It was like a dream in there. The smell of the air was crisp. The light of the full moon was soothing as thin clouds slowly passed in front of it. Gail could not believe the realism. She had to keep reminding herself that this was an illusion.
She had been chosen to test out the new Holograph Chamber at the university. They had worked years perfecting it. When it was powered off, it looked like any other room (only the size of a gymnasium), bland and bare. But, after it was turned on, the real world seemed to slip away, only to be replaced by whatever one’s heart desired.
Gail had asked for a serene night down by the river. She wanted sixty-five degrees, some birds chirping off in the distance and deer drinking at the embankment nearby. She got it. Below her bare feet, every blade of grass stimulated her heels. Above her, the wind blew her hair into her eyes.
“Well, Gail? What do you think?” The voice boomed over a loudspeaker, hidden somewhere in the forest of dark trees behind her.
“This is amazing, Doctor Finch. Amazing!” She twirled around, doing her best impression of Judy Garland in the Sound Of Music.
“We haven’t worked out all the bugs just yet but-” The doctor’s voice was interrupted by a loud growl from some brush nearby. It sounded to Gail like a bear. A BIG BEAR. Read more