A Virtual Reality

First prize, 2nd cycle, II English Literary Contest

Last birthday my cousin Lewis gave me a strange video game as a present.

First, I’m going to introduce myself. My name is Carol and I’m fifteen years old. I’m not good at anything especially. Some people are good at drawing, or playing the piano, or playing football, but I am not. My marks at school aren’t special either. If you can see my marks, you will only see Bs. My only friends are Emily and Mark. I have never had a boyfriend and I don’t want to for the time being.

Well, now I’m going to continue with the story that I was telling. One day I was bored at home and I realised that a video game was on the table. I didn’t like that game but I decided to try it. Soon, I was completely absorbed in the virtual reality.

Since then, every day when I come from school, I have spent hours playing on the computer. The theme of the game wasn’t different from the others I had seen before. You should investigate and find clues to discover the thief who had stolen the jewels of the countess. Until now everything was ordinary, but there was something special in the game. There was a character that attracted my attention: a cute boy who helped you if you needed a clue. I got more and more hooked on the game.

My friends used to say that I was becoming nasty and a little moody too. I didn’t believe it, but I started to believe that when I realised that I wasn’t answering the phone and I had stopped surfing the Internet. But I was happy.

What I will say now is going to sound strange but I was attracted to the boy I told you about before. Some people find their better half in a book, but I felt something special towards the boy who gave clues when you were lost. One night, I dreamed the boy became human and told me he was waiting for me. When I started to think about it I got really worried. I was becoming crazy! But that boy looked at me from the screen and his blue eyes told me that he didn’t want to be there.

One day, Emily planed to get me out of the house and I accepted because she was really worried about me. Later, we met Mark, but he wasn’t alone. A boy was next to him smiling at me. Mark told me that it was his stepbrother. He had met him not long ago. His name was Albert. He was exactly like the boy in the game! When I arrived home I ran to the computer and I was surprised to see that the boy who had gone with me all this time in the game was not there any more.

At the moment I’m going out with Albert and I know he is my better half. Now my dream has come true and I’m so happy.