Mika and the Search for Sandbox Love

I never thought I’d be a video game enthusiast, but here I am. I mean, who would’ve guessed that I’d become a total nerd? The answer is no one, because it was a surprise even to me.

I’m not referring to the kind of games you play on your phone or computer, though. I’m talking about the kind of games that are more like an experience. You know those games that don’t really have much of a plot line, but they all seem so immersive? That’s the kind of stuff that you keep playing because you want to do what the characters want to do.

I started out with dating simulators. They seemed innocent enough at first, but once I got sucked in, it was hard for me to get out. I named my character after myself and went on to live my own life through her avatar on the screen. I made friends and got into relationships, and although none of it was real, it felt real enough for me to invest everything into it.

But then one day when I was closing my eyes trying to sleep, something caught my eye. And it wasn’t just the light from my phone illuminating my eyelids either. There were actual moving images flashing before me! My eyes snapped open and found myself staring into the face of a young woman with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and big brown eyes looking straight at me. Was this real life? No way! It must be some trick! But wait… if this isn’t real life then where am I?

Am I dead? If so, then what are these people doing around me? What language are they speaking? Are they even speaking English? And more importantly, why do they look like they could be from anywhere in America?

Before I had time to ask any of these questions, a man dressed in a suit approached me and said, “Can you tell us anything about your whereabouts prior to this moment, please? Anything at all that might be helpful in figuring out where you are and how you got here?” At first, my only response was silence as I tried to take everything in around me. Then finally, after taking a deep breath with my mouth closed instead of with my nose (which has always been one of those things that confused people), I opened my mouth and quickly blurted out, “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember anything before this moment other than playing a video game before falling asleep last night! Maybe if someone can help me find some wifi so I can google myself, that might help jog my memory! Unless there is someone else named Mika out there somewhere who knows something about all of this! Is there anyone else here named Mika?! Oh, wow, this is so cool!!! This is like living two lives at once!!! No wait… three lives!!! This is awesome!!! Oh crap… if this is real, then whoopsie-daisy! Looks like someone had an accident… well, it happens, right!!???"

As soon as that all came tumbling out at lightning speed, the room went silent again, leaving me in embarrassment, wondering if maybe there was another Mika who knew something about all of this after all. But also wondering how many times today would somebody think that I needed to be locked up because they were afraid of me being crazy. Then, one by one, everyone around me started clapping followed by some murmuring whispers until finally, the man dressed in a suit motioned for all of them to quiet down and asked, "So you don't remember anything about yourself before waking up here, but does that include everything from yesterday onwards as well? Do you remember having dinner last night or going over to your friend Alex's house or anything like that? Or perhaps can you recall today's date or anything else pertaining to current events today in general? For example, do you know which country we're in right now or any other major events happening right now?"

The question rendered me completely speechless until finally, after collecting my thoughts (and trying not bite off my tongue), I replied, "If you haven't noticed yet: It's 2018! If you haven't figured out by now which country we're in based on the fact that every person around us seems perfectly normal and not at all affected by whatever strange situation has happened here, then perhaps you should ask someone else. And as for following current events, it seems like most people are more concerned with whether or not Donald Trump tweeted yesterday or not! So good luck finding anyone who's up-to-date on everything happening in the world."

And with that, I stood there, surrounded by a room full of strangers, searching for answers as to how I ended up in this bizarre scenario - and whether or not I could find my way back home.