I'm Writing This For You

Chapter 3 || The Forest of Merridell

The best part about ending the school day was the freedom that came along with it. The deafening sounds of the bell that rung through my ears came as a sigh of relief, as that bell indicated that I could finally do what I wanted. Being able to walk outside and enjoy the fresh air was a nice change in scenery when compared to the dull, monotonous atmosphere of the classrooms.

Looking back at my daily routine, walking from school back to my house was the only real physical exercise that I did. It's not as if I didn't care about my health, but going to the gym would just be even more time and effort wasted on something I didn't want to do. It was simply more desirable to spend three hours playing video games, instead of spending it doing stuff that would tire me out.

Today, I walked home alone. I didn't know anyone well enough that I could walk with, and I didn't want to walk with Rachel for obvious reasons. Rachel usually arrived home a few hours later anyways, due to her immense array of extracurriculars. If there was a club at my school, it was very likely she was either an executive, or the president of that club.

As soon as I got home, I went straight to my room. I was excited to see the love of my life again. We had already spent hours apart. She was beautiful, and while she frustrated me at times, we had spent years of quality time together. A day without her would be a day without meaning in my life.

Of course, I'm referring to my computer Kim. After buying her in a garage sale, I spent the next two years gradually updating her with computer chips I found online. I decided to name her after Kim Possible, who was a character on a popular animated teen action series on the Disney Channel. You might chastise me for still watching the channel when I was fifteen, but keep in mind it was actually good back in 2006.

My father had promised to come online today, and I couldn't help but grin. We hadn't talked since the day after my birthday. If I were to define where exactly my interest in video games came from, he undoubtedly helped shape and define that interest. Being a computer programmer, your grandfather played video games as a hobby. I remember playing them with your grandfather from the age of five, and we eventually used them as a tool to bond with each other.

When he moved to Montreal, he bought me a copy of World of Brimir, an extremely popular online role-playing game. It enabled us to play online together, despite being hours away from one another.

When my computer was up and running, I opened Skype, which would allow us to communicate with each other through voice. Inserting the World of Brimir disc into my computer, I figured it was time to forget about these changes that had taken over my life in the past few weeks, and delve into the world I loved to escape to.

A few minutes later, my father invited me to a Skype call. I put on my headset, and answered the call. His voice was extremely muffled and the only discernable noise was static. I couldn't hear him, so I tried to find out if he could hear me.

"Hello?" I shouted.

There was a very faint reply, although it was near impossible to figure out what he was saying. So, I decided to press further for answers.

"Dad, can you hear me?" I shouted. Just then, there was a loud, ear-piercing sound. The initial static noise faded into the background.

"Sorry about that, my mic was malfunctioning. Anyways, can you hear me now?" my father said. His voice had a slight echo to it, and it sounded very metallic. But, it was better than before.

"Yes, I can hear you," I replied. I wondered if my voice sounded metallic as well, and it most likely did. Voice technology in those days wasn't nearly as advanced as the technology you kids have today.