Alone

I was alone. I stepped around the broken glass of a window, walking past what I
used to call my home. I was angry, angrier than I had ever been before. I had been
deserted. Left by everyone I loved for a better world. But it wasnt a better world. It was
a fake world where everybody was and I was not. Sighing, I went to sit on my favorite
chair. I brushed pieces of different materials off of it and sat down. My anger melted into
something called sadness. My heart ached for the touch of another living being. I was
the last normal person on earth, or at least, the last conscious person in the real world.
Virtual reality had taken a turn for the worst. It lead to the creation of a new age where
we dont make contact with those around us. We dont talk, we dont feel.
In the beginning, It started off small, people would only go into the virtual world
for a day or so and come back. But eventually, people stopped coming back. Who
wanted to come back to a life full of hate when you could be in a different world where
you could be anything and everything. I hated it. Hated what it had done to the world
and what it had done to me.
I stood up, taking a step forward and looked down at the streets from my
apartment. The apartment that I worked so hard for that meant nothing in the end. There
was no reason to work hard anymore, no motivation to do your best. Not when we had
the virtual world. In that world, you didnt have to work. What you wanted, you got it.
College was one of the highlights of my life, I was planning to be a doctor, or at least I
was until my professors and classmates stopped showing up. Everyone started to
disappear into the underground caverns full of the virtual reality pods. Slowly at first but
then almost all at once, rushing to leave this world and its cruel reality. I moved classes

so often it did not matter what your major was or how old your were, they were just
moving what was left of the student body into smaller and smaller classrooms. Until
one day there was an announcement that there was no more going college, or school
for that matter. So I retreated to my apartment and slowly watched the world go silent.

I took another step towards the window ledge and I surveyed the decaying city.
Trash covered the ground in giant mounds and cracks covered the walls. It had been a
full year since the city had been uninhabited by any other human other than myself.
Everyone had gone underground to fill their spot in the rows of capsules that had been
built for them, built for them to escape reality, forever. The only thing remaining
operational are the robots that take care of these half dead people. This is the city that
is slowly being reclaimed by the earth, the silent city, the dead city. I took another step
towards the window my bare feet cut and bloodied from the broken glass on the floor.
The glass that brought me so much pain, the glass that let me watch as my city fell to
pieces then fell through the newly formed cracks in my heart. There was nothing left in
this world for me, nothing at all.

I took one last step and suddenly I was on the edge of the broken window, my
bare toes hanging off the side. Bits of bloodied glass cascaded down from the ledge
onto the ground eight stories below, twinkling in the light of the setting sun. A drop of
blood, my own blood, dripped from my big toe and fell all the way down to glass that
had already fallen. I took one last look at the city I used to love so mutch and spotted
something far off in the distance, no it could not be. Is that what I think it is, or is my

mind playing tricks on me? I continued to stare at the figure, my mind slowly piecing
together what I was looking at.
Veronica? I whispered barely believing my eyes. I thought she had entered the
virtual world months ago, but maybe, just maybe that was her in the distance.
Veronica! I screamed, my voice hoarse from not using it in months.
Veronica! Can you hear me?!. I got no reply. I stepped back from the ledge
trying to dodge broken glass and I ran to get my shoes. I pulled my socks on, blood
seeping through the soft material. I quickly grabbed my old vans and shoved them on
my feet. I wrenched my front door open and ran down the corridor towards the
emergency stairs. The elevators had stopped working long ago, maybe from the lack of
use. I put my sweaty hand on the handle and pulled, the door slowly creaked open
revealing the dark stairwell beyond.

I couldn't see a thing, just inky blackness that seemed to consume me. I backed
out of the starwell and sprinted back to my apartment. I went into my kitchen and pulled
open the drawer that held an assortment of items and selected the flashlight. After
making sure it worked I ran back to the stairwell and started to make my way down, dust
coated every surface. I was running down the stairs, sweat ran down my face and
coated my back making my shirt stick to me. I could only think of one thing, Veronica.
My Veronica, the one I had loved for almost a year before she left me for the virtual
world. She tried to convince me to come with her but I refused causing us to fight. I
wanted to make things right between us so we could live happily again. I finally reached
the bottom of the stairs, my breath coming in giant gasps. I emerged into the lobby and
walked through the front doors I then stopped and put my hands on my knees trying to

catch my breath. I looked both ways down the deserted street trying to spot Veronica. I
see her in the distance, making her way towards me. Happiness coursed through my
veins. I wasnt alone in this broken world. I tripped, my feelings blinding me. I felt so
relieved that she was actually here. That she had come back for me. I could feel tears
streaming down my face, I couldnt help these feelings from overwhelming me. I felt
happy for the first time in who knows how long. My walk towards her steadily turned to a
jog. Then I started sprinting, I couldnt believe she was here in front of me. The one
thing that kept me sane, she was here.
Veronica! I yelled. She looked up and saw my face.
Dylan? Is that really you? She questioned, her voice so close. I saw the tears
forming in her eyes, her lip quivering.
I thought I would never see you again. Hearing her voice made the tears spill
out from my eyes, her voice was sounded so sad. Had she come from the same journey
as I did? I came to a dead stop in front of her.
See see see see see see see see see see see see see see see see see see see see
She was beautiful, stunning. Exactly how I remembered her. Nothing had
changed.
Veronica, where have you been? What have you been doing? I asked
wondering why I had only found her now, after all of this time.
I have been looking for you. She replied almost instantly. But something was
off. I could feel it. Veronica was worth it though, and I didnt think about anything bad
happening because she was here. In front of me, almost in reach. Her face was so
close, but her body was not emanating any heat. But what mattered was that she was in

front of me. So close. I was seeing her in what felt like a million years. Taking a step
forward, I opened my arms, getting ready to embrace the one that had brought light to
my darkness. She was so close. My arms went around her, but I felt nothing. Her image
flickered, her smile dropping. What was happening? I fell forward, the world going
sideways and my face got closer to the destruction we called our world.
We can be together Dylan. If you join me. She said, her eyes dead, technology
not being able to create the warmth her face usually held.
Join you? Join you where? I want to be wherever you will be. I pleaded, my
hands going through the empty space of where I thought Veronica was standing. But
she was not there.
Come to the virtual world Dylan. We can be together again. I dropped to my
knees in despair, screaming at the ruined world. I was alone.