...New Game...

They had abandoned me on the island. Alone. I wasn't sure, exactly, who "they" were but I knew I wasn't the one that paddled out to the middle of nowhere so it must've been "them". I also suspected they'd beaned me over the head before deserting me since my head felt huge and my vision was off.

Everything looked like blocks.

The ground was made of squares of dirt and grass. The island's one mountain was built of gray cubes, even the sun and clouds were made with equilateral sides.

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto," I murmured. A strange looking fowl waddled over and looked at me. "Sheesh, I don't even have a dog to hang out with in this strange place," I complained, staring back at the duck-chicken. "Just you." I reached out to pat the bird but my hands seemed to have a mind of their own. With one punch, the chickuck squawked and flopped over. Its body disappeared and a plucked carcass appeared—floating in the air. I slowly backed away from the eerie sight and then hid behind a tree as a boxy looking wolf trotted over the hill.

The light seemed to be fading. I frowned and glanced at the sky to see the bright yellow sun setting at an unnatural speed.

"What the heck? It was morning just ten minutes ago!" I would have checked my smartphone or even a wristwatch to check the timing, but I didn't appear to have either item on my person. Instead, as I searched for a pocket of some kind, I discovered a strange backpack with thirty-six slots. All empty.

With a shrug I closed the backpack and then jumped at a strange clinking sound nearby. I squinted into the darkness and flinched as an arrow whizzed by my head, striking the tree I was hiding next to.

"Don't shoot!" I yelled, ducking down as another arrow impaled the tree. Crawling on hands and knees, I found a blocky hill to squat behind. I peeked around the natural shield and nearly dropped my jaw. A skeleton was marching toward me, bow raised and arrow nocked. It's head swiveled as it noticed me. I felt trapped in its empty gaze as yet another arrow flew. Jerking back, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's just a dream, Alex! Just a dream..."

A moan came from above the hill and with dread rising in my gut, I opened my eyes and looked up. A zombie stood over me, it's green face glaring with hatred. With one swift move it hit me in the face. I felt as though a piece of my heart had been knocked out of place as I flew back into a tree. Another groan came from my left. Holding my aching face, I did the only thing any sane person would do.

I ran.

The trees seemed to blur together as I blindly ran in the dark, through the forest, until I finally tripped and landed on my stomach. I blinked as I gazed down into a massive hole in the ground. It must have been several feet wide and thousands of feet deep.

I couldn't help it. I screamed. Fighting back vertigo, I scooted as far away from the hole as I could and as I did so, I accidentally punched the ground.

A block of dirt leapt up and into the air, leaving a small square hole behind it. A niggling thought worked its way into my mind. With a tentative punch I knocked loose the block next to the first, noting that as I moved forward, the first block disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" I whispered. A clink from behind sent my heart racing. "Figure it out later, Alex," I told myself. Frantic now, I punched another block and then another until I had carved out a shallow hole in the ground. I jumped in and then smacked myself in the head.

"It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel, Alex. And you're the fish!" I threw up my hands in exasperation and a block of dirt flew from my grasp. As I stared wide-eyed with wonder, it attached itself to a spot above me, creating a partial roof.

"How...how did that happen?" I bit my lip and threw my hand out again. Another block was flung forward and attached to its mate. A couple more well-aimed throws and I had a complete roof over my head. I was safe.

I was also stuck standing in pitch dark.

A rattling and clinking came from over my head. I pressed my back against a dirt block and eyed the roof, holding my breath as I prayed the ceiling stayed in place. As I waited, I realized the skeleton sensed I was near but couldn't find me.

Ditto for the zombies.

I must have drifted off as I leaned against the dirt wall in my underground tomb. Next thing I knew, there was the strange sound of bones shaking and I could have sworn the zombies were moaning, "Ouch!" over and over again.

"Take a quick peek, Alex. You can always stick the roof on again if you need to..."

I punched a slot out of the roof and lifted myself up so I could look around. Daylight had returned and my enemy, the skeleton, was covered in flames. I glanced around, wondering where the fire had come from as the creature poofed out of existence, leaving behind a bow and one parched, white bone. Taking a deep breath, I hefted myself out of my hidey-hole and crept towards the skeleton's remains. As I neared the bone and bow they lurched toward my body and vanished. I jerked back in surprise, wondering if I would eventually have a heart attack from all the unexpected happenings, and then noticed a slight weight increase from my backpack. Pulling open the backpack I found a miniature bow and a tiny bone, each in their own pocket. I touched the bow and it leapt into my hand, full sized. With another quick move, I placed the bow back in its slot.

"Whatever this place is, it sure has some amazing scientific laws..." I knew if I tried to figure out the why's of the "magic backpack" I could very well go insane. Instead, I decided to accept the way things worked as the gift it was. After all, anything that worked in my favor and helped me to escape this bizarre world of zombies and skeletons and square everythings would be a boon.

And rest assured, I would escape.

"This world is not my home. I know it's not...I can feel it in my bones," I glanced where the skeleton had been burned to death and grimaced. "No matter what it takes, I'm getting out of here." I vowed, lifting my chin with stubborn determination.

Glancing around I decided the best thing to do was to use the sun as my guide and keep walking straight. If I could find a town then I could find people. And if I found people, I could get help.

"Here goes nothing," I murmured. Pointing my nose toward the sun, I started walking.

The trees seemed to thicken as I passed through them. Every now and again I would see a wolf or two poke a blocky head out from behind a tree. Once I paused to watch as a pack of wolves took down a square-shaped, black and white cow. After making the kill they abandoned the floating chunk of beef and raced off to catch a sheep. I took the opportunity to grab the meat and stick it in one of my pouches. Eventually I'd get hungry and the cow would provide sustenance. That is, if I could figure out how to cook it.

Eventually the trees became more sparse until I came to a giant, blue lake. I squealed with joy when I saw a village across the water. I stuck a foot in the lake, expecting to feel cold and wet but besides having to push through the liquid, it didn't seem to affect my body.

Bold, now, I slogged forward. The ground beneath the water sparkled with yellow sand and strange, square rocks with black or gold flecks in them. Distracted by the different colors, I came across a deep spot and was immediately pulled down. Bubbles escaped my mouth as I kicked back to the surface.

"Well, now I know we can't survive underwater," I told myself, spitting out water. I shook my head, spraying water droplets, before swimming the rest of the way across. I jumped to shore expecting my clothes to be water-logged but I was perfectly dry. Again, the physics of the world completely flew in the face of everything I thought I knew.

I ran to the village, eager to see another smiling face.

"Huh?" a man with a giant shnoz and a green shirt cocked his head as he inspected me. What looked like his twin, only dressed in white, shuffled up next to him. Both had their arms crossed over their chests.

"Huh?" Twin B repeated.

"I'm so glad I found you!" I shouted before remembering my manners and lowering my voice. "My name is Alex and I have no idea how I got here but I spent the night in a hole and a skeleton shot at me three times and..." I trailed off as another villager drew close.

"Huh?"

"And, um, I was hoping to find some help..."

"Huh?" another villager, dressed in purple, nodded at me before jumping up to a ledge where a garden of wheat-like plants grew. He mowed the wheat down without uncrossing his arms, an impressive feat.

"So..." I found myself getting more and more quiet as I took in the scene. Besides the different colored clothing, the villagers all looked like duplicates of each other. "What's the, uh, name of this town?"

"Huh?" the green-clad villager turned and walked into a house, shutting the door behind him.

"Great," I grumbled, "I finally find a town with real people instead of scary creatures and they don't speak my language!"

"They don't, but I do."

I whirled to find a man dressed in some kind of metal armor.

"The name's Steve," he said, smiling. "Let me guess, you're new here?"

My tongue felt too tied up to speak. I nodded, resisting the urge to hug him. He probably already thought I was a weirdo, trying to talk to people who couldn't understand me. I didn't need to confirm the suspicion.

"Welcome to Minecraft," Steve said. "If you'd like, I can show you around and help you get started."

"Started?" I blinked, confused. "Started with what?"

"Started with your adventure! There's so much to do here. You can build a house and start a farm or collect materials to make weapons and fight the mobs that come out at night. You can mine through the whole world or build a tower to the sky. Personally," he leaned closer as if confiding a great secret, "I've chosen to hang out here with the villagers. I've been improving their homes and working on putting in a fence and lighting to keep out the bad guys. Without someone to protect them, they tend to die out pretty fast."

"Uh, huh..." I gulped, feeling completely lost. "I was actually hoping you could tell me how to escape from this place..."

Steve shook his head, "I'm sorry, Alex, but nobody escapes from Minecraft."

"You mean, I'm trapped? Forever?" I stepped backwards, feeling dizzy. The sun was setting again. Steve reached forward and urged me toward one of the buildings.

"Come on inside," he said gently, "I'll tell you everything I know about this place. You can stay as long as you want. Heck, maybe we'll even become best friends!"

"I doubt it," I mumbled, but I followed him just the same. I ignored Steve's ramblings as darkness covered the world and the stars flickered into being. The moon rose and I plotted my next move. Steve's goal might have been to help the villagers survive but I knew what my quest would be: escape.