Snippet #1040867

Peri lay quietly in a forest. The jungle sounds around her were soothing and accompanied the lush greenery around her perfectly. Happily, she stood and padded across the forest floor, enjoying the feeling of nature between her toes. As she walked, she broke through a wall of shrubbery and came to a river. Excitedly, she looked downriver and saw a waterfall. The roaring sound of it made her heart beat faster with anticipation, calling her over. With a wicked grin, Peri began to run towards the waterfall. Just when she reached the end of the river, she hopped on a stone at the top of the fall and jumped, swan-diving past the rushing water and relishing the feeling of gravity. The river below her was rushing upwards, and she dangerously waited until she knew she would smack down into the water before releasing her wings and pumping them. She swooped upward, and as her body began to warm under the beautiful sunlight, she pumped her wings, rising higher and higher....

Then, the beeping began, pulling her out of the illusion. Sighing, Peri pulled her subconscious back into her body and tugged of the 3D helmet on her head. She sat alone in the activity room, so no one had noticed that she had broken the rules and tried to use her 'abilities' in the 3D world she had created. Listless, Peri put the equipment away and walked towards the couch. No doubt, one of her so-called-guardians would come rushing in soon to scold her for her behavior. She might as well catch up on some TV while she waited.

Right when she folded herself daintily on the couch and picked up the remote, the door slammed open. With a sigh, Peri looked wide-eyed up at an angry face, that of her least favorite "guardian", Erik Phillips. His face was sweaty and red from both his anger and the exertion if rushing to find her. He glared as he huffed for breath.

"This is not the first time we had this problem with you," he hissed, "When are you going to learn?" Peri looked away to hide a frustrated tear. She hated this institution. She couldn't even have freedom in the virtual world.

"I'm sorry, sir," she replied softly. Her soft manner always stopped them from being too angry. Her sadness at being chained seemed to them as a sadness for doing wrong, so they mistakenly thought she was truly sorry for disobeying. Erik paused long enough to catch his breath and softened his tone.

"Don't do it again," he warned, and he stalked out of the room. Peri pulled her knees to her chest and wept onto them, hating the life she was forced to lead. She wanted to stretch her wings and fly into the sky without apprehension of being punished. She wanted to be able to talk to the people outside. She had never met anyone outside of WINGS. The world of WINGS was getting too lonely and too small to bear.