Cyberfantasy: Episode 1

Hello, everyone! This is Kirsten.
     Well... it's here. It's finally here. What you've all been waiting for. The first episode of our first photostory series, Cyberfantasy! (Sylvia may or may not be screaming in the background.)
     We're all really excited about this - we've been working hard, and Episode 1 is finally ready! So what are we waiting for? Let's get started!

Episode 1

Before we begin, let me clarify one thing.

I am very ordinary.

My name’s Riley, and I live in a normal apartment overlooking a normal street. I read books and I drink coffee and I own a grumpy, unreliable cat.

Most main characters in stories like this have some superpower or special gift, but I never have and never will. Don’t get me wrong - sometimes I’ve wished for superpowers. (I wouldn’t mind being able to fly - just saying!) But you don’t need powers or special gifts to be part of an adventure. And that’s what this story is about.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

A sliver of sunlight fell across my face as I floated out of sleep.

Saturday at last.

I snuggled deeper under my blanket and let that warm, comfortable feeling sort of wash over me. 

I was pleased with myself for remembering to turn off my alarm clock the night before. A few times, I’ve forgotten to to do that, and crawled out of bed at 6:00 AM only to find that it was the weekend. Frankly, I’m not sure how the alarm clock survived my wrath.

I rolled over and squinted at the clock. 8:03. I decided to stay in bed until 9:00. I shut my eyes and drifted away.

At 9:36, I finally managed to drag myself out from under the blanket and get dressed. 

Now, I’m not what you would call “fashionable” - I wear what’s comfortable (and what my wallet can afford.) Today, that meant a tank top and shorts. 

 Ponytails are nice. You know what I mean? Just pull back your hair, secure it, and you’re done. When I’m feeling inspired, I do pigtails instead. Today, being that it was the weekend, I felt inspired - so pigtails it was.

Then I got myself a cup of coffee and sat down with my laptop. I figured that I could make breakfast a little later. 

In my email, there was a new message sent by someone I didn’t recognize. After wrestling back and forth in my mind, trying to decide if it was spam or not, I finally clicked on the email. 

Hello, it read. This is not spam.

That was all.

Huh, I thought. It’s like it knew what I was thinking.

A fresh line of words snaked across the page. Startled, I leaned forward to read them.

I do know what you're thinking.

I gasped. Was this email ... alive? Impossible.

It is not impossible. Now, let's get down to business, shall we?

At the appearance of this new sentence, a chill went up my spine, and my heart began beating faster than normal. I glanced at my coffee cup, struck with a suspicion that the coffee beans had gone rancid or something and they were causing these weird illusions. Then I looked back at my laptop, just in time to catch the words: 

Your coffee is just fine.

Who are you? I asked mentally. 

My apologies. I forget that humans prefer introductions.

Even through the plain black type, I could feel the sarcasm.

You would not understand my language, it continued, but in English, my name is something close to Sona. Does that satisfy you? 

No, I retorted, rather snappish in my bewilderment. I don’t care about names. What are you? How are you messing with my email - and my mind?

Do you not understand? came the reply. 

I am a cyberbot. 

     Dun dun dun.... ;)

     So there you have it. We hope you've enjoyed this first episode! Stay tuned for the next one - we'll get it posted either this week or next week. Tell us what you think, and have a lovely day!

-Kirsten