I was lying flat on a deserted road, looking up at the stars of the midnight sky. I had no recollection whatsoever of how I had reached here. I did remember the blue sage and his last words. For some time I just lay still, staring at the peaceful expanse of blackness, a gazillion stars winking at me. A slight breeze stirred the air.

I was in the real world.

A dim crescent moon peeked over the hills near the horizon. Crickets were singing. Somewhere the engine of a train whistled. Dogs howled.

The real world.

But was it not the game? And was everyone and everything not playing it? The sky, the stars, the breeze, the moon, the crickets, the dogs; from the biggest galaxy to the smallest atom, all were playing the game.

I was playing the game too. Every part of me was. My untiring heart beating in my chest, my loyal lungs inhaling and exhaling air without fail since the day I was born. The tiny cells that I was made of carrying on a multitude of vital functions I wasn’t even aware of. But then, perhaps I was not just playing the game.

Perhaps, I was the game.

For a great stretch of time I lay thus, thinking thoughts beyond me, reposing in the arms of tranquility. All the hardships of the game world felt like a dream.

And then I exerted my arms and pushed myself up. I had been lying on the driveway in front of the residential home allotted to me. I could see the faint glint of a big lock on the main door. I foresaw myself giving a lot of explanations to authorities over my disappearance. I would have to forge more than a few details.

I stood up using my new legs. Mimti’s legs. My spine had healed too, restoring all connections between my brain and lower body. It was a thrill moving the toes and feeling the asphalt underneath my feet. I was a new me. That I was no longer plagued by hemophobia, thanks to the all the virtual gore I had rinsed my eyes with, was a bonus.

Kiara’s home was right there next to mine. Would she like a little 12 A.M. surprise? Let’s find out.

***