Prologue
Welcome to Gem Ridge.
“Lo, traveler.”
I’ve read those words a hundred times, but I have never—once—heard them spoken so clearly. Despite my countless attempts to vividly dream of my beloved cozy farming sim,Vale of Gems, my brain has remained an uncooperative creature heckishly bent on my destruction.
Groggy, I squint up at much too unpixelated eyes.
The strikingly attractive man smiles as light generates a halo around his long blond hair. “Good morning, sunshine.”
It is entirely possible I blink one eye fully before I blink the other.
The man—who looks deceptively similar to Lord Lazul from my game in a hyper-realistic fan art kinda way—chuckles. “Can you stand?” He peers sidelong out of the glade I seem to be sprawled in and sets a hand at his chin. “I’m uncertain whether I can carry you to Peri by myself, but I’m hesitant to leave you alone and fetch her.”
Peri.
I know that name.
I know that name just as well as I know these words.
When this man snaps his fingers, my lips move soundlessly alongside his as he says, “I know. Even if you can’t stand, I’ll feel better leaving you alone momentarily if you remember your name.”
This is when the text box for character creation appears.
Except, this time, it doesn’t.
Mouth dry, head aching, I fight through the vertigo and say the name I gave the character in my favoriteVale of Gemsplaythrough, “Citrus.”
This Lord Lazul lookalike does not sparkle and sayAh, what a beautiful name!like he’s supposed to when you’re done creating your character and proceed to the next cutscene. Instead, he tilts his head, causing the waterfall of his blond hair to slip across his smooth cheek. “Citrine?”
Unstable, I sit up, feel the presence of a light backpack strapped to me, and murmur, “No. Citrus. Like…the fruits?”
“How unusual.” He clears his throat. “Or…unique. I meant to sayunique.”
Um. Yeah. I bet you did, you lousy politician.
His smile blinds me, and I discover I’m wearing glasses when I bump into round frames after lifting a hand to shield my eyes. I do normally wear glasses, of course—horrible, black, blocky things that are heavy and were cheap at Walmart for a lass without health insurance—but these aren’tmyglasses. They must be the cute, round ones I gave to Citrus when I made her many moons ago.
Lazul returns to his script, laying a hand against his elegant suit coat. “I am Lazul, lord and benevolent overseer of Gem Ridge. Do you remember what brings you this way?”
I remember the in-game options afforded me at this juncture.
It’s a little fuzzy…orFate seemed to be calling me here.
I say, “Not…really. I thought I was going to work.”
Walking to work. In hundred degree weather.
Because my car is in the shop.
Again.
The only reason I even bother trucking my way through the horrid Florida summer to mysomehowmore horrid Florida fast food job is because I require access to electricity.
So I can playVale of Gems.
CallingVale of Gemsmy “sole reason to live” at this point sounds dramatic, but drama never made anything less true.
