Trapped in JetPunk - Chapter 4

If you didn't read the rest of the story, you probably should, for obvious reasons. Enjoy this chapter!

Everything around me begins to go fuzzy. I look up at the search bar and notice a spinning arrow on the far right side. This is the second time I've seen something actually move besides the blinking line which was guiding my typing.

In the blink of my eye the whole world around me flashes. I'm stunned for a few seconds, but when I regain my senses, I realize that not a lot has actually changed. The floor beneath me is back to being white, and besides this, everything else seems normal, for a lack of better words. The search bar is still there, but now it reads "Search quizzes, users, or tags" again in silver letters. The mini keyboard is also under it, but I draw my attention away from this and focus on the new world around me, or at least I think it's new. Something else had to have changed...

As I observe what's around me, I almost choke on my saliva. Not 10 steps away is a cursor, the kind of cursor that computers have. It has a white outline and a solid black body, and hovers above the ground, not obeying any known laws of the universe. I don't know what I was expecting, but this isn't it. The cursor just floats there in place, almost like it's waiting for something. If this really is a computer, then that cursor should be able to move somehow.

I walk up the cursor and look at it for a moment. It seems so lifeless, but at the same time, has a weird personality that I can't explain. I give it a push, and it glides across the floor. The cursor moves effortlessly, but without any friction, it slows down pretty slowly. Now it's about 20 steps away, and I jog to catch up with it. Once reunited with this alien-like entity, I realize the benefits of it. Now, I don't have to walk everywhere. Instead, I can ride this cursor like a surf board sailing across the sea. The only difference is that I don't have waves to keep any momentum I give it from the start. I don't label this as a problem, since any benefit is fine by me whether it comes with disadvantages or not.

So, I grab the tail of the cursor with my right hand and the back of the body with my left hand and start running towards the new nothingness in front of me. As I reach my desired speed I jump up onto the top of the cursor and pull myself up. The momentum continues to effectively glide the cursor across the world. Once I'm fully on top of the cursor, I see a button at the tip of the point. It says "Autopilot".

"No way that's gonna work," I laugh. I am slowing down at a steady rate, and the weight I'm adding to it isn't exactly helping. So, I press the button. Within a second I feel the cursor accelerate. I'm going faster, but not too much faster. I can tell that my speed isn't increasing, but rather staying constant, so that I won't ever lose momentum or have to manually add more. After I press the button it changes. Now it says "Off". I'm guessing that simply moving the cursor turned it on, but now I need to press this button if I want to stop.

As I continue to glide across the world, I look around for the first time. Ahead of me in the distance are big, black, blocky letters that appear the same as the first ones I ever saw. They're backwards, but I think the sentence is the same one as the quiz I clicked on to get here, since I can make out "#1".

Without really thinking about it, I press down on the left wing of the cursor. It tilts slightly, and my direction changes. I do the same for the right wing, and now I'm back heading on the same path I was before. I've never driven a car, but I have flown on a plane. This cursor is similar to both, but has more aspects of a plane than anything else.

I fly by the "#1" at a pretty fast speed, but I don't actually know how fast I'm going. I look around again, first left and see nothing, then right and see more smaller words. But it's what's behind the small words that really catches my attention.

Far beyond these words are gigantic pieces of sushi. Two are on the floor and one is being held up by... floating chopsticks. "This place is so whack," I shake my head in disbelief, but on the off chance I can eat these enormous chunks of sushi I push down the right wing of my little plane and glide swiftly towards them. My stomach starts growling as it too knows food is close.

As I'm flying by the smaller words, I try to read what they say. This is impossible, because not only are they backwards, the speed at which I'm going by them is too fast for my brain to even try and think about it. The only thing my mind is thinking about is, you guessed it, FOOD. Since this isn't a food website, I'm hoping to the heavens that these sushi pieces are edible. Thankfully, as I come closer, the smell of fish and seaweed dances in my nostrils like a happy puppy. My stomach gets the message too and gurgles in delight.

Upon reaching the massive sushi pile, I press the "Off" button on my cursor. It quickly slows down, and I hop off when it completely stops. In front of me is a mass of sushi. They stand as tall as the big fish from the beginning, ironically, and look quite tasty if you ask me. The smell is just as appetizing, and I run as fast as I can to them. "I hope they're real," I plead. "If they're not real, I might just give up."

I can't describe the taste of the sushi even if I wanted to. Probably the best meal I've ever had. The soul-reviving replenishment aspect is a good feeling, and the sushi is also moist, so water isn't a big issue. I only managed to eat about 1/1000 of one piece, but it's enough food for me. I pocket a lot of the sushi, because until I get some sort of luggage, I can't carry around anything at all. However, I've stocked up, and now I'm ready to hit the road again, continuing my travels across the vast, barren lands. I pretend it's a desert wasteland sometimes to keep myself entertained. Don't laugh at me! You would too if you were trapped inside a box with nothing around but huge letters. Heck, I even got my own horse, kind of. I call it Jeppy the Jet; I think it fits.

With the amount of time I've been here, my mind has had time to wander places. I don't know the places my mind could possibly wander to, but it does. Coming up with a name for my noble steed, plane, cursor thing is one of the best thoughts I've had thus far on my journey, one which might never leave me.

I climb back onto Jeppy the Jet. Its black coat is smooth, and I rub my fingers along its back. I take a moment to look off into the distance. A whole lot of empty space, just waiting to be explored. Thinking about this deeply, I realize that I could be the only person to ever cross these lands. This endless stretch of clean, white floor before me might be completely untouched. I'll never know for sure.

If you look at this place long enough, you start to notice the fine things. The vastness is quite beautiful in many ways, but also intimidating at the same time. I stare out with Jeppy for a little longer before turning on autopilot, pressing the left wing, and circling back around towards the search bar.

To be continued...