The world had been set up so that everyone could move freely between the real world and a virtual world. Avant-garde fashion was the norm in the virtual world. I was watching space cartoons in the real world with my mom at her house when meteors came raining down outside. The meteors were bright red so they must have been some kind of silicate. The meteor storm lasted days but the house suffered no damage. Grass and asphalt were burned away. Mist rings emanated from the meteorites before they were cool enough to touch. There were thousands of environmental refugees and hunting with night vision was a necessary part of survival. Some people wanted everyone to live in the virtual world all the time because conditions in the real world were so miserable. I decided to move to California since there had been no meteor storm in that state.

It was a cold night and there was snow on the ground. I was living in a dirty house with a few other guys, but they were sleeping. I was getting ready to leave and I had to make sure all the doors were locked, just like someone with OCD. I started looking in my neighbors’ windows, but I didn’t see anything that interested me, so I decided to walk around the mall. There were many girls shopping but I didn’t see anything worth buying. I rode the escalators a few times, then I explored the “Employees Only” part of the mall. There were narrow halls with brown carpeting. I noticed an attractive girl walking ahead of me. Her hair was auburn, long, and in a ponytail. She turned around and I immediately recognized her as Cassie. She said she had a friend named Andy who just died and that she wanted a picture of his body. She handed me a camera and we went outside. His body was on a gurney and he was being ‘guarded’ by two sleeping police officers. Cassie gave me a piggyback ride so I could get a better shot. Andy woke up but it was hard to get a picture of his face because he was moving around so much. He walked into the forest and was never seen again. Then Cassie and I went to the food court with Scott.

I was in a small mountain town called Davis, CO. I went into a toy store and had to wait my turn to play a new Kirby game. Teena watched me play the game, which reminded me of Galaga. After that, I visited Daniel. He showed me his Presidential $1 Coin collection, but someone had sold him counterfeits. A woman walked in with her daughter and pet caracal. She said she was a lawyer who worked upstairs. Her daughter was covered head to toe in sticky food. The four of us walked downtown and discovered a place with an indoor roller coaster.

I went to the theater and saw Horton Hears a Who! with my dad and stepmom. I sat in the middle next to my stepmom and my dad sat on the left side of the theater. My dad wanted to buy me some orange Jell-O after the movie. He and the young female cashier got mad when I told them I’m allergic to oranges and orange soda. Then my dad drove me to Missouri and dropped me off at an old house that was now being used as a restaurant. I had a job there as the new cook. Later that day (my birthday) I was sitting on a bench outside with some Missouri kids. The guy on the radio said it was his birthday. He also said Paul Simon died. The Missouri kids didn’t know who Paul Simon was so I started singing “Mrs. Robinson” but I messed up some of the lyrics.

I went to see Tron: Legacy in 3D at the theater with Mark, Max, and my mom’s side of the family. They didn’t give us any 3D glasses. The first half of the movie was nothing like I expected. It was animated but not computer-animated and it was about naked women who had the ability to fly. During the intermission, my aunt told us how much she liked the first half and Mark asked me to get him some ice water. They had rainbow-colored water for sale. The cashier was a young woman who wanted to charge me $20 for two drinks. Luckily the manager came and straightened things out.