Virginia looked out the window at the rain. "I used to go on the All View and set it on a rainy day like this. Sometimes my friends would join me and we'd go level 42 with all of its tall ancient oak trees and secluded lakes. Did You ever go there?" Tom shook his head no and said, " I did go to California and see the Red Woods, I guess it was like level 42."
We went skinny dipping in the lake once while it rained. " She looked over at Tom, a slight blush rising up her neck to her face, "I hardly see them any more. None of them have the time any more, they all have jobs."
" I told my Dad I wanted to get a job, You know, like a real one." Tom said looking away and shifting in his mom's favorite chair near the windows.
Virginia continued talking like she hadn't heard him. "I met my first boyfriend, Billy on AllView. There was this party sponsored by AllView and Head Buzz Beer. All you needed was ID. I'd gotten my virtual ID from a spook on the web. He said he used shades." Tom laughed at her, asking, "What are Shades? some red began to creep up her neck again.
"Shades, You known, stuff to hide who I am and make the ID untraceable, you know, make me someone else, it was real cheap and it worked, Me, Laura, Marty and T- La all went. It was the first time I ever got buzzed. After the second hit, I felt so sick I had to leave the All View for a while. When I got back everyone I knew was gone. I wandered around and was about to leave when Billy appeared before me. He smiled at me and took off. Two security bots were chasing him, I followed.
They ducked into a swampy like place. All these vines and moss hanging off the trees. A Sign called it 'Down on the Bayou' It was so real I kept checking my shoes to see if they were wet." She stopped to take a sip of her drink. It tasted like Head Buzz, but there was no off switch like AllView.
"I followed this tiny foot path that looked like it had been there since creation. It went up against a tall mountain. The trees grew tight against the rocks and I had to squeeze past some spots. I thought I'd lost them when a hand reached out and pulled me into the rock wall. I mean, there is the wall and this hand appears out of it and pulls me into it. I scream, who wouldn't? His hand covers my mouth and I hear him tell me to quit screaming. I jab him in the ribs, then spun around and kicked him in the ankle, down he goes, flat out into the dirt, a bit of dust swirls where he landed ." Virginia chuckles at the memory and has turns bright red, Tom's a bit turned on by her story now. "I'm bouncing on the soles of my feet waiting for him to move when I notice it's the guy from earlier. He puts up
