Aimee

I wait with anticipation in the virtual world line. I see people step into transportation tubes, the modern versions of elevators, which I know lead to each person’s virtual world. I frown with the other people in my line as I see a group of people shove each other and speak in loud, harsh tones. Their voices sound unnaturally loud next to the quit murmurs of the crowd. One in particular catches my eye, her nametag reading “Lia”. She looks different than the others, but I don’t know how. Maybe she looks more reluctant to misbehave. But she’s still doing it. She catches me looking at her and I scenery my eyes. This close to achieving my goals, I really don’t want to get in trouble. I bet those people won’t get a good simulation.

I’ve been working hard all my life to get the best simulation possible. There hasn’t been a community service project I haven’t assisted with, a chore that I haven’t completed, or a person I haven’t helped.

I feel strangely calm for a person that’s been excited about this moment my whole life. As the line moves forward and I approach my fate, I have a certainty that this will all pay off. Everything will work exactly how it is supposed to. I’ve worked too hard for it not to, after all.

Lia

I feel strangely nervous. It’s an odd feeling. All my life, I haven’t really cared that much about how I acted. I’ve always believed there are two types of people in this world. Type 1: Cares about what their simulation will be like and is careful with their actions. Type 2, AKA me: Doesn’t care and believes that you only get to really live once, so you should spend that life outside of the simulation however you please.

Today though, I don’t really feel like type 2. I sip my milkshake, but I feel like I won’t be able to keep it down. I want to throw up from my sudden anxiety. My friend, Trina, nudges me. Hard.

“Watch it,” I mutter.

“Oh, is somebody nervous?” She says, and then mocks me, pretend biting her obnoxiously long nails.

I glare at her and she ignores me, elbowing another girl in the side. “Hey, we better get going.”

The rest of our group mutter in agreement. Trina grabs my arm and pulls me up, dragging me along with her as we run. All of my friends start yelling and making a scene, and everyone’s looking at us in disgust. I suddenly feel embarrassed. Another odd feeling.

I catch sight of a girl standing in line, staring at me. Her nametag reads “Aimee”. She look like she’d be type 1. She averts her eyes.

Trina raises her eyebrows at me, and I know that if I don’t join in with my friends, she’s going to tease me about it. So I start hollering and laughing along with everyone else, and suddenly, I don’t feel so bad.

After we get in line, Trina pulls me to the side, away from our friends. “Listen, I’m sorry. I get that you’re nervous about the simulation. I—” She pauses, looking around timidly to see if anyone is listening before continuing. “I think I am too. But I don’t regret it, not one bit. How we’ve lived our lives. Maybe the others who care about their simulations, maybe they’ll get better ones. But they won’t ever experience what we did. And that, I wouldn’t trade it, not for the world.” She looks at me as if she’s expecting something.

I know she wants me to say that I don’t regret living how I lived either, that I’m happy with the way I’ve spent my life so far. I’m not, though. I’m a horrible person who has done horrible things. My simulation is going to be terrible, and I wish I could change it. Hell, I bet that girl, Aimee, thatI saw in the line earlier has a great simulation. I wish I could just trade places with her. Suddenly, I see something in the distance. A little shimmer in the air, a whisper.

_Wish granted. ___

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Aimee

The person who was in front of me in the line steps into the transportation pod and disappears with a flash.

Before long, I’m gone too.

Something is wrong.

I’m standing on the top of a mountain, my wrists and ankles chained to a metal post. A cold gust of wind chills my bone. The inky thing for miles is jagged rock, stretching out in every direction.

I don’t belong here, I know it. This isn’t my simulation, it can’t be.

“Where am I?” I ask the open air.

There is no reply.

Lia

Strangely, I’m not scared anymore. As I step into the transportation pod, I feel calm. The last thing I see is a flash of light, and when I blink again, my world is gone.

“Greetings!” A man dressed in professional clothes grins at me.

“Where am I?”

I’m standing in the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. Decorations line the halls, rooms packed with furniture invite me in, and to top it all off, a grand staircase leads to another floor containing who knows what.

The man explodes into laughter as if that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “Your new home, of course, Aimee. You can call me Ronnie. My job is to cater to your every need. Would you like a tour?”

Aimee. He called me Aimee.

“No thanks, uh, Ronnie. Do I have a room?”

He chuckles again. “Right through those doors.” He gestures toward an elaborate archway. “You can call me anytime by pressing the silver button by the walk in closet.” With that, he shuffles away.

I make a beeline for the doors and, shutting and locking them behind me.

It all makes sense now. How he called me Aimee. The wish, and the few seconds I thought I hallucinated. I switched worlds with the girl in the line. And if my social studies classes taught me anything, it’s that this is irreversible. I ruined Aimee’s life with my selfishness.

The words echo in my mind. _Wish granted. _

And another whisper from the same voice sears new words into my mind: _Be careful what you wish for. _

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