Sheltered

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Alfred woke up the same way he always did, in his soft bed surrounded by pillows, and the familiar weight of his tablet resting on his chest. He sat up, looking at his stuffed alien toy in the corner of the room. He glanced at the window, which was shielded by red curtains. A sliver of light peeked through, letting Alfred see the gray expanse that rested beyond his room.

Alfred threw off his covers, and grabbed his tablet, millions of ideas running through his head as to what he might make today. But, before he got started, he tapped on the message icon on his tablet, anxious to see if he received one. His heart sank as he saw the familiar words:

'No new messages in 2539 days.'

Slightly disappointed, he leaned back into his bed, tablet still in hand. He chewed on his lip for a while, thinking of what to create next. The boy jolted upwards, grabbing his stylus, he began to draw the image that was in his mind.
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Alfred laughed as he rolled down the grassy hill that he created, euphoria rising in his chest. The cobalt blue sky swimming past him as he came to a stop at the foot of the hill. Catching his breath, Alfred watched the puffy white clouds roll past him as he laid there. The boy continued to smile. This was the happiest he had been in a long time. His smile faltered as an itching feeling made itself apparent in the back of his mind. It felt that he was forgetting something... But what could it be? Shrugging it off, the blue- eyed American picked up his tablet, and began to sketch the next environment.

When Alfred was done with his latest creation, he looked around himself, expectantly waiting. The edges of the hills and sky started to dissolve into millions of pixels, as the scene changed from grassy green hills, to looming, snow capped mountains.  The boy jumped up, as the ground around him rose up, carrying him with it. A triumphant smile broke out onto his face, as he observed the majesty of his creation. A purple and red sunrise had positioned itself between two of the largest mountains, casting golden rays out, and being reflected back from the pure white snow. Smaller stars glittered above the mountains, as orange clouds made a stark contrast against the dark night sky.

Alfred was the only one there, and to be honest, he didn't care. He had all he needed, and more. But he didn't realize just how alone he was.

The scene changes a few more times, from mountains to marshy jungles, to a vast ocean, before Alfred eventually settled on a forest. As he explored his creation, he came across a tree, but not just any tree, this tree had a swing hanging down from it. Alfred walked over to the swing, and touched it. As he did, he felt a jolt run from his hand to his head, triggering something. A memory. The memory was of a man, with blonde hair, and green eyes, smiling down at him. Alfred gasped, and stumbled away from the tree, clutching his tablet.

The next day, Alfred was on his bed, playing with his tablet. He signed, and clicked the message icon, and sighed once again at the message:

'No new messages in 2578 days.'

Alfred couldn't help but feel disappointed. What should he expect? He had never gotten a message before, so the likelihood of receiving one was incredibly low. He pushed his tablet away, and hugged his knees to his chest, watching the blankness outside his window.

Alfred's attention was drawn away when his tablet start to emit a strange beeping noise. He grabbed ahold of it, trying to fix it, but stopped when a new image started to draw itself across the screen. The American watched with unyielding curiosity as the image turned out to be... Houses? Suddenly, a bright light was cast from his tablet, and started to draw Alfred into it.
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When Alfred opened his eyes, he was confused, at first. Why wasn't he in his bed? What happened? Where was he? The boy got up, and looked around. He was in some kind of structure, with wooden floors and nontransparent walls. He jumped in surprise as something, no, somebody ran past him. It was a boy, and the boy looked an awful lot like Alfred. The same eyes, the same hair, even the same cowlick that stood up stubbornly! The American could do nothing but watch as the smaller version of him take hold of an older man's hand. The man was thin, with messy blonde hair, bushy eyebrows, and eyes with the same hue as emeralds.

The boy smiled at the man, as they began to walk away. Alfred felt the ground lurch beneath him, as he was suddenly falling through a purple expanse, memories surrounding him.

One was of himself swinging on a swing set, as the older blonde haired man walked over to him, and pushed the boy even higher. Next, the two were playing in a sand box, with the younger Alfred triumphantly showing the green eyed man the castle he made.

Alfred continued to fall, more memories surrounding him. He smiled at them as he fell, but one in particular stood out from the rest. The younger version of Alfred was sleeping in the same bed that he had back home, with the older man sitting at the foot of his bed. The man walked away to his office, where Alfred followed him. He saw him working on things that looked like calculations for a rocket, and a diagram of the human body.

More memories passed, some of them were with Alfred cooking with the older man, unwrapping presents, and the two of them playing together. Alfred felt a few tears come to his eyes at the two's happiness. But the tears disappeared when he saw a news broadcast projecting an image of a large planet almost colliding with Earth. The next memory took hold, and it was of the older man hugging Alfred, tears in his emerald eyes. They were standing in front of a large rocket. Now, Alfred was inside the rocket, with wires attached to his back, crying as the older man cradled his face.

The next memory shocked Alfred. The older man was standing alone, watching the rocket blast off with the planet from the news broadcast looming over him.

Alfred felt his body being sucked away from the man, but he didn't want to leave. He wanted to talk to him, he wanted to know him. But that wouldn't happen. Alfred was back in the gray expanse with his tablet, and tears running down his cheeks. His tablet flashed suddenly, as a message popped up. He clicked on it hesitantly, as files opened up.

'Even if those memories made me sad, I've got to go forward, believing in the future. Even when I realize my loneliness, and am about to lose all hope, those memories make me stronger. I'm not alone... because of you.'

"Thank you."
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(Explanation time! Alfred had been living in a computer simulation where he could create things with his tablet. He was happy until his tablet made the image of houses, and Alfred watched his own memories. The man, (aka Arthur) was working for a space exploration company when he heard the news of a planet going to collide with Earth. So, to protect Alfred, Arthur built a rocket to shoot Alfred into space before the planet destroyed Earth as we know it. Arthur also built the computer simulation Alfred was in. And now Arthur is probably dead while Alfred floats around in space, stuck in a simulation. Like, commentand follow! It really helps!)