ashers face and recognizable voices surrounded him. Opening his eyes, Asher looked around to see his classmates beaming at him and the man with the large hands pushed in front to Asher and laughed,

“A little dramatic for a VR Technology Game but very well done!”