Inside Out

November 27
Kia leaned back, luxuriating in the peace and quiet up here in the treehouse. This square wooden platform, nestled between branches, was her personal refuge from homework, her brother, and other daily annoyances. The fresh, chilly air always soothed her. Until it started to rain.
Kia looked up at the dull, grey sky through the dull, black branches as rain drizzled down. November is such a dreary month, she thought. It’s cold, but it still rains. It should snow! Why couldn’t my birthday be some time cheerful?
Rain continued to plunge down as Kia leaned against the treehouse railing. Usually, the solitude of her treehouse was relaxing, but Kia felt tense.
She climbed down the ladder and clomped into the house. Kia kicked off her boots and hung her drenched jacket up to dry. Walking through the kitchen, Kia noticed the newspaper lying on the table. She paged through to find the comics. But an advertisement for the new Chipper Mall caught her eye.
The ad was for a store called Inside Out. “When you step into Inside Out, you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped outside,” Kia read. “Temperature controlled rooms…live foliage…virtual hikes…the illusion of being outside is very convincing.” Perfect! Kia thought. I know just what to do for my birthday. Usually, she had a sleepover with her friends, Lily and Rebecca. This would be even better! Kia imagined the feeling of peace when she was out in the wilderness: soothing cricket chirps, gentle breezes…Camping would be even better when she didn’t have to worry about bugs or sudden rainstorms.
“Mom!” Kia called excitedly. “At the Chipper Mall—you know, the new mall—there’s this store where you can camp and hike and everything, except it’s all inside!”
“Yes, Honey…” her mom said.
“So, could me and Lily and Rebecca go there for my birthday? It would be the best!”
“Oh, Honey, I don’t know…”
“Please? Here, read about it. Doesn’t that sound so cool?” Kia gushed as she handed her mom the newspaper ad.
She considered. “Well, it sounds okay… You can call your friends about it.”
“YES!”

December 7
Kia opened the door and welcomed Lily inside. “Hi! I’m so glad you could come. We’ve reserved the Amazon Rainforest Room for the sleepover. Also, we can go on a virtual hike, or we could go do something else in the mall, if you want.”
“That sounds awesome!” Lily grinned.
A few minutes later, the door bell rang again. “Hi, Rebecca! We’re going to be in the Amazon Rainforest Room for our sleepover, and we can go on a virtual hike, too!”
“OK. Cool!” The friends headed out to the car.

At the Mall
Kia was awed. Inside Out was utterly, unbelievably realistic. You could hardly tell that you were in a room, because the walls were plastered with life-size photographs of the Amazon Rainforest. All the trees were real, living trees. The floor was covered in dirt and leaves, just like it would be if they were really in the rainforest.
“This is…heavenly,” Lily gasped. “How do they do this? It’s amazing!”
“Hey, Kia,” Rebecca said. “Where are we going to be ‘hiking,’ anyway?”
“The Amazon Rainforest, of course.” Kia grinned. “Since we’re camping there, we should hike there, too. That’s what we would do if we were really in the rainforest.”
“Okay, sure, let’s go. But, um, how do we get out?” Rebecca glanced around the room, seeing only rainforest.
“But there has to be an EXIT sign,” Lily said. “It’s required by law!”
Kia gnawed on her fingernail as she looked around the room. Thorough searching finally revealed a green EXIT sign cleverly concealed with leaves. The friends headed out.
“Um, where can we go on our virtual hike?” Rebecca asked a staff member dressed as a jungle explorer.
“Right through the curtain. The hiker over there will show you what to do,” he replied.
Lily, Rebecca, and Kia clattered through strings of bamboo beads into the virtual hike room. Kia chewed on her fingernail. The room was bare except for some screens enclosing various areas of the room. Lily spotted the hiker the explorer had mentioned over by an enclosure marked SAHARA DESERT.
“Okay, we’re from the Amazon Rainforest Room, and we’re going to go on a virtual hike, and that, um, explorer guy, told us to look for you, so, um…” Rebecca trailed off.
“Right this way.” The hiker led them to one of the enclosures. “The three of you will be hiking together,” she said. “Each of you will hike on your own path, but you will see the same scenery. If you become too tired during your hike, you can push the stop button on your wristband, and your path will stop until you push start. Time spent resting will count as part of your total hiking time. You have a 2-hour hike. As soon as you are ready, push the start button—that’s the green one. I’ll start the video and audio. I hope you enjoy your hike!”
Video of the Amazon Rainforest began to play on the screen surrounding the friends, and jungle sounds swirled out of concealed speakers. “Okay, let’s start,” Rebecca said.
Kia pressed the button and her path began to move. She gasped in amazement. This was almost like a real hike! The treadmill wasn’t just a flat surface; it was uneven, with rocks and sticks, just like a real trail. It even tilted to show hills and valleys that the trail passed through. “Look! A toucan!” she exclaimed, pointing at the virtual creature on-screen.
“Is that a leopard?!” Rebecca gasped and jerked away. The large, spotted cat was only a few feet away from them!
“No, it must be a jaguar,” said Lily. “Leopards don’t live around here.”
“Either way, I’m glad it’s only a video. That thing looks really dangerous!”
The friends continued walking, gazing at the foliage and wildlife flowing by. The two hours seemed very short to Kia, but she was looking forward to sleeping in the Amazon Rainforest.
Back in their room, the friends unrolled their sleeping bags and lay down. “This is so exciting!” Lily exclaimed. “I’ve never been camping before. Although, I guess, this doesn’t exactly count. It’s not buggy and unpredictable like the real rainforest.”
It was sunset now. Soon, dots of light began to appear in the night sky. The room was dark, but the moon and stars lit it enough that Rebecca, Lily, and Kia could see. Bird calls and rustling wind floated through the room. So did a strange gurgling sound.
Sprinklers overhead opened up and water gushed out. “It’s raining!” Rebecca yelled. The rainforest was living up to its name.
Abruptly, the birds and the wind fell silent. The room snapped into blackness. But the water continued to flood down.
“AAAAAAAAAUGH!” Kia shrieked.
“Of all the times to have a power outage!” Lily groaned.




Word Count: 1161