text: My life was perfect until I met the new boy in town. Summer vacation had just begun. When the seasons changed, our landscape transformed almost overnight, from crisp, cool blues and the spirited aroma of pine trees to warm ambers, pink skies and campfires wafting through the air. No matter the time of year, one thing stood true in Celestia; there was always a sense of cheer. Our slogan wasn’t “The World’s Happiest Town” for nothing. Everybody knew everybody, and we all got along like milk and cookies. The day I met the newcomer, I had been at the park. My three girlfriends and I all got strawberry ice cream cones and played tag in the spacious, flourishing fields. Just a typical, carefree summer day in Celestia. I was wearing a rosy-pink sundress and brown sandals. Annie had put my blonde hair into a french braid. We were picking flowers when I saw him. He was probably close to sixteen-years-old like me, and he was sitting on a bench, watching people walk by. I thought he looked interesting, tall with reddish hair and little speckles on his face. At one point he and I made eye contact and I smiled at him, as most Celestians do. A few minutes later he walked up to me when I was saying bye to my friends. “Hi,” he said. I waved. “Hello. You’re new in town,” I noted. He nodded. “I’m Opal.” I looked down at my fragrant collection. “Would you like some flowers?” I asked, holding out my newfound bunch. His eyes lit up, studying me with a sort of interest. “Thank you, Opal. That’s a pretty name. I’m Bryce.” A unique name, like mine. “Your name is very pretty as well!” I exclaimed. Bryce turned the color of a fresh beet, and smiled. He had a nice smile. “So, where do ya go to school?” he asked. “School? Oh, we don’t have that here.” He looked perplexed. “No school? I’ve never heard of something so odd. How do ya learn?” “There’s lots of ways. It’s all about the experience in Celestia. Those flowers you’re holding are called Taffy flowers.” Bryce held the flowers carefully up to his nose. “They smell just like candy!” he noted. “That’s because these flowers are special. My dad invented them.” I explained a bit about my father to Bryce, in case he hadn’t heard of him yet. My father, Lazlo, invented unbelievable things, things you wouldn’t believe were possible. He helped our town become what it was. We had special chutes that helped our mail get delivered almost instantaneously. Large mirrors at the mall showed customers exactly how an outfit would fit before they made any purchases. He was even responsible for the absence of school. With a monthly subscription, you could have “Intelli-yum” delivered to your door. These hard candies were somehow ingrained with an entire subject. They came in sour, tropical and cream flavors. Bryce found this fascinating. He started asking a lot of questions. Time seemed to fly by quickly. I shot Bryce an apologetic smile and glanced over at my friends who were politely waiting for me. “I’m sorry, I have to go. It was nice to meet you,” I said cordially, walking away. “Wait.” He grabbed my hand gently. My fingers tingled from the touch and I turned towards him; confused. I felt something strange in my stomach, something I think I had felt before but wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what to call the feeling. “Could we meet up tomorrow, same place? Maybe you could give me a tour of Celestia?” he asked bashfully. I was brainlessly counting the cinnamon-colored freckles on his cheeks, but then realized he was waiting for an answer. I smiled. His eyes were a clear gray, seemingly endless when I looked directly into them. That strange feeling came back. “Is that a yes?” he asked. I had gotten distracted again, and now it was me who blushed. “That is a definite yes.” “Great! How does four o’ clock sound?” I told him that was perfect, because my painting class ended at two, and we parted ways. That night I had my first nightmare. I usually only had one specific dream. I would be riding up a green mountain on a majestic black horse. This dream had a mountain too, except it was bare and covered in jagged rocks. I was running, then I tripped, right towards the dark abyss. My body jolted as I fell, trying to wake up, but I couldn’t open my eyes. Eventually everything faded to black until my alarm sang its happy morning song and I took in my pastel pink room. “I had a bad dream last night,” I told my parents over breakfast. My dad paused by the counter, his perfectly-stacked tower of toast teetering. He set it down on the table and peered at me through his thick, trapezoidal lenses. Mom just sat there with her usual calm smile, gently taking a bite of her pancakes. “A bad dream?” he repeated, “Did you remember to brush your teeth?” “Yes, of course dad.” I could tell he was gearing up into invention mode and that was because nobody in Celestia really had bad dreams. Another one of dad’s inventions, “Peri-Dream.” It prevented any nasty, ghoulish thoughts from entering your brain. “Hmm, that is curious. Did anything else out of the ordinary happen yesterday?” he asked, scratching his wild, long brown hair. I shook my head. Wait- “Well, I did meet the new boy, but I don’t think-” “New boy?” he asked, eyes wide. “Yes, his name is Bryce. He just moved here from...well, I forgot to ask where, but we’re going to hang out today so I can ask him then. He was very nice.” Dad looked perplexed. Mom continued to smile. “Oh honey, that’s lovely,” she said. Dad shook his head. “I don’t want you to see him today, Opal.” I nodded. I didn’t need an explanation. My father had reasons for everything he did. I never questioned it. “Since I’ll be free after my painting lessons, I can take a walk to the store and pick up some groceries for the house.” “Oh honey, that’s lovely,” Mom said. I tried to avoid Bryce, and did exactly as I was told. For painting class my instructor, Mr. Acrylic, had me construct an outdoor landscape. I decided to paint in the nightmare mountain, to see it better in front of me. When I stepped out to get groceries at five-thirty I saw him, walking in the same direction as me on the opposite side of the street. “Opal! Hey!” Bryce called, running over. “I’m sorry about today,” I started, “My dad doesn’t really trust-” I tried to think of a better way to word it and failed. “It’s okay, Opal. I completely understand. He probably thinks it's strange that some kid decided to move alone to a small, quiet town.” I shrugged. “He just doesn’t like not knowing things.” He nodded, like there was something he wanted to say but couldn’t quite construct. Bryce held my shoulders tenderly, struggling with his words. “Listen, Opal. You’re not who you think you are.” I stared at him, baffled. But the growing suspicion in my stomach wanted to know more. “I came here to rescue you.” “Rescue me? But there’s no danger here,” I laughed, attempting to reassure myself. “Haven’t you ever wondered why? Look around, everything’s perfect. Too perfect.” “I-I have to go,” I said quickly. “Your family misses you! And so do I.” I backed away. “I barely know you. My parents are waiting for me to come back with the groceries.” He nodded, defeated. “Think about what I said. Really look around. If you change your mind, meet me at the park tomorrow at five.” I walked towards the store, gazing up at the evening sky. I realized I had never seen it without a bright, blinding sun, even in winter. How did that make sense? There was no school here. Nobody grew older. My mom, she spoke the same line everyday. Why did she speak the same line? My friends...were all named Annie. How had I never noticed? I raced towards the grocery store. Everyone had matching, joyful expressions. Despite the massive selection, they all had the same groceries in their cart; milk, eggs and bananas. Dashing to the closest shelf, I picked up the only gallon of ice cream. My stomach dropped as the empty spot regenerated a brand new gallon. “The ice cream isn’t cold,” I said out loud. I found an associate and held up the container. “Excuse me, shouldn’t this-” They turned towards me with an overbearing smile, silent. It frightened me, and I quickly grabbed what I needed and left. I didn’t brush my teeth that night. The nightmare returned. This time, I heard tires screeching, like someone driving dangerously close to the mountain’s edge. I sat quietly at breakfast, my sunny-side up eggs smiling patiently back at me. “Everything okay, Opal?” Dad asked. I nodded. “Oh honey, that’s lovely,” Mom crooned. I held in my thoughts and took a bite of my eggs. “Delicious,” I squeaked. Dad looked leery. “Any more interesting dreams?” I shook my head. “All gone. I actually have plans to meet up with Annie like, right now, so I have to go,” I said, getting up from my seat and rushing to the door. “Opal, wait-,” Dad called, but I had already stepped outside. As soon as I did, I froze. Everything around me was made of miniscule squares. The house, the sky , even the bunny hopping through the front lawn was pixelated. I raced to the park. Bryce had told me to come at five, but if it was really an urgent matter, I hoped he would be there already. Thankfully, I was right. Bryce sat on the same bench he had occupied when we first met. Once he saw me, he jumped up and grabbed my hand, beginning to run. “What’s happening?” I yelled. “I’ll explain later, we need to go to my house,” he urged. I followed blindly. When we reached the little brick hut, I realized the inside was glowing green, and hesitated. He noticed my expression. “I’ve been working on this since I arrived.” “What’s inside?” I asked. “The truth.” Though I did want the truth, I was afraid. A familiar voice bellowed behind me. “Opal!” It was my father, racing towards me, concerned. “Let me just tell him-” “No, we have to go! Now!” Bryce shouted, pushing me into the house and slamming the door shut. Immediately, we were immersed in the green light, which prickled against my skin. Everything blurred, and I closed my eyes, feeling my mind drift off like I was falling asleep. My body shook as I gasped for air. Finally, my eyes flew open. For the first time in a long time, I was awake. My limbs thrashed in shock, immediately met with a searing pain, like I was being branded. Black wires ran across my body, inserted through the ends of my fingers and toes. How was I only now feeling this? A metal brace was wrapped tightly around my head. I screamed, but no one responded. I was trapped in a glass case, like a museum exhibit. In the distance, I made out the silhouettes of similar cases spread throughout the dark room. A large streak of light from the open door across from me caught my eye. I tirelessly loosened the wires on my fingers. Eventually I freed one hand, then the other, trying to ignore the blood running down my arms. I ferociously and repeatedly kicked the glass. My body was weak and nearly drained of energy but I pushed through. Finally, I heard a crack and glass shards rained down. With one more kick, the case shattered, but my head was still stuck in the metal contraption. Every time I tried to pull myself out of the helmet, my neck screamed in opposition. My fingers searched the outside of the case until they hit a small switch. I pressed down and felt instant relief as the helmet released my head. Amongst the blood, fresh bruises and glass that sprinkled across my body, I realized I was wearing a white sheet, like a hospital gown. Like a newborn deer, I stumbled out of the case, holding the edge to steady myself. The other cases were empty. Slowly, I walked towards the illuminated room. A giant screen stretched across the wall. My mouth parted in horror as I realized the image on it wasn’t a screensaver. It was Celestia . People I was familiar with strolled across, conversing. I felt nauseous, realizing that these people weren’t real. “What is happening!” I shouted. Tapping noises echoed from the corner of the room. Standing in a vertical glass case was Lazlo. Except this version of him was shorter and rounder. He still had wild hair, but it was white, and only present on the back of his head. Still, I recognized him by his trademark lenses. His eyes were closed, head attached by the same helmet I had been wearing. Only his fingers moved. They were attached to some sort of keyboard. I watched him type letters and numbers, forming codes at the top of the screen which disappeared as the environment shifted. There was silence as his fingers halted. His case lit up, and began opening. I stepped back as Lazlo came to life, untangling his bindings. “I see you’ve woken up,” he smiled a toothless grin. “Y-you kidnapped me,” I mumbled, backing up as he started hobbling towards me. He shook his head. “Oh Opal, only because I had no other choice. You were going to die.” He said this almost sarcastically. I stared back wildly. “Your dream of falling off the mountain was actually a real memory.” “What does that have to do with whatever this place is?” He chuckled. “You were walking on the mountain trail and must’ve slipped. I happened to be driving close by and found you wrecked at the bottom. Emergency services would’ve been too late.” He motioned to the screen. “Luckily, I developed a new technology, a virtual reality, if you will. During your comatose state, my machines worked on bringing back your consciousness while you continued to live.” “I woke up on my own,” I argued. “You didn’t do it alone, Opal. Unfortunately, there was a hacker involved. As soon as you came in contact with him the coding started to disrupt.” “Bryce saved me!” Lazlo sighed. “Opal, you stupid girl, the truth is, my machines saved you. My marvelous inventions! I am the world’s greatest inventor.” How long had I been inside of that glass case? I was afraid to ask. “Were any of the families real?” He shook his head. “We were the first human residents of Celestia. It was quite a success, I’m sure you’d agree.” My clouded memory was beginning to come back. “I was on the mountain that day practicing for my track meet.” He watched my expression carefully, holding a hand up as though to protect himself. “You drove me off the road.” The revelation sent me to tears. It felt good to cry again. His expression shifted, his lips curved into a simpering smile. “Do you understand what this technology can do for people? I’ve discovered a way to allow people to live virtually in the perfect world!” “You tried to steal my life,” I whispered. “I saved your life. In Celestia, there are no daily, mundane problems, no hardship. I even took away school!” It’s like he expected a round of applause, or a thank you. “You threw me off a cliff! You kidnapped me and wiped my memories so I could be your experimental puppet!” “Look at how upset you are. Wasn’t it better when you didn’t have these feelings?” I glowered at him. “Let’s forget this ever happened. I’ll remove these memories, get you set up in one of the other cases, and-” “No.” Lazlo looked shocked. I never disagreed with him in Celestia. Before I could move he grabbed me, with surprising strength for an old man. I screamed as he pulled me towards the other room, trying to push me into an open case. A loud, startling bang interrupted this. Lazlo suddenly released his grip on me, staggering backwards. Bryce stood behind him, wielding a rusty crowbar. “You found me,” I breathed. Together, we shoved Lazlo into the glass crypt, sealing it shut. I leaned into Bryce and we shared a kiss. “I’m calling the police.” “Wait. I have an idea.” When police asked me where I had been for four months, I told them I had suffered from amnesia and that my courageous boyfriend had gone to the ends of the earth to find me. My parents were overjoyed to have their daughter back, and I finally had my life again. Summer vacation has just begun. I excitedly throw on my favorite blue sundress, and give my mom a goodbye hug. “Have fun, text me when you get there!” she calls, watching me get into my car from the open window. Life isn’t as perfect as it was in Celestia, but I have never been happier. The drive took about thirty minutes. I pick out the proper key from my keyring and quickly open the door. I felt a rush as I descended the three flights of stairs into the basement. “Good morning, Lazlo,” I said cheerfully to the unconscious man in the case. I had installed a few chain locks around him, to ensure he wouldn’t be able to play any tricks. Giddily, I strolled into the viewing room and tied my hair back as I entered what once was Lazlo’s enclosure, attaching my hands to the keyboard. With a smile, I pressed the button to close my case.