Kaen sat lazily in her seat. She grabbed her headphones and put them on her head. Then clicked the tiny button to turn her PC on.

“This is the life.” She breathed.

When the screen turned from black to the normal home screen, Kaen moved the mouse and clicked the grass icon.

The words Mojang appeared on a red screen and Kaen leaned back and waited for it to load, which took very little time then clicked the ‘play’ button.

Kaen clicked the world there that was labeled ‘A Give In’. But once she clicked it, a strange purple smoke came from the computer. It grabbed her arm as more smoke came out and grabbed her other arm.

Kaen tried to pull away, but the smoke just brought her closer in. It kept tugging until Karen’s face was pressed against the screen. Then it disappeared, and Kaen’s vision turned black.

When Kaen blinked open her eyes again, there was something soft under her. She staggered to her feet and looked around.

The blocky squares of her favorite game were everywhere. They were in the grass, wood, and water. Kaen looked down at her hands and realized. The smoke had forced her into Minecraft.

Kaen started to walk around. She recognized everything. The huge house she had built, the port for fishing, everything.

Kaen walked over to the doors to her home and opened them. Her two dogs barked happily as she came in. Kaen went over and pet them.

Then she walked over to her chests and opened one. “Good, no one took my diamonds.” She sighed. “Wait, what am I doing? I need to get out of here!”

Kaen rushed to the doors and ran outside. Sure enough, the screen to her computer was there.

She closed her eyes and raised her arms. “Take me out of here.”

When she opened her eyes again, nothing had changed. “Come on!”

“Kaen! Dinners-“ her mother paused. “Kaen!”

Kaen saw her mother and stared jumping. “Mom! Mom, I’m in here!”

Somehow, fortunately, her mother heard her and turned to the computer.

“Kaen? How did you get in there?” She put her glasses on and inspected the screen.

“When I clicked on the world, some weird smoke pulled me in. Can you help me out?”

“Sure, honey. But how?”

“Hit shift.” Kaen instructed.

Her mother did and sure enough the exit screen came up.

“Good. Now click the save and exit button.” Kaen pointed to the bottom rectangle.

Her mother moved the mouse the clicked it. Immediately, Kaen’s vision went black again.

And just like before, when she blinked open her eyes and her mother was in front of her.

“Yes! It worked!”

“Good, now come down for dinner. We’re having steak.”

I was sat on my couch playing COD when suddenly the gunshots got louder and started playing like a surround sound. I blinked and suddenly I was in the game crouched behind flour bags to hide from the hail of gunfire I peaked over and shot at a person shooting a cannon. As I peeked over, someone shot at me with a grenade. Then, I was in Minecraft I dug up some wood and made a sword then night fell and a creeper snuck up on me and exploded behind me killing me. Next, was Skyrim I woke up on a wagon and a man said, ‘Hey, you. You're finally awake.’ My mouth had a rag in it so I couldn’t talk and no one else said anything I was pulled off the wagon and they put my head on a stump. A man who was wearing a black leather mask and held an execution axe he swung it down and cut off my head. I was expecting to wake up in another game maybe skylanders, Roblox or sims but no I wasn’t waking up I was still conscious but not in another game I focused on the game I wanted to be in Hogwarts legacy obviously the author of the books wasn’t that great but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to become I wizard. It worked and I woke up in Hogwarts were I would live out the rest of my days

Hope you like it! I tried my best!

 I know that it is not about a video game, but i decided to make it more about something a little more  more familiar to me. 

——-

 My pencil was sliding freely across my thick paper. I carefully carved my drawing  on the front cover of my composition notebook. First i draw a crane. A beautiful paper crane. Lines thin, sharp, and crisp. 

Then I drew a flower, a beautiful poinsettia bright red in a storm. It’s thick blood red seemed to glow in the gray and blue background. The green leaves and stem almost as vibrant.

 Vibrant: My favorite word. Its meaning filling my heart with liquid gold.

 Gold. Next I drew a golden leaf. Small but lifelike. Vibrant. Different. Colorful. Energetic and full of enthusiasm. Color being bright and striking.

 Next my pencil drew a majestic butterfly. It looks like it fluttered across the page, flipping and twirling. Strong and free.  Its wings looking like they are made out of glass shards. Shards from a broken window.  A window that housed the most beautiful sites. A crystal clear waterfall over a large purple mountains filled with exotic animals. I tried to draw it but I couldn’t capture the beauty of my imagination. 

 Imagination. Such a beautiful thing. Something that takes you on adventures without actually traveling.  I could feel my hands begin  to sketch. My fingers twisting my pencil.

  I looked at my masterpiece. A beautiful plane over over purple mountains stretching to the sky. Just below the plane, thick dark clouds spilling its fury. With dark blue and gray raindrops. Front and center was a vibrant poinsettia. In the crystal waters a beautiful paper crane floated gracefully.  A glass butterfly seemed to chase a thin golden leaf.  

 I felt pleased with what I created. I closed my heavy eyelids.  When I opened them, I woke up in my drawing.  As much as I wished to dive in the frigid, blue, fresh, crystal, waters or dance in the cold, gray, rain, or run with the glass. Butterfly,  I feel so happy I just melt. I feel so happy that my imagination  could bring me here. Could bring me somewhere so wonderful.  

 Thats what I realized, it wasn’t my imagination. I was actually in my notebook.  I can see where my lines were not straight or I did not erase well enough.  But this did not make me worry. It makes me happy and warm. As if the liquid gold overflowed from my heart and filled my  body. I can finally let go off my stress and pain. I would like to end my story with one final word.

 Freedom.

The controller buzzed, clicked and flashed as it guided it’s character through the game. Max had become one of the best at the game by now, racking up kills and winning almost every game she played. Lately she’d been on her longest winning streak and if she won this game, would have won 100 games in a row. The last person was an easy kill due to her talent and the usual winner screen she had become so accustomed to appeared. Except it wasn’t the usual winner screen. In the centre was the text “Ultimate Champion: do you accept your prize?” And below that a red button saying ‘No’ and a green button saying ‘Yes’. Max didn’t even hesitate and clicked the green button. For a second nothing happened, then Max blinked and opened her eyes to a war scene. She didn’t even need to look twice to know that she was in her game, and exactly where she was. She was in the lobby she slowly turned and sure enough exactly where it normally was was the countdown. That was when she started panicking. She looked down at herself and saw she was now dressed in the armour and clothing of the game and was surrounded by all the characters she knew so well. They were now all out to kill her. She looked around for an exit or a ‘No’ button and finding none tried pinching herself as hard as she could, in case she’d managed to fall asleep, or fainted in excitement. That didn’t work. She calmed her breathing, she was going to beat this game as she’d done hundreds of times before. Her win streak would continue to 101, ‘If you don’t die!’ a tiny voice in the back of her head whispered, but she pushed it away. ‘Five, four, three, two, one.’

The world around me shifts into focus. The baby blue leaves fall at my feet as the wind blows. Birds chirp and the emerald stream bubbles next to me. ‘This has to be a dream. I must have fallen asleep while playing Lyrics Lagoon.’I thought. In the distance, a woman stands on top of a hill petting a pink griffin while faeries flutter around her. The griffin glances over and notices me, it standing guard and stepping in front of the woman. The woman pauses and then turns and looks. Her face and body are covered in runes and her eyes glow silver. Her navy hair blows gracefully behind her as she treks down the hill with the griffin following close behind her. The closer she comes the brighter the silver glow becomes. The glow emits not only from her eyes but from her skin as well. The sliver tint to her skin contrasts sharply with her dark hair. She pauses a few feet in front of me and begins observing me. “Now I don’t believe we have ever met before. I’m Lyric, the guardian of this land. I care for all the creatures who reside here and in the lagoon a mile away. Is there anything I can help you with,”She questions. “I am Delilah. I must have fallen asleep while playing your game, its lovely to meet you,”I replied. “Oh, I guess you haven’t heard the legends. Anyone who falls asleep playing my game gets trapped inside it for eternity as one of the creatures in my lagoon,”She whispers. My blood runs cold as I begin to look down at my body and realize this is not the body I went to sleep with.

Immediately I am awake to the loud noises of the runners. I start to run away until I could hear the loud shrieks of the runners behind me. I close the door and sealed it tight as I can. Then I look all around me to see the weapons I see Ellie and Abby use while they’re fighting against the infected and the bad guys. I grab the weapons and grab my backpack with my essentials.

I immediately start to become afraid when I hear the loud banging against the door so I start to run outside the window. One of the runners furiously grabs me but I start to channel Abby’s combat skills as I start to bash it’s head against the glass killing it instantly. I started to sprint furiously towards the woods until I hear a whistle. Immediately an arrow comes past my face and into the tree. I immediately whispered to myself as I hid in the bushes “The fucking Seraphites.”

I peep over the bushes to see a group of Seraphites executing someone. I couldn’t tell who it is but I know I have to take them out before they find me and probably will do the same to me. I take out my Sniper rifle and start to load up my bullets into it. I start to sim with my sniper rifle at the Seraphites especially towards one of the females. Luckily my sniper rifle is silenced and my COD mobile gaming skills came in clutch.

I start to snipe one by one of the Seraphites like clockwork. Dropping them like clockwork…it’s getting too easy for me. Then once I see two of the remaining Seraphites looking for their dead allies bodies on the grass, I got up slowly and start to sneak around in the massive bushes to kill them both separately. I bend down and start to walk silently without making any noise towards the first Seraphite. I jump on the back of the Seraphite and take out my knife to stab it in the neck killing it instantly on the grass.

I whisper as I grab my chest “Fucker.” Suddenly the last remaining Seraphite charges at me angrily with a massive axe “YOU!” I start to jump and climb one of the trees like Spider-Man. I start to climb on the tree branch to see the angry Seraphite looking for me. However I’m right behind of the Seraphite so I jump from the tree onto the back of the Seraphite to take my knife to slit its throat killing it while it’s red blood on my knuckles.

It’s dead body laid on the ground. I walk all around to grab the weapons and medicine from the dead bodies of the Seraphites on the woods. I panted and continued to walk into the forest.

I Blink, where am I?? a second ago I was just playing Mario Odessy on my switch?

I look around, i smell the air, and I hear grass crunching underneath me, it’s very sunny here, that’s weird, it’s supposed to be winter?

I blink a few times and notice that I’m surrounded with a plethora of mushrooms. That means a lot of mushrooms.

My view shifts and I see a giant castle not so far off from where I am.. where am I again?

I turn around in an attempt to deduce where I came from l, and I see a giant green pipe. Big. Green.

My thoughts were disturbed by the sound of screaming coming from inside. The green pipe shot out a red looking figure who soared above me and landed into some big mushrooms.

Once I regained tract of my thoughts I realized what had happened , I had somehow, gotten sucked into the game.

I quickly pick up a nearby stick to defend myself and to allow me to stomp….. koopas

I slowly step towards the landing location of the unidentified object in the hopes of investigation.

I hear some groans and the person emerges upwards. I point the stick towards them as they slowly massage their head and look up.

They have the mustache and THE Iconic red hat and blue overalls

Once they catch sight of me, they let out a loud Italian “AAHHH” and I responded in exactly the same way.

The person raised their hands in defense and said “WOAH WOAH WOAH”

His voice was very familiar….

He cleared his throat and said ,”it’s-a-me…a-Mario…” with absolutely no excitement or Italian.

I dropped the stick and realized… it’s Chris Pratt

(IRL, Miles point of view)

“Come on what is this gta!” Miles shouted into his headset as his Nissan GT-R r35 slammed into a pedestrian car rolling it across the road and completely out of the race.

“Better luck next time” His friend Sasha’s sing song voice content as her Maclaren 570 S blew past his still rolling car.

“Bet I win the next one” A cocky smile playing on his face. “I’m gonna head to bed. See you at school in the am”

Shutting down the ps5, he tossed his headset onto his desk. Yawning as he leapt into his bed. A mound of different colored pillows to catch his fall. They were a season Walmart item he couldn’t help but buy every single time he went. So fluffy.

{Lakeshore City, Miles point of view}

The roar of an engine and a loud two step woke him out of his slumber. He gasped at the arrangement of modded cars around him. A sick meet for sure, was he dreaming.

Sasha stood before him. She looked just as confused as he was. Her mocha skin tucked behind a tight blue crop top and black yoga pants. Died purple braids falling across her face. Her green eyes curiously staring at him.

“Hey you guys got cars?” A female voice called out to their right. (Eleonore)

Turning Miles was looking at a tall milk chocolate skinned woman in a black and neon yellow armored looking dress. Like football armor or motocross but formed into a dress that hung half way down her calf. Blonde and orange hair hung to the left side of her face. Light brown eyes and some kind of Porsche behind her.

The couldn’t be real.

“Miles are we?” Sasha started looking back at the Maclaren 570 S that she’d customized on the game. Parked right next to it was Miles steel grey wide body R35.

“No way. It can’t be” He ran over to the car excitement and disbelief clear. Rubbing his hands across it he looked at Sasha. “Wanna race now?” A cocky grin on his face.

“Miles we are both sixteen we can’t drive. It’s not the same as being behind a controller” She wasn’t at all wrong, but he wanted this.

“So what? We’re literally in the game.” His soul begging her to join in. “How hard can it really be?”

Snow fell, thick, blanketing every curb and hedge, transforming the abandoned mills and textile factories into a winter wonderland. Early focused on the GPS as the satellite radio switched to Dean Martin’s “It’s a Marshmallow World.” From the rain threatening clouds, Early knew it would all be gone by the morning. His Tesla steered into the parking lot. Early took the wheel and parked close to the old Caldor. Smiling, Early checked his phone. A flashing red pin winked in answer. Eddie trembled in excitement. Early Deacon Randolph was a gamer. Beginning with Doom in his cousin’s Artemis’s rec room, Early found his passion in pixels. Call of Duty with its hyper-realistic stimulation was a revelation. Soon Early spent every waking hour on the game. From the killing fields of games like Assassin’s Creed and Resident Evil, Early emerged a true warrior. He entered and won local video game competition and even placing in Legend of Legends. The gamer’s phone jingled jangled and Early pushed aside a piece of plywood boarding over a storefront. His heart raced as his phone flash illuminated the graffiti hieroglyphics. In the dim light the vermilion spray paint glowed. Early flowed from playing games to designing games. Behind the money and the media, Early was still a just a knobby-kneed gamer in Blue’s Clues pajamas. Stepping over syringes, he followed the symbols deeper into the darkness. Crimson turtle, neon fly, emeralds, each symbol gave his phone another clue, gave Early another thrill. He had heard about The Ultimate Game on a subreddit. He bought the app off the Silk Road. And Early was instantly and deeply disappointed. The graphics were decent but the play was sluggish and the story line one-dimensional. The Ultimate Game had completely slipped his mind until he saw a crimson shelled green footed turtle sprayed painted on an overpass on the Blue Route. The Game’s secret society rigmarole was all true. Some group of nerds really created the Ultimate Game, a VR interface which immersed the player in a video game where the sakes were real. One life, one game the game Early had waited for his whole life. Now Early was here holding the shiny puce bulbous headset. Instantly he slipped it on. The visor slipped over his eyes as the slim needles entered his scalp. Dank air filled his lungs. Incessant chittering and buzzing filled his ears. Early wasn’t in the piss stink corner of a mall in Clifton Heights. He was in a swamp at night. The effects were stellar. The ground was spongey. Early felt the urge to squat. He rested on his powerful lime haunches. In the distance the roar of a busy busy highway sang in his soul. Erupting into laughter, Early hopped towards the roadway heading for his lily pad home.

I wake, and try to refocus my amorphous vision - whilst I adjust, my mind is making sense of where I am.

I can feel a light breeze drifting through the air, it leaves a chilling sensation as it passes against my skin. I hear the flow of a steady river, short waves breaking against the scoured rocks and birds singing songs that are unfamiliar to that of robins & sparrows. I can smell the newness of the nature & flora around me - perfumes from vegetation in bloom, the scent of sweetened sap from maple trees and the infrequent spiced aromas from neighbouring wild mushrooms.

As my vision clears and the world materialises, I find myself in a place of familiarity & beauty.

I feel almost obligated, but excited, to wander down the riverbank and explore these new surroundings. It’s truly breathtaking, the views from the riverbank stretch across the land just below - Slated mountains, alluring forests, established towns & settlements. This world is so full, yet so open & free.

Though as I gaze at the world before me, I catch something in the distance. Smoke & fire, it is engulfing a city… I can see the city’s people panicking, the screams & cries just about reach my ears.

Clusters of arrows begin soaring through the air but I cannot see the intended target… wait.

A large pocket within the rising smoke gusts away, and from it emerges something I would have never thought I’d lay my eyes on… in absolute disbelief, I whisper to myself… “a dragon!”.

My body is completely immobilised. The reality of this mythical beast existing has me completely terror-stricken. Suddenly, this world no longer seems so… peaceful, and perfect.

I come to an unsettling realisation… that if I am unable to find a way home, or to even find a way home… I very well may need to prepare for and face some of the dangers that reside in this world.

With my experiences of this world from my life previous, I should be relatively prepared for what is to come… right? I suppose there is only one way to find out.