Friday Story — Follow the White Rabbit.

Willow lay on her back, eyes closed to the sun. The inside of her eyelids felt orange, though she couldn’t be sure, they were shut. She could feel the warmth on her face. She listened. A gentle breeze tickled her nose. She could hear birds calling to each other, the movement of water, trees shifting, all things nature. Willow sat up, pulled her hair free of the buds of wheat that had snagged it. She was in a field bigger than any she had seen before. It stretched in all directions. There were trees in front of her, wonderful things that seemed to rise forever, huge pines that ran their fingertips underneath the fabric of a light blue sky. Cotton puffs of cloud drifted slowly across the horizon. Beyond the trees, she could see a huge hill, an open paddock of lime-green grass rising in the distance. That was where she needed to go.

The wheat was dry. Sunbaked clusters of seeds burst and filled her nostrils with spores as she forced her way through. Their stems crunched underfoot. She giggled as they snapped and folded. She left the field for the forest. The trees had been staggered by row, planted to fill in gaps. She worked her way through them, loving the pine needles beneath her naked feet. It was dark in here. She had a light t-shirt on, jeans that shimmered with rainbow iridescent whenever they caught the light. Goosebumps appeared on her forearms. She ran her fingers over their small ridges. The light faded as the canopy thickened overhead. She could hear water to her left, so followed it. She searched the ground for tracks, for holes that might give her a sign of where she needed to go. It was quiet in here. She listened to herself breathe, slowed her heart down until it was all she could hear, thumping in her chest.

Willow closed her eyes once more, searched her mind for the clues she needed to move on. The way forward was north, though a wide river directly in front, pushed her west. The water ran fast. She was a great sim swimmer, though she wasn’t confident of crossing it. It frothed at its sides. Willow tossed a broken branch into it, watched as it disappeared seconds later. She pushed on, following the winding river before its roar was replaced with thunder. A huge deep green pool was spread out beneath a waterfall that rose thirty meters above it. A rock face blocked the way to its right, the river bank she stood on ended at its base.

She saw a flash of white through the trees above it. She didn’t hesitate, just dived in. She’d never swum before, though had simulated it. What a revelation! Her body was enveloped, wrapped like a second skin as she plunged beneath the surface. The water was cold on top, even cooler below. She couldn’t help but grin as she passed through it. A stream of bubbles slid out of the corner of her mouth, grew in size, then rose like jellyfish to the surface before bursting. She pushed on. She could feel the power of the water pounding the surface above her head. She crossed under the base of the waterfall, her lungs almost bursting. She pulled herself forward, clawed at the water then broke through, exhaling as she surfaced to find herself in a cave. Greenlight filled the small cavern. Glowworms dotted the underside of it.

She found a rock staircase and climbed out of the cavern, then followed it up until she reached the top of the waterfall. The sun punched through a large gap in the trees above the pool, warming her. She took a second to shake the water from her body, to settle her breathing. The white rabbit watched her from a mound of dirt nearby. It was the large one. Blue eyes studied her, its nose twitched as it caught her scent. She moved quickly, though it was gone, its powerful hind legs propelled it forward. She gave chase, scrambling across rocks before setting foot on grass. Beautiful long grass that rose between rocks, between her toes.

Willow was in the field she’d seen from a distance. It was bathed in sunlight. She had climbed above the tree line. White rabbits appeared everywhere, running in all directions as she passed, ducking in and out of holes she was careful to jump. She stayed focused on the big one. It leapt from side to side though she could see where it was heading. Her heart was pumping now. She could feel fatigue setting in, her energy had almost depleted. She didn’t have long. The side of the hill rose sharply. She could see the beauty of the lakes and distant mountains around her, though remained focused on her prize. A large mound rose out of the side of the hill. She could see a tunnel in front of it. The rabbit was close. She had to catch it before it disappeared. It leapt to its left then right, stretched its body before its head disappeared inside the tunnel. She dove at the same time and caught its leg.

Willow smiled to herself before the dirt-covered leg slid between her fingers and was gone. She cursed, then tore at the soft clumps of earth above the tunnel. They broke apart in her fingers as she worked her way along it. She thought about the rabbit, what it meant for her progress. She was making a mess. Other rabbits stood on their hind legs to watch her, silent witnesses to what she was doing. She did her best to ignore them, to focus on her goal. She had destroyed the tunnel, had opened it up until she hit a wide section of the burrow. She could barely move her arms now. She was covered in dirt, her knees were filthy. She kept going. A whitetail appeared, then another and three more, now a body. The white buck she sought appeared, tucked in beside what must have been a female doe, three babies were hidden for warmth beneath them. They all looked up at her, their eyes told her she wasn’t welcome. She reached out, pushed her hands beneath the buck and pulled him into her, feeling the warmth and strength of his body, the soft white fur that covered him. She held him up to the sunlight, his belly exposed, large feet now resting, ears flopped to either side of his head. Willow smiled, then hugged him. The rabbit exploded in a shower of gold dust. A huge gold coin appeared in mid-air, floating and rotating in the blue sky. She’d done it. Level three was now a thing of the past.

Marnie pulled the goggles off her face, tore the haptic gloves off her fingers and freed herself from the chair. She powered down, collected the solar batteries and stuffed them into her backpack. She took one last look through the glass windows high above the empty Esports arena. Giant screens were dormant. Several hung slightly askew from steel rafters beneath a massive curved roof. It had been one of the last places her parents had talked about as kids. Outside, the sky overhead was its usual dark and purple-tinged self. Night and day had been consigned to history decades ago. The streets were lit by a personal bot that hovered above her, clearing the path of any debris or vapours that got in her way. She wore a mask as an extra precaution. She picked her way through an abandoned city that had long since moved itself underground. She liked the quiet up here. She stalled to look at an old toy shop with stuffed animals inside partially blacked-out windows. Her bot chided her. It whispered a time sequence she needed to make to get safely inside with zero effect. Marnie picked up her pace.