A New Horizon

“I’m not quite sure if this is where I want to be.”, Rose thinks as she slowly opens the door.

She feels the weight of the door knob in her hand. It is simultaneously heavy and light. Once she feels the door knob move as much as it can she begins the push the door. With a little effort the door begins to open with a creak.

She stands there and sighs.

“You’re already here, Rose. You have to go the rest of the way. There’s no turning back now.”, she continues to think, her head resting against the door.

As she opens the door, she sucks in some air. She holds her breath as she takes in the scene.

It’s a beautiful day out today. The sun is shining down on a beautifully verdant field. It is green as far as the eye can see. If she didn’t know any better she would assume that she was in another country. This is the most beautiful holographic representation of an actual field that she’s seen. It’s so realistic that she can feel the country breeze on her skin.

She exhales.

“Wow.”, she says, “How did you manage to make something so life-like, so…”

She pauses as she searches the catalog of her brain to capture the correct word.

She frowns when she fails.

“…So amazingly real?”, she finishes.

“I won’t lie, it took hundred to thousands of hours to get it right.”, says James as he appears next to her, “There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears. We had to test and re-test until we got it right.”

“I’ll say this,” Rose starts, “Color me impressed.”

She puts her hands on her hips. She continues to take in the richness of the scene in front of her.

“This might really make a difference to those who can’t actually go out and see the countryside… “, she continues, “Or to give those who live far from a beach an idea of what one really is. The applications for this are endless.”

James puts an arm around her shoulders.

“I know.”, he states, “It’ll be like a holographic time capsule. Once these real spaces no longer exist, people can come here or have one of their own and experience it anytime.”

Rose nods. She takes a step forward and can hear and feel the crunch or grass under foot. It’s so realistic, even down to the smell. Her senses are overwhelmed.

She takes a step forward and continues to walk into the room.

“This really is amazing.”, she says.

She sits down in the grass. She can feel its softness beneath her. She can feel the blades caress and tickle her legs.

“James, this is wonderful.”, she says as she lies back.

The grass tickles her face as she sees James standing over her, looking out at the horizon.

“Yes, it is.”, he says.