In Your Room

As the sun set lower, the light in the room gradually dimmed, as well. I didn’t mind. After all, I spent most of my gaming time in complete darkness, with only my screen illuminating my room. It was only now that I realized just how sad that was.

Spending time with Nela was so much better. I could laugh and gasp and tell her to watch out. She did the same. Even if we didn’t use the same words, through the game, it was clear what each person wanted.

“Acht!” meant something like ‘danger’, or ‘watch out’, while “Holl” meant we should stay still. And “Kiek” or “Kiek mal” meant something like ‘look at this’. As usual, that mostly involved strange bugs that she found skittering around the environment.

I hadn’t had this much fun in a long, long time. Just sitting next to her, I was reminded of all the times we spent playing together, even if it felt—or was, really—worlds apart. This was real. She was real. And that was so much better than anything I could have ever wanted.

The golden light hit her face, and gave her features a soft glow, while the color of her eyes lit up in a bright, flaming pink. Even her hair looked more golden now in the light. Once more, I blushed, and quickly looked away. I wanted to focus on the game, but even more so, I wanted to enjoy the time with her.

My stomach rumbled, and on the inside, I died.

“Oh! Hest du Hunger?” She looked at me, then out of the window. “Huch, dat is ja al würklich laat. Ik söök uns mal wat to eten.”

She stood up, and if I understood her correctly, she was going to get us some food. I stood up as well, but she quickly shook her head.

“Nee, allens goot.” She grinned at me, and motioned back to the floor pillow. “Tööv man hier.”

Then, she gave me a thumbs up, another emote from the game. With this, she seemed a bit unsure, as if she was doing the motion for the first time. But that way, I understood. I grinned, and gave her a thumbs up as well as I sat back down.

“Bin gliek wedder dar!” With those words, she made the heart emote again, and then went out of the room. I watched the door shut, and only then did the realization settle in.

I’m really here, I thought. This is real, somehow. I think? Yeah, I think it is.

This didn’t feel like a dream. While it was everything I could ever hope for—getting away from that house, from my father, from everything—it had happened in a way I could literally never think of. She had summoned me here, somehow. Did that mean she could do magic? I looked back at the screen. Well, something had to be magic. After all, the game somehow connected to both our worlds. That was pretty magical.

But without her, I didn’t want to progress any further, so instead, I looked around the room.

This is her room, I realized. Of course it was, but with everything that had happened, I didn’t think about it. But now, the sweet scent that hung in the air was clearly hers, and the room was decorated in a way that matched what I knew of her in the game—both the cute aspects, as well as the creepy crawlies. I spotted what I could only call a terrarium of sorts stuffed with twigs and flowers, and something that probably was a giant insect that I didn’t recognize. She had some jewelry with little bugs, as well—something that could be a butterfly on a hairpin, and a bracelet made up of tiny golden beetles. I didn’t know if they were real, and I lacked both the words and the determination to ask her that.

Of course, I tried not to stare too hard. While I knew her—or at least, some part of her—for years at this point, this was the first time we had met each other face to face. Wasn’t it a bit too sudden for her to leave me alone in her room? I blushed.

She’s going to get us food because of me, I scolded myself. Don’t make it weird.

So instead, I looked outside. The light was almost gone, vanishing at the line where the ocean met the horizon. I blinked. Right. When I looked outside, I could see an ocean—the waters stretching all the way from left to right. There were a few towers and buildings in the way, but it seemed like this place was built directly at the edge of the sea.

How strange, I thought. I’ve never been to the ocean.

But it was nice. Close to the window, I could hear the crashing of the waves, a low, constant rumbling that soothed my nerves. There were the cries of birds, as well, and I could make out their vague shapes as they hovered in the air, dancing with the wind.

What a nice place. With a small smile on my face, I continued to look outside, watching this world that was so strange, and yet, so welcoming. There were a few people out and about, their hair just as colorful as Nela’s. Some seemed to be out shopping, while others met friends or were just out on a stroll. It didn’t feel all that different from me spacing out at school, passing the time by watching what was happening out there, in the real world. Except…

“Ik bün dar wedder!” With a smile, Nela opened the door wide, and came into the room.

Immediately, I whipped around, and felt heat creep up my cheeks. I didn’t do anything wrong, but it felt that way. It didn’t help that there was someone behind Nela staring daggers at me. The girl was significantly shorter than Nela or me, keeping a straight posture while her face looked like she was ready to murder me.

“I’m sorry?” I said automatically.

That seemed to break the spell. Nela had just put down the plates full of food, and turned around.

“Meike! Du schusst doch gornich hier wesen!”

The other girl, whose name maybe was Meike, opened her mouth to reply, but Nela shoved her out of the room.

“Ik do ja gaar nix! Keen Sorge! Kaam man morgen fröh wedder!” she yelled, before shutting the door close.

Her ears looked as bright as mine, and we shared the same excited, if slightly embarrassed, smile. She seemed to relax, and pointed at the food.

“Wüllt wi eten?”

I didn’t have to reply—my stomach did that for me.