My World, Our World (A little fantasy on the theme of Little Space)

[MistyTales]

Hello everyone. I've decided to try my hand at writing short stories, as I need a little break. The first story from the collection "My World" is now available. Enjoy!



"Little one, time to get out," a gentle voice of mom broke through the boisterous children's laughter, splashes of water, and foam.

"Mommy, just five more minutes, please!" the boy opened his big brown eyes wide and looked imploringly at the slender and beautiful woman with a white fluffy towel in her hands.

She sat down next to the bathtub, tenderly stroked the child's cheek with her palm, and pressed his tiny button-like nose.

"How can I say no to you? But only five minutes, no more."

"Hooray!" the boy exclaimed ecstatically. He gathered a large handful of snow-white foam and tossed it up into the air.

Mom smiled; she always knew that no matter how long Nicolas stayed in the bath, he needed those extra five minutes like air to breathe. "Five minutes, remember?" she asked the boy once more, who was already engrossed in playing with his toy boat.

"Yes, mommy, just five minutes!" he smiled back.

Young Nicolas, a four-year-old boy, stood in the bathroom on a small children's stool. The additional five minutes passed, as always, quickly and unexpectedly. The boy watched, fascinated, as the flow of water rushing into the drain formed a huge whirlpool, pulling the foam flakes along with it. While he observed the elemental chaos, mom had already dried him off and even managed to comb his unruly thick hair a bit.

"Alright, now it's time to get dressed and go to bed," she said, wrapping Nick in a fluffy towel and effortlessly picking him up. As they left the bathroom, the boy reached out and waved goodbye to the rubber boat left alone to face the whirlpool.

In the child's room, his pajamas were already waiting, and... "You have one missed message," announced an electronic female voice. Nicolas opened his eyes. "Forgot to turn off the sound again," the man thought, annoyed. He turned his head towards the bedside table. The phone screen glowed with a pale blue light. Reaching out, the man pressed the phone's off button without picking it up. A few seconds later, a farewell tune played, and the screen went dark.

Nick turned from side to side, closed his eyes, and prepared to return to his dreamy fairy-tale world. He tried to picture his childhood bed with its weightless warm blanket, toys neatly arranged on the shelves. Each time he thought he was about to be there and almost felt himself as that little boy, a voice would say the same phrase: "Little one, time to get out." The world he had created stubbornly refused to take its owner back.

First, his nose itched, then his back, and soon the man felt an insatiable thirst. The clock on the bedside table suddenly began to tick deafeningly loud. There was nothing to do; apparently, the session was over for today.

Nicolas got out of bed and headed towards the kitchen. He approached the refrigerator and opened the door. The cold light hit his eyes, and the man squinted.

Finding a bottle of water, he unscrewed the cap and began to drink greedily. The water refreshed him from the inside, and it seemed that each gulp helped wash away the heaviness of sleepy thoughts. Having emptied the bottle, the man sighed. The thought of checking the missed message on the phone crossed his mind, but he decided not to succumb to temptation.

Nick couldn't recall the exact date or reason when it all started, perhaps when he was around 10 or 11 years old. However, he remembered clearly what had appeared in his world first. It was a bed, not quite a child's bed but with a small border to prevent falling off during sleep, a simple headboard, and a light blanket. The bed stood in a black void, and Nick would climb into it whenever he felt particularly sad. Over time, the world began to grow: the bed no longer hung in the air but stood in a cozy children's room with light blue wallpaper. The room acquired a toy shelf, a small wardrobe with clothes, and even a corner with a model railway.

One of Nicholas's major achievements, as he considered it, was populating his world with inhabitants. Each time he immersed himself in his fantasies, the world came to life. People appeared on the streets, rushing about their business; kindergartens and schools filled with children who were dropped off and picked up by their parents. Sometimes, Nick himself would visit one of those kindergartens... for 13 years already.

After taking a shower and fully waking up, the man poured himself a large mug of coffee with milk and headed to his office, stopping by the bedroom to grab his phone.

"Who can't sleep?" he muttered, opening the latest notification.

"Good day! We're happy to introduce your new colleague!" followed by a brief questionnaire.

It's worth noting that by the age of 24, Nicholas had already achieved certain success in his professional life. He had several successful projects under his belt as a lead game designer, and recently he was entrusted with managing a small team. To a large extent, he owed his success to his little world, created long before Nicholas had chosen his profession. One could say that he had been honing his professional skills since childhood, but over time, it became increasingly difficult. The first issue he faced was that the world stopped developing. Over the past few years, the level of detail had become almost perfect, but he craved more variety. Essentially, each day was similar to the others, although holidays and other important events occurred in the world, such as family vacations or trips to amusement parks, but the list of events was strictly limited.

The second and more serious problem was the degradation of the world. Over the last few months, the detail of what he had created for many years had been steadily declining, and unfortunately, Nicholas had no idea how to fight it. This manifested in various ways: the grass on the lawn near the school turned into a homogeneous green carpet, looking like plastic; the faces or clothing of the inhabitants of his world became identical; sometimes his favorite toys would vanish without a trace. The most shocking incident for Nicholas was when his mother lost her face – and she lost it in the literal sense of the word. A smooth sphere gazed at the boy instead of the familiar face, devoid of eyes, nose, eyebrows, and everything else. It took considerable effort for Nick to bring back the exact person he had created and grown attached to.

And so, before Nicolas was the profile of his new employee, or rather, a female employee.

"Alice, 24 years old... professional skills... hobbies: world-building," he leafed through the profile of the person he was to work with.

"Well, why not," he said aloud, and scheduled an introductory meeting on the team calendar.

II

"Everyone, wake up!" Nicolas traditionally started the morning video meeting. "Mark, either mute your microphone or stop chewing," he asked his colleague.

"Oops, sorry." Mark hastily set aside his sandwich and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Colleagues, we have a new addition to our team; please welcome Alice. Alice will be helping all of us in the challenging task of creating games!" Nicolas continued his speech.

"Hi, Alice!" all the team members responded in unison.

"Good morning," replied the newcomer. It was evident that she was a little embarrassed by the attention directed at her. Alice was an attractive young woman with light hair, neat, even slightly childlike facial features. Her voice was not loud, but even behind her shyness, determination could be heard.

"Alright, let's continue where we left off," Nicolas switched from introducing the newcomer to work tasks. "Our team was tasked with coming up with something new and fresh that could engage a modern audience," he reiterated the main point not so much for the team as for its new member.

"I still suggest we settle on an alternate universe of superheroes," Mark insisted, being a die-hard fan of everything related to Spider-Man, Superman, and other extraordinary personalities. "An alternate world where everyone is a superhero, and..."

"That's already been done; we can't exploit the same idea indefinitely," Nicolas interrupted his colleague, realizing the futility of his idea and not wanting to waste work time on it.

"Alright..." Mark turned off his sound and resumed eating his sandwich.

"What if it's a simulator, say, in the ancient world, and this world evolves, and you survive in the ancient era?" Erin began. "Like, you build a shelter, hunt, and all that stuff."

"More interesting," Nicolas perked up, as his team had been clearly struggling with creativity for the past month. "Any more ideas?"

"What if we just make a simulator?" Alice said softly.

"A simulator of what?" Nicolas didn't understand.

"Of everything," she replied.

Still not understanding, Nicolas asked, "Can you explain in more detail?"

"Yes," Alice answered and continued, "A simulator of the ordinary world we all live in, but with the option to choose the place and time."

"But there's a ton of those on the market already," Mark interrupted the conversation.

"No, there's nothing like that," Alice wasn't fazed at all and continued her explanation, "Most simulators offer the player a God mode, where they watch their characters and give them instructions on what to do and when to do it. Or there are small projects that let you live one little piece of life, like fishing or being a cashier," she clarified.

"Well, what are you proposing?" Erin asked, clearly more interested in the ancient world and survival.

Alice, finally overcoming her embarrassment, continued.

"I suggest giving players the opportunity to live the life they want, in their own environment, at the age they want, in their own world, experiencing the moments they desire multiple times!" she said confidently, "And then we can analyze their created worlds and combine them into larger ones based on common interests. And get a multitude of worlds where players will be together, something like that."

There was silence in the chat.

"Ok, colleagues. Ideas require further development; we'll work in the office tomorrow," Nicolas concluded the meeting.

He spent the rest of the day in deep thought, Alice's idea haunting him.

The next morning, Nicolas hurried to the office as if it were his first day at a new job. He was eager to get to know Alice better and learn more about her idea.

As he approached the office, the man pulled the door handle and found it locked. Glancing at his watch, Nick was surprised to find that there was still a full hour before the workday began.

"I'm a bit early," he thought.

At that moment, a timid voice came from behind: "Good morning!" Nicolas turned around and saw a young, medium-height woman with light hair and a cute face.

"Alice?" he smiled.

"Yes, hello!" she greeted him again.

"You're kind of early," Nick looked at Alice and didn't understand why he kept smiling.

"You don't like to sleep in either," she replied, not embarrassed at all.

"There's still an hour until we open, how about a coffee?" Nicolas unexpectedly suggested. He was not inclined to invite his employees to cafes, especially those he was seeing for the first time, and especially women. It's worth mentioning that he was still quite shy, but with Alice, everything happened naturally.

"Yes, that would be great!" she agreed.

They settled in a cafe not far from the office. The city outside had already woken up, people and cars filling it with voices and sounds. Inside, however, it was quiet and homely; two steaming cups of fragrant coffee sat on the table, inviting the two young people to engage in casual conversation.

"Alice, I was thinking a lot about your idea yesterday," Nicholas began, "can you..."

"Tell you more?" the girl finished for him.

"Yes!" the man smiled.

"Of course!" she enthusiastically agreed, taking a large sip of her coffee. "I believe that the biggest problem in society is the lack of time. We're constantly rushing somewhere, doing something, and almost never stopping. We forget the moments that really matter. For example, who can remember the feeling of entering first grade or giving a speech at graduation? Some do, but not all," she spoke very quickly, as if her thoughts were far ahead of what she was explaining now. "But memories are easier - there are photos, videos, and they can be refreshed. But what about those moments that need not only to be remembered but corrected?"

"What do you mean?" Nicholas raised his eyebrows.

"Well, for instance, at the age of 4, a child had a toy that was suddenly taken away. Just without your permission because someone thought it was necessary. What if you could fix that and relive that moment when your toy stays with you?" she explained.

"But isn't that self-deception?" Nicholas couldn't believe what he heard. It was his beloved stuffed giraffe that had been given away to a neighbor's baby, thinking he was too old for such toys.

"Isn't it self-deception to be angry at your parents for the rest of your life because of that?" she countered.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Nick hesitated. "But why exactly 4 years?" he asked.

"It's not about the age," Alice smiled. "It's about the possibility of correcting the past."

They talked for a very long time. Nicholas sat and looked at the girl opposite him, feeling as if he had known her his entire life. By midday, they finally returned to the office. By that point, Nicholas had firmly decided that this game was exactly what they needed.

Work on the concept went on around the clock. Inspired by Alice, the team spent days and nights describing all possible scenarios. How to organize worlds, how to connect them into one enormous world so that the players, whom they called inhabitants, would not interfere but help and complement each other. Even Mark eventually admitted that his superhero idea could wait. By the end of the sixth month of work, the concept was finalized, and the most challenging task lay ahead – presenting it to management.

"Alice, here are your tickets," Nick handed a small envelope to his colleague.

"Me?" the girl's eyes widened in surprise as she beamed.

"Well, who else? It was your idea, so you're responsible," Nick smiled.

In just a couple of hours, Nick and Alice were sitting in a train compartment. Alice was noticeably nervous; she wasn't used to so much attention, and now she had the daunting task of defending her dream. Nicholas, on the other hand, was calm. He smiled at his companion and said, "Don't worry, we'll get through this together. You should get some sleep now, though. We've got a five-hour trip ahead."

"Yes, you're right," the girl nodded. Over the months of working on the project, the entire team had grown close, but these two had grown closer than the rest. It seemed like they started to understand each other without even speaking, and people behind their backs began whispering about an upcoming wedding.

The train began to move smoothly, gently rocking its passengers to sleep. Nicholas leaned his head against the window and watched the landscapes drift by. He glanced at Alice - she was already fast asleep in the comfortable chair.

"Well, I might as well take a nap, too," he thought to himself, closing his eyes and drifting off.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" a loving mother's voice rang out. "Time to get up; you've got an unusual day ahead."

Young Nicholas opened his eyes and smiled at the sunbeam dancing on the tip of his nose. The boy sat up in bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Strangely, he didn't want and wasn't ready to dive into his world just yet, but apparently, his brain had decided otherwise, and the boy chose not to argue with his own mind.

He looked around: his nursery was the same as before... almost. It had become perfect. All the toys not only returned to their places but were joined by new ones. The sounds of the outside world were particularly diverse: birds chirping, leaves rustling, and children's laughter ringing out.

The boy sat on the bed, listening to his sensations - they were the same as before, only more intense. He took a deep breath and caught the scent of fresh pancakes wafting in from the kitchen. It was strange: in his world, he preferred to eat porridge for breakfast.

His mother sat down next to him. "Dear, is everything alright?" she asked with concern.

"Yes, almost too much so," Nick replied.

"That's wonderful!" his mother smiled. "Now let's get dressed, wash up, and have breakfast. Do you need help, or are you a big boy now?"

"Help," Nicholas looked at her, bewildered. Usually, during his immersion in his world, his mother simply dressed him without asking questions, but now she seemed... more alive.

After getting dressed, washing up, and brushing his teeth, the boy hurried to the kitchen. A steaming pile of fragrant pancakes with a dollop of melting chocolate-hazelnut spread was already on the table. This was impossible, unreal! He had always had a severe allergy to nuts and simply couldn't create this dessert in his world. The boy cautiously sat down at the table, broke off a piece of pancake, and carefully dipped it into the melted spread. He touched the unknown dessert with the tip of his tongue. The world turned upside down: he could taste it, the chocolate and hazelnut enveloping his entire consciousness. Nicholas didn't want to think about how he could know the taste of the spread, having never tried it in the real world. In just a few minutes, the plate was empty, and a content Nick licked the remnants of the spread from his messy fingers.

"What an appetite!" his mother praised him. "Son, let's wash our hands, not lick them. You're not two years old anymore."

"Yes, mom," he said and ran to wash his hands. Returning to the kitchen, Nicolas asked, "Mom, what's so special about today?"

"Someone is coming over to play with you all day," she replied with a smile.

"To me? To play?" Nick thought nervously, as he had never let anyone into his house in this world before.

"Who?" the boy asked, his eyes widening.

"You'll find out soon," his mother replied, adding, "Now go draw something for me."

"Alright," the boy replied, puzzled, and headed to his playroom. He sat down at a small table, picked up some markers, and began to draw.

"Nicolas, your guest has arrived!" His mother's voice made the boy look up from his favorite activity. He raised his eyes, and two smiling women were standing in the doorway, one of whom was his mother. In front of them was a girl in a lovely white summer dress. Her sweet childish face was framed by light, slightly curly hair. She smiled at him:

"Hi! My name is Alice! Let's be friends!" she greeted him cheerfully.

"Nicolas," the boy said hesitantly. "Okay."

"I have a present for you!" With these words, Alice approached the boy and handed him a plush giraffe.

The train slowed down. Nicolas opened his eyes, astonished by what he saw in his world. The man turned his head to look at his companion sitting next to him. Alice was no longer asleep, but cheerfully looking at him and smiling.

"Did you like the pancakes?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied hesitantly, "but how did you..."

"I don't know!" she replied cheerfully. "You're not the only one with a little world." With that, she rested her head on Nicolas' shoulder.

The man sat for a few more minutes, deep in thought, then smiled at his thoughts, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, returning to their shared, no longer so small world.

[junyour]

A wonderful introduction to a new littles world.  Welcome back and I hope the other offerings are just as good.  I look forward to seeing more.