GAME OVER

GAME OVER.

There was no one in sight; darkness had set in like a blanket,
engulfing the streets. The rain was heavy; shimmering droplets poured
from the skies like crystals. Just the sound of crisp footsteps on the
concrete disturbed the silence. Huge tower blocks loomed overhead, they
reached towards the heavens with no visible end; their blocked out
windows stared, like eyes at anyone who dared venture below. They
lurked at every possible angle, harbouring the enemy behind them. Every
step, every turn, every corner threatened death, there was no escape.
Then suddenly the sound from behind, the boom of a loaded shotgun, up
was the only way, up and up and up. Up, the unforgiving stairs that
creaked and gave under weight. Up, into the open air above, the
sprinkle of on looking stars. The edge of the building screamed and
tormented like the sharp blade of a knife until there was no way but
down. Down away from the defeat of a bullet, down to the safety
of&;#8230;

'Game over, thank you for playing.'
'Damn it!' Zeena pulled the glasses off and stepped out from the dark
rectangle into the light. Squinting, she vaguely made out an image in
front of her. She rubbed her eyes.
'Zeena! Do you realize what time it is?! You should have logged onto
school almost&;#8230; um &;#8230; 30 minutes ago!' Zeena's eyes
slowly adjusted and the large mass began to form into her mother. The
angry, flushed face contrasted to the bright, light coloured walls of
the large, minimal room. The low, humming buzz from the many computer
screens droned constantly on. Only the curves of her mother's body
disturbed the ridgedness of the surroundings.

Zeena walked over to a small box protruding from the wall. On it was a
speaker and a red button. She pressed down on the button and moved
towards the speaker, 'shut down.'
'Shutting down. Goodbye, see you next time.' The black, fuzzy rectangle
was consumed by the white wall with a hiss. When Zeena turned, her
mother had disappeared. Her eyes were drawn to the social box, alight
with a soft, mauve glow. She guessed she had logged on to the caf? with
some friends; this was where her mother spent most days.

Alone, Zeena closed her eyes. She moved to the centre of the room and
began to spin around on her toes. She span faster and faster and when
she re-opened her eyes, all she could see was a multi-coloured whir, a
state of confusion that represented her own mind. Day after day,
enclosed in this room, the closure of a game being the only form of an
end. Was this life? Was this the real world? Cyber relationships,
virtual meetings: Superficial, convenient and safe. This was all she
had ever known. There was no physical 'outside'; there were only the
glowing boxes of life. They took you outside, you could go anywhere you
wanted, and you could meet whomever you wanted. This was all anyone
needed.

Zeena ran, she ran fast, she ran anywhere to escape. She didn't stop at
the wall, didn't stop at the end of 'virtual' world, she ran through
and out until she landed with a heap on the ground. Zeena's joints
thudded down with excruciating pain, a pain she had never felt before.
The flesh against her clothes felt warm and wet with blood from the
jagged stones that had torn and dug through her delicate skin. She
heaved her body up, wincing as she put weight on the fresh wounds. Her
gritty hands ground at her eyes as she rubbed them; they flickered and
watered in response. Finally her vision became clearer, she was
somewhere else, somewhere.

Zeena's breath halted as she gasped, where was this place? Her long,
dark hair swept over her face as the wind blew it; swarms of dust
licked at her feet. The mountaintop sat above, looking down on the
barren land, volcanic rock and dirt stretched for miles; these seas of
brown separated only by the vivid blue sky carrying birds that whirled
and soared over the expanse. Corpses lay in every direction, rotting
flesh and brittle bones. Was this the old world? Was this what was left
behind? Zeena let out a cry that echoed far beyond and caused the birds
to squawk and flap widely and small fragments of rock to topple down
the mountainside. Her body shook furiously and real tears bubbled from
her face. Yet this could not be real, reality was not here, just
another game, another escape. With this, she stepped to the edge and
looked dizzily down the great height towards the end, towards 'game
over' until she had jumped, jumped back to safety, jumped back to
'reality' but 'game over' never came.

Written by Rachel Jones aged 17.