Amelia heard soft knock on her bedroom door. In her small voice, she called out, “Mommy?” The door opened to reveal her mother, already dressed for work that day. Light from the hallway flooded into the dark room
“Amelia, it’s your birthday. Your father and I bought you a present. You must remember to take care of this, it’s expensive.” With that, she set a box on her bed and walked back through the doorway. Before closing the door, she said, “Have a good day, Amelia.”
“Love you, Mo-” The door was quickly shut. Amelia turned on her bedside light and looked over at the box. It looked like it was wrapped professionally. Amelia smiled softly and decided to open the gift immediately. After all, she had no one to share the moment with, as her father was most likely already at work. She opened the present carefully, ripping the ornate wrapping paper as little as possible.
After all the wrapping was off, Amelia’s eyes widened. She had seen many commercials of the new VR set that was “So fun, you’ll want to play forever” as the salesman would say. She inspected the box first, looking for directions. Her eyes scanned over the FOR PLAYERS 12 AND OLDER and then found the directions.
She skimmed over them quickly before putting the set on. The game “Better Life” was already downloaded onto the set. Amelia started a new game and didn’t stop playing until her stomach began to grumble for breakfast. She took off the set and skipped to ground floor to see Alfred, the butler, setting the table for her. Amelia scarfed her eggs and toast down and went back to her room.
Years later, and Amelia is still playing. She puts on the headset and continues her game. Resuming, she has just woken up from the night. She automatically changes to daily wear and went to breakfast. Her mother and father both greet her sweetly with a, “Good morning, darling!” in perfect unison. She sits down and eats. “Amelia, you have school in five minutes,” her mother informs. Amelia stands up and ,seconds later, is at school.
A notification pops up in the left hand corner “YOU HAVE HAD PERFECT PRESENCE AT SCHOOL FOR 4 YEARS. REWARD: 400 COINS” Amelia silently celebrates and begins class. Another few seconds later, she is finished with school. Her friend, Ella, appears next to her and asks “What would you like to do, Amelia?” She stands still as Amelia chooses her path.
“Let’s go to the mall” she eventually chooses. Ella educates that the first malls were inspired by European markets. They arrive and shop with the new coins Amelia earned. After, Amelia remembered she has real school. After saving the game and taking off the set, she sees her clock showing 8:06.
Amelia’s attendance can not afford another tardy, let alone an absence. In fact, she is a slip-up away from retaking junior year. She packs her bag, starts her car, and speeds through the residential zone to school. She sprints to Geometry and sits down just as the bell sounded. Unlike her game, she had to go through each class.
She daydreams about what she’s going to do after school, her friend, Ester, interrupts. “We have a worksheet, you know. I guess I can help if you need it.”
“I’m fine,” Amelia replies, “I’ll probably just do it after school.” She sits her head in her hands and zones out again.
Her last class ends and Amelia rushes to her car. Driving home, she thinks about all the things she has to do in her virtual world that she completely forgets about her Geometry homework. She checks her grades before playing the game. Her classes have never been very simple or easy for her, but F’s and D’s are not going to fly with her parents. Stressed, she puts the headset and enters her other life.
She selects her game and sees no CONTINUE GAME but only NEW GAME. Amelia doesn’t freak out because she is sure her game is saved somewhere. She looked through all of the data in the game and sees no trace of her account, game, or life. At this point, she is a bit worried. “It has to be somewhere. This can’t be happening.” She is frantically selecting different applications, desperately attempting to find something that simply isn’t there.
She continues to look until she finally gives up. She took off the headset and laid on her bed. She thinks what she can do now. Her grades are terrible but she can’t deal with more stress at this point. She could talk to Ester, who seems to be the only friend Amelia managed to keep after mostly withdrawing from her real life. She had a feeling even Ester had mostly moved on. She sits up and thinks of her mother. Maybe she could help? That was out of the question, because her mother is just as distant as when she was younger.
Suddenly, she had an idea. Life can be her new game. It would be simple. She would indulge on the finer things in life when she did well. This has to do with school, friends, and even finding a job. She has to get back to life and this is the best way she could think of.
She begins with socializing. At school, though she could not have her game, she became antisocial. She drives to school thinking of who to talk to. The only person she could think of was Ester, which she guesses, is a start. Instead of thinking about her game or reading about new ways to play, she talks to her at lunch. After school, they go to the mall.
“You seem… different,” Ester observes, “Is it because you mom told you to stop being such a hermit again?”
Amelia scoffs and says, “Not this time, Ester, I’m a new woman. You know that game I always played?” Ester nods. “I deleted my game on purpose because I am a responsible young lady.”
“Good for you,” Ester congratulates, “I hoped you would know what’s best for yourself and, behold! Now all you have to do is get back to being a real student, which is the real challenge.”
The year is almost over and Amelia successfully passed. Her grades were not outstanding but passing was what she was focused on. She goes to the grocery store in search of snacks to reward herself on her low C’s. Towards the back of the store is where the new games are. She looks back just in curiosity.
Her eyes widen when she sees a brand new “Better Life II” game sitting up atop a stack of games. She knows that she can’t get it, she has been doing so well. Still, she takes a look just to see. Reading the description, she remembers why she loved her game so much. She squints her eyes shut as she puts the game in her basket.
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