VR Memories
Written by Chris Zeid
Elise sat at their wooden kitchen table, a table which had seen decades of lively and joyful memories and still felt as wonderful as the day they had bought it. She could still remember that day as if it hadn’t been over fifty years ago. Now in her 90’s, she had seen a myriad of life. She couldn’t stop herself from wondering how time had moved so quickly from the moment her and her then new husband, Ethan, had bought the table. For all of those years, life had felt so alive, so wonderous, so never-ending. Yet here she was in the year 2081, 92 years old, and sitting at her old kitchen table about to celebrate its 53rd birthday.
She sighed as she took in a sip of coffee then sat the mug down on one of her coasters which bore little illustrations of cats and dogs falling from the sky—a little joke between her and Ethan. They always thought that phrase, “It’s raining like cats and dogs,” was so silly and hilarious. How that had even come up between them, she couldn’t remember, it was just one of those things that happens between lovers. When they saw those coasters in a little gift shop visiting New York for vacation one year, they had to have them. And they’d now used them almost every day since.
The glasses sat comfortably next to her mug of hot black coffee. She remembered how bulky these things were back when they first came out. Now, though, they were synonymous with reading glasses from her grandmother’s generation. Oh, and they came in so many colors to choose from. Everything had so many choices, too many actually. Red, blue, green, yellow, orange, white, black, magenta, cobalt, sage, mustard, honey, ivory, ebony, and on and on and on and on. It was great to have choices, but sometimes there was a point where enough was enough. To her, it started to devalue those options, because people either felt overwhelmed or too beholden to their choice. Despite her thoughts, she had her ebony colored pair of digital glasses, a color she chose and was happy to do so. Ethan’s was silver. “Give me the default color,” he had said when they were ordering theirs so many years ago.
“You like silver, babe”, she replied.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter, I just want one that works.”
“I bet you’ll enjoy it more if it’s a color you like.”
“Yeah... alright.”
And of course, when he got his, he was happy she talked him into going with silver. Their relationship worked a lot like that. She always would push him, and he’d always be happier for it. She missed those younger days. E & E, that’s what they called themselves; so many wonderful times. Sadly, it was hard these days to enjoy those memories. They couldn’t just wake up on a random weekend morning and go out to the latest brunch spot, or see a fun movie, or do something that was spontaneous. But maybe she could find joy in them again by a revisit. Maybe this new app she was about to experience really could do what it said. And maybe it actually would be the key to helping Ethan.
Virtual Reality had been around for a long time, and it had changed many things in everyday life. Now, however, it looked to be changing another. The app was called VR Memories, and it was finally available to everyone. She had heard about it on the news and to be honest, was skeptical if it would work in the way it was advertised. Why not give it the good ole’ try, though?
The app had been installing as she eagerly awaited while drinking her coffee. It was now at 87 percent complete. She watched the number move in anticipation. 88, 89, 90, 91, 92…
Then it finished. 100 percent!
She could feel her heart slowly beating quicker. Drumroll, please. Now finger slightly steady but with a miss it if you blink waver, she tapped the Open button on the screen of the right lens. Immediately both lenses transitioned into an obscured image, ready for its user to put the glasses on to see the full imagery. Elise slipped them over her old, wrinkly face. The menu screen before her showed glowing white text against a simple black background and said VR Memories: Please input your information to begin your personalized experience. Tap Next to begin. Accompanied by the text was a light, relaxing piano piece of high notes that soothed her.
Using her index finger, which was replicated in her virtual world as a tracked image—her hand moving as she moved—she tapped Next. The following screen asked if this experience was in relation to one individual or more. She selected more, which gave her the option to enter more than just her own information. For the next ten minutes, she put in data on her and her husband for the questions that were asked. After tapping submit, the screen faded away. A box popped up which said, Now Installing Elise & Ethan’s Memories. Please Give Us A Moment. Precious Memories Take Precious Time To Re-Create. The words pulsated with a status bar below as the memories were installed.
It only took another five minutes before another box popped up. This one asked if today’s experience was for Elise or Ethan. She selected her name and then the piano music changed into a very familiar song: Hey There, I Missed You by Johnny Latern. It was one of her and Ethan’s songs. They weren’t the type to have only one, they had dozens. She hoped after the song was over, the app would continue to play others.
A box on the screen loaded up with several thumbnailed images. Below each image was a date and a short description of that memory. All of the memories were in the order of her relationship with Ethan. The first thumbnailed image showed her and Ethan talking to one another with the backdrop of the music venue they met at and below the image was the statement: 2012: Elise & Ethan’s First Encounter. She could remember that moment as if it had occurred only moments ago. It had happened at a show her friend had asked her to come to with her. It’s funny to think that if her friend hadn’t had her date cancel on her she never would have gone, and Ethan would have never been in her life had she not been there. But of course, sometimes life happens when we weren’t expecting it.
They bumped into one another in the beer line. He had just bought his draft and was waiting outside of the line checking something on his cell phone when it was her turn to order. It turned out he had purchased the last draft for the beer she wanted. Hearing this from the bartender, he offered his drink to her and it went from there. Later she would find out he had seen her while in line beside himself with how beautiful she was. The only reason he had waited outside the line was to figure out a way to strike up some type of conversation. Seeing she wanted the same beer he had and that he had just happened to have bought the last one, he realized he found his ticket to her. Things sparked between them from that moment and her life was never the same. Elise yearned to be there again and pondered whether this would be the first memory she would re-experience. She could stay in this virtual world reliving all her memories with Ethan forever, and it sure made since to start from the beginning.
Placing that one as a maybe, she began skimming through the set of thumbnails which appeared to be never-ending. There were thousands of memories, so many options to choose from her life with Ethan that she wanted to go back into. Each time she would read the subtitle below the image, a butterfly would flutter around her heart, her reliving that memory in her mind. She could feel tears dropping from her eyes, wetting her face, which she wiped away. She scrolled quickly to the bottom of the list merely to see how far the memories went discovering the choices were up until only yesterday. Those were the memories she didn’t and couldn’t redo.
After a little thinking, Elise decided she wanted to relive the moment on their wedding day when Ethan came to see her before the wedding was set to begin. That man was never capable of being without her for too long and she loved that. She moved through the memories and found it. The memory stated: 2017: Ethan Stopping by Elise’s Room on Their Wedding Day. The image above of her in her wedding dress moving to kiss Ethan; his eyes closed while hers open. Seeing the image, she couldn’t help but rub her thumb against her wedding ring. Elise noticed that for the bigger memories like their wedding, several memories were broken down to specific moments.
She felt a jolt of anticipation run through her body. With excitement of what this would be like—most of her dubious it would or could truly bring her back there—she tapped the image and the screen faded to black along with the music fading away.
She continued in darkness for just enough time to wonder when her memory would begin when all of a sudden, she heard a knock from behind her. She spun around now realizing she was in the bridal room at Caraway House, the beautiful historic mansion that had been their wedding venue. The smell of fresh cut roses took over mixed in with a burning candle which smelled of a well-cared for garden. 92-Year-Old Elise smiled; the smell taking her back into that day instantly. The bridal room felt relaxing and beautiful and she could barely contain her excitement to see Ethan and get married!
Her two bridesmaids, Jennifer & Kristina sat to each side of her as they put on their makeup. She remembered their disappointment when she told them she was not hiring someone to do their makeup for the wedding. She wanted it to be more natural and also felt it would be better not having a stranger in there as she mentally prepared for this pivotal moment in her life. The virtual experience felt so incredibly real that it fooled her senses into forgetting she was a 92-year-old woman wearing a pair of glasses which did not see out into the real world.
Elise was back on her wedding day.
Young Elise began walking toward the door, wondering who it might be questioning to be let in. To her surprise, she found Ethan standing with his eyes tightly shut and looking so handsome in his black suit and silver tie.
“Hey you… What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“It’s been all morning, and I haven’t seen you. I missed you, I just wanted to come be with you for a moment and give you a kiss before we tie it.”
She let out a happy laugh. “I love you so much.” She reached in toward him, their faces touching in a sensual love, and kissed his lips with him returning a kiss to her. 92-year-old Elise could feel the taste of his mouth and the softness of his cheeks—it was marvelous. And too short. Her younger version pulled back from her handsome fiancé.
“Ok, not too much mister. I’ll see you soon.”
He smiled. “Ok almost-no-longer-fiancé. See you soon. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
As he walked away, her 92-year-old-self wanted to scream at him to stay. Her younger self turned around and closed the door returning back to her bridesmaids as she continued getting ready for her big day. Then the screen faded to black after which it faded back into her menu of memory selections along with the music picking back up where it left off. It’s always been that day that brought me to you, my bae, the song went on.
If one were to walk into the room, they would see an old woman with the glow of youth, the smile of love, and the sadness of yearning for what one does not have.
Back within her menu of selections, Elise pondered the next memory she would select. She was beside herself with how incredible it was being back within that moment again. She had to, no needed to do another one. And then another, and another, but these memories weren’t only for her. No, this was only a test drive. It was almost time to take the glasses to Ethan. She hoped this memory app could do it, that it could help bring her love’s memory back; that she could have him back again. Before giving it a shot, she scrolled through the memories to relive one more.
