The Curious Case of Sarah Valentine



Part 3: Four Weeks & A Heartfelt Goodbye






It had been four weeks since Sarah arrived in Stark’s manor. It had been three weeks since Gina left the manor in the same way that Linda had. Sarah was sitting in the arm chair that Stark had been in when she first saw him in his home. She felt a mix

The Curious Case of Sarah Valentine



Part 2: Beyond Belief






  Sarah awoke with a start. Her head hurt and her eyes ached with that grogginess that one feels after sleeping much longer than a person expects to. She rubbed her eyes to try and get the sleep out of them and couldn’t help but remember the dream she had experienc

The crackling of the warm fire was the only comfort Sarah had on this cold, dark night. She’d been out here for three days, and yesterday she had run out of the last of her food she had taken with her. She hadn’t prepared for a long excursion into the wilds, she had only come out to the local national park to take a hike through the hill path. Instead, she was trapped in a sea of wood and foliage, unable to find her way home. She was pushing the third night since the freak accident t

    

The forest was soft and quiet this evening. The only sound that Cara could hear was the crunch of foliage beneath her feet. The sun was rapidly setting and while she hated to admit it; she was very lost. She had been spending the last few days camping in the woods with her friends, but today she wanted to go exploring. Enjoy the

wide-open

woods by herself; see if she coul

    

IMMERSIVE REALITY technology has made it so that pretty much any dream can become a reality, with a bit of creativity and programming knowhow. Now, anything can be experienced, free of consequence. As you can imagine, those with, shall we say, potentially risky or unusual interests are celebrating. I would say that being eaten alive is about as risky and unusual as it gets.



 

--
Hoarded --
"After
everything we had---could have continued
to have... why
would you do this!?"
His
lidded amber eyes reopened into the low light as he inhaled deep and
let out a long sigh, lifting and lowering the struggling contents of
his swelled gut in the process. Her voice had broken rather
beautifully, like a high note out of tune that just
managed to reach a pitch that was pleasant to the ears.
"Why?"
he echoed with a hint of amusement, tracing his fingers over the

    

YOU MAY be familiar with the phenomenon known as ‘sex tourism,’

where a tourist travels somewhere

solely (or primarily) to engage in sexual relations with either locals or sex workers

in the region

. A similar but different practice has emerged, though it is still

    

THE PERSON sitting across from me had a sense of eagerness about him. Like he truly enjoyed every moment of his life. Perhaps that’s why he’d been chosen by the

Voragian

government to be the face of the planet’s tourism bureau.

He certainly had a way of making you feel comfortable. He shook my hand, introducing himself a

    
The game really
was
immersive, in every sense of the word. Anderson could truly take in the wind in his hair, the smells in the air—hell, he could even
taste food.
It really made romping around on a grand adventure all the more enjoyable. In fact, the game was actually incredibly open-ended. No hand holding here. Sure, there were probably walkthroughs and guides out there, but where