by Terry Schott
Chapter 25
Magic, true magic, is safe and secure in the world for one simple reason; no one believes that it exists. When an Eternal summons medical help with their mind, or a falling child is saved at the last moment by a stranger who appears at just the right time, we explain it as great luck, or call it coincidence. When I tell you those events were magic, you laugh at me. When I say ‘magic,’ you expect wondrous creatures, large displays of bright lights and noise. Don’t look high into the sky to see the flying woman; she’s closer to the ground, floating just a few inches off the ground. The extraordinary is simply that — a little bit extra than ordinary. There is great power in that little bit extra.
Excerpt from ‘The Game Is Life’
George R. Knight
Trew – age 14
Danielle and I have been hanging out as friends since we first met. We live far apart, but the distance isn’t a problem. We both have computers and video chat. We’ve spent so many hours discussing life, our dreams, and the idea that we live inside a big computer game. Danielle is the mastermind; she has strong opinions about life and is always so sure that she’s right. I’ve always liked her enthusiasm, and a lot of her ideas are also thoughts that I’ve had. So here’s what we both think: Life on Earth is just some big game, and another dimension exists where everyone here truly lives. It’s always been a fun thing to talk about, but now we find a book that says the same thing. Wow!
I read the last page and slowly close the book. My mind is racing as I walk over to my computer and ring Danni; the connection must have timed out during the night. She answers immediately, looking as tired as me.
“Finished?” I ask.
“Just!” she says. “How ‘bout you?”
“Same,” I answer. “What did you think?”
Danni puts her head down so I can’t see her face on the camera, then shrugs her shoulders. I laugh out loud. “You’re funny, Danni. I can tell from your body language that you’re as excited as I am!”
Danni laughs back and when she looks into the camera I can see how fired up she is. “It’s an amazing book, Trew! I wish George was still around, I have a million questions for him.”
“He answered a lot of questions in the book.” I smirk at Danni, “Maybe you were him. The math works out, and you think the same way.”
Danni shakes her head seriously. “I don’t think I was him. The thought doesn’t sound right in here.” She taps her heart. “So what do we do with this? I have to guess this master computer wanted us both to find it and read it at the same time. You think we can get it to talk to us like it did with George?”
“Maybe. But he didn’t tell us really how that happened for him… unless I missed that part?”
Danni shakes her head. “No, I didn’t see anything in there about that either. How come this idea hasn’t taken off? You’d think by now there would be at least a small group of people living their lives as if we are all living in some big computer simulation.”
I laugh at her. “Because it’s crazy, that’s likely why! But to be fair, there are some amazing movies and books that kind of hint at it.”
“Hint at it, yes. But no one takes science fiction seriously. Likely ‘cause it has the word fiction in it, which I’m pretty sure means ‘not real.’ There is so much proof in that book, though. Look at all the examples of real life situations that he used and explained them all as if this was a computer game. They make perfect sense!”
“Yes, they do make sense to us. But I’m pretty sure at one time in history people believed the world actually sat on the back of a giant turtle.”
“Well, that’s just ridiculous,” Danielle says, “But yes, I guess this is believable to us because we are — well, believers. George believed that our ability was real. He called it ‘Talent.’ It’s just so simple to use, I don’t understand how it’s such a big secret. Everyone does it now and then.”
“Stephanie says that the best secrets are kept in the open, for everyone to see. Any sensible person seeing a key on the floor in front of a locked door would assume it was a key to something else. Most wouldn’t even try it in the lock. I didn’t believe her, so she did it and showed me. She was right!”
We sit quietly thinking for a few minutes, wondering what we’re supposed to do. “What kind of stuff are you doing for fun right now, Danni?”
“Music, learning the guitar and drums,” she says. “How about you?”
“Parkour and Krav Maga.” I say.
“I did Parkour a long time ago. I’ll show you some tricks when I see you next. What’s up with the Krav Maga? You already did Karate a few years ago.”
“They seemed like a good fit,” I shrug. “I’m making up some new stuff using street running to enhance the Krav Maga. Attacking and defending combined with jumping from a car roof and escaping up a wall, that kind of stuff. My instructor seems to like how I’m joining the two things together. Good exercise, too.”
“You ready for a change?” she asks. Danni convinced me years ago that if life is a game, we should play it. That means we learn a new thing, then, once we get good at it, we put it up and go learn another sport or skill. Sure, I think it’s awesome to study something for your whole life and master it, but you miss out on so much by doing that. Danni and I are committed to being good at one thing above all; learning new things!
“Sure,” I say. “What do you have in mind?”
Danni smiles, and I can tell she has grand plans. “We are going to wake the world up to the truth.”
I smile back, I decide to be excited.