A story i made up.

1. Could You Live Your Whole Life in Virtual Reality? By: Jennifer Kathryn Lawrence Grade: 8 Class: Computers

2. He used to be filled with joy, love and kindness. That was all until my mother ran away. My father used to love me, until January 18, 1990. I was just 2 weeks old. My father loved her so much, his whole life and attitude changed once she was gone. I dreaded coming home from school each day. He would abuse me. It not only physically hurt me, but it killed me emotionally. My father hated me and my mother was gone.

3. One day I could not take it anymore. I ran away from home and stayed with my best friend, Kayleen. We secretly reported my father to the police and he was arrested. My life was starting to get better bit by bit. Kathryn's House Jail

4. Kayleen’s family was the happiest family I’d even known. They all loved each other so much. Then, one day, something happened. Something I never, ever expected to happen. Kayleen’s parents got into a fight. A really big one. They ended up getting divorced.

5. Kayleen’s dad got to keep her and their life started to go back to normal, but nothing could ever be the same because no one in her family had ever experienced something like this, ever. I felt so bad for them. I had gone through the same thing. It made me feel even worse having to go through it again. Kayleen and I would sometimes look up at the stars wishing that something could change this, but we were too strong to cry.

6. Kayleen and I finally figured out that if we wanted to change things, we needed to do something. So, we tried applying for college, but no one would accept. We tried to get a job, but we were both too picky. So, we decided to help out her father with his virtual reality machine. This virtual reality machine was different from any other. This was because it wasn’t just goggles, it was a whole machine. The machine had wires and things that stuck to your body and wind that blew out of air holes to give you a more realistic feeling. It also had a heater so that you could feel the warmth. This machine was so advanced that when you ate in virtual reality it would actually feed your stomach. We couldn’t wait to finish it, so we could have the perfect life.

7. Just then, a few days before the machine was about to be finished, Kayleen’s dad was found dead in the floor of their kitchen. No one ever found out what happened to him. Since we were both old enough to live on our own and inherit all of the stuff, we decided to stay in the house together. This was so hard on both of us, but still, we knew this was just part of life, so we didn’t cry.

8. Finally, one day, we had both had enough of this life, we decided to finish the virtual reality machine and have the perfect life. We work almost 24 hours each day. Nothing else was in our schedule but work, eat, sleep and work.

9. Finally one day, we finished the machine. It was done, but someone had to test it and Kayleen volunteered. She stepped into the machine and got all hooked up. Then she pressed a few buttons then closed her eyes. I watched in amazement on the screen above her at what she was seeing. It was the perfect life.

10. Inside the machine, I saw a tropical paradise. Around her were laughing children, happy adults, and everything I could ever dream of. I saw her walk into a huge building, it was a mall. I was starting to get jealous of what she was getting to do. She was shopping with an endless amount of virtual money. She was getting manicures and pedicures. She was getting massages and relaxing in a Jacuzzi with the most handsome guy I had ever seen and drinking a fruit cocktail with a little umbrella on the side.She was getting to experience all the things we had never gotten to do as normal 18 year olds. I was happy for her.

11. All of a sudden, there was shaking and rumbling. Everything went dark and the power shut off. After that, I remember nothing until I woke up later that night.

12. I woke up and looked around the lab. Everything was messed up. Everything, except the virtual reality machine. I looked around for Kayleen and found her crushed underneath a pole, dead. I cleaned up the mess in the lab then went to my bedroom. I sat on my bed and cried for one of the first times in my life. I cried for me. I cried for my parents and for Kayleen and her parents. I cried for my life. I hated it. I decided that night that I wasn’t going to live like this anymore. I was going to fix the virtual reality machine and live in it for forever.

13. I got started right away and fixed up the little touches on the machine. It was finished in just a weeks time. I took one last look at the real world, which I hoped I would never see again, and stepped in. I got all hooked up, pressed a few buttons, and closed my eyes.

14. The next thing I knew when I opened my eyes again was a tropical paradise filled with laughing children, happy adults, and everything I could ever dream of.