‘Hmmm… Blue door or red door?’ Sam turns to Sky.
‘How would I know? Which pill did Neo take in that movie?’
Sam raises an eyebrow before he bursts into laughter. ‘You aren’t going to base your decision on that?’
She screws up her face defiantly, ‘have you got a better idea?’
‘No’ Sam mumbles, his gaze dropping to the ground .
Sky crosses her arms as she waits for Sam’s answer, but he ignores her, arms by his side as his foot pushes around a clump of mud. He looks funny through her visor, like a puppet.
‘So?’ She asks again.
‘I think he takes the red pill.’
‘Ok, so seeing as we need to go up a level, let’s choose the blue one!’ Sky grins, confident with her decision.
Sam nods and takes her hand, ‘I guess it’s as good a decision as any.’
At the blue door, Sam grabs the handle and inches it open slowly.
‘Ah!’ He cries before they are sucked through.
Sky reaches out instinctively to grab the door frame, her thoughts darting to a horror aeroplane movie, the face of the victim as they hang on futilely, before the pressure pops them out like a cork, hurtling amongst the clouds. She grimaces the moment her fingers straighten and start to lose grip.
The g-force whips her and Sam backwards. Her body somersaults twice through void before she lands and stumbles ungracefully, crashing into Sam and knocking them both to the ground.
When Sky dares to open her eyes, she sits up and gazes around in awe at the world they have landed into. The objects are right, but the colours are wrong; pink grass, blue trees laced with shiny bulbous black fruit of some kind.
Sam gives her a smug grin, ‘Guess it wasn’t the blue door then.’
‘Shall we explore?’ Sky goes to stand up but squeals a moment later when Sam pulls her back down beside him. They roll around tickling each other, before snuggling up together to gaze at the majestic purple sky.
‘It’s pretty cool here!’
‘Yes, it is.’ She grins at his avatar.
Somewhere in the distance, the chime of a bell reminds Sky it is time to return to reality. ‘I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow loser!’ She pokes him affectionately before taking off her visor, shutting their game down automatically.
It always takes Sky a few moments to re-adjust back into the real world. Her life a far cry from the computer generated world she shares with Sam. The carer appears with supper, placing a blanket across Sky’s emaciated legs. She catches a glimpse, nausea welling up from the painful reminder of the accident.
She has been meaning to tell Sam for weeks about the wheelchair, but it never seems the right time. He wants to meet her in the real world, and she is fast running out of excuses. She pictures the blue door again, wishing she could step through and stay there with Sam forever.
Two hours later, a message pops up on her visor. She rarely gets messages, so she picks it up and reads: I’m outside!
This piece was inspired by the above photo prompt at Creative Writing Ink
Copyright © 2019 Lottie McKnight. All rights reserved.