Decide

Chapter 4

"Ben?" A voice called out from the dark abyss.

"Hello? Who's there? My friend, she, she," I cried out.

"You can take off your goggles now, Ben."

"What are you talking about? Where am I?" 

The only sound I heard, was the hard beating of my heart. Thoughts scattering like marbles across a tiled floor.

"Ben, I'm right here. Dont worry."

Her sweet voice, calmed my breathing. My head that had been in the clouds, came back to earth.

I feel a sudden weight be lifted off my face. No longer left in darkness, I am standing in a white room. This must be heaven.

Though faintly, I could make out a figure moving in the corner of my eye. 

She looked just as she had when I...

My feet lept in joy and I run up to her, embracing her, tears in my eyes to exclaim the words, "I'm sorry. I should never have let you go, I love you."

"I love you too Ben," she kissed me on the cheek. "But there is something you need to know. Follow me," she extended her hand, placing mine in hers. 

I follow her into a room where there is lady sitting behind a desk. 

"Hello Ben. I'm Maria."

"Hello?" I said, shaking her hand, whilst a look of confusion covered my face.

"You may not remember me. You see you were put into our VR Programme, we call "Decide." Where you were put in situations where you were given two options for each major decision youhad to make."

"So you're saying. None of that was real?"

"Indeed I am."

"How long was I in the 'programme' for?"

"Only a few hours."

It had felt like I was in that 'world,' I thought was my life, for months. Little did I know, it had only been a couple hours. All the thoughts and lies that I had thought were true, cluttering my mind, caused me to lose my balance.  As I felt my feet leave teh floor in which they once were, my hands gripped a nearby seat.

Regaining my balance, I looked up, into her eyes, the same eyes I had fallen in love with. "Please tell me, you were the one thing that was true in that world of lies."