Chapter 1

"It was late at night. It must have been

ten o'clock p.m., no later than eleven.

I should have been in bed a long time by then, but there was something different than usual.

I had just finished studying for the written test that I was going to take the next day and, to be honest, I wasn't sleepy.

As I moved the giant stack of papers with the various rules, proportions, and theories, I realized I had made some careless mistakes while taking notes during last time's class. I had never had a particular interest in chemistry, so I did not follow the explanations so willingly and even though the teacher tried to stimulate her students so that they were attracted to her subject to the point of wanting to know more and more, the idea of ​​having to study all the topics included in it did not interest me that much.

On the other hand, I had chosen to attend the scientific high school.

Chemistry was one of the disciplines that I certainly would have studied until the end of the fifth grade, even at the university, maybe I would have even taught it to someone else.

All these ideas did not excite me at all, on the contrary, they contributed to increasing my hatred of a subject that was complicated in itself.

Once back to reality, I took the books back to my folder, then, with a mechanical gesture, turned on the computer on the desk. The blue screen of the device dimly lit up the living room, a place where I usually play video games alone or with my friends once my homework is finished.

I carefully checked the mouse, keyboard, cables, and after about three minutes, the Home screen loaded.

An inscription appeared:

Enter password.

I typed in the various characters that unlocked the system. Another sign appeared.

Welcome.

Once logged in, the desktop background loaded -.

I sighed for a long time. I did not like to tell a story taken from my life, much less an "adventure" if you can define it that way, because I was almost certain that no one would believe it.

Despite this, I was willing to recount my journey in great detail, knowing that it had been a terrible ascent.

I was ready to expose it to the whole world. I had to be sure that I had walked a path, that I had finished it in a certain way, and, fortunately, that I had come out alive. A fairly recent song said: "a long journey changes the spirit" and I too, as the author of the text, was strongly convinced.

I glanced at the tide of people sitting around the stage, forming an audience.

I felt the weight of all their eyes settle on my shoulders and I thought I resembled the supporting element of a building, which without my presence would have collapsed.

I was surrounded by people waiting for me to speak.

I had fascinated them right away, I could sense it from the rigorous way they were seated.

Some prepared questions to ask me at the end of the conference, those who knew perfectly the video game I was talking about, my friends and travel companions sitting in the front row - one of them, unfortunately, had to be absent - and those who continued to listen to me, remaining silent.

I felt like I was an actor in the theater.

The only difference was that I had lived those things, I wasn't acting, taking a cue from a script as many might have thought, I was able to prove it to them and they would soon understand.

I checked the lights, they were all aimed at me.

I casually crossed my right leg over the left and looked at my interlocutor.

He was a young man, in his thirties, sitting with his back slightly arched, limbs that seemed relaxed and he was holding a notebook in his right hand. He had short curly black hair and light eyes, a well-defined face, a kind and friendly expression, typical of those who interview famous people on television.

Even if I didn't know him, it seemed to me that I had already seen him somewhere.

He had introduced himself in a confidential tone as Alberto, and he had told me how, at my age, he was also linked to video games, perhaps to put me at ease.

I didn't even give him time to ask me any questions which I turned back to the audience, continuing to narrate.

- I still can't explain why, but that time the applications didn't open.

I never expected it, after all the game had never given me too many problems.

I restarted the computer, hoping it was just a very trivial connection error.

Suddenly, I heard a shrill noise coming from the stairs, similar to a door opening or an evil laugh a bit like in horror movies.

I was not superstitious, but very intrigued by this; then I got up, carefully checking that none of my brothers were still awake.

I was surprised not to find anyone in the bedrooms.

I also searched the rest of the house, with the same results.

I was left alone.

Which struck me as somewhat strange and, at the same time, impossible: if they had gone somewhere, my parents would have warned me.

But, by the way, where could they have gone at that time of night with my little brothers?

That day, however, they didn't tell me anything and mentally I scolded them for it, wishing it would never happen again.

I sat on the sofa in an attempt to distract myself a little.

The television, which was on, suddenly went out.

I shrugged. I thought about taking a shower, in an attempt to relax.

It's nothing serious, I told myself.

The power will be out.

The computer was still on, so I didn't know ...

A scream of terror echoed through the walls of the house.

The screen went completely white, with a blinding, intense light, and I ended up in a giant vortex.

And then..."

I remembered a few lines written by a friend of mine in her diary:

"And, as far as I seek

to plan things,

it will always be there

something unpredictable,

magnificent or horrible,

already marked

on my path ".

"And what do you remember about the island?" Can it be visited? " someone else hastily asked, seated between the fifth and sixth rows, whom I couldn't make out in the least because of the dark clothes.

That question, that hateful question, had awakened too many unusual memories and I, having become incapable of narrating them for a moment, stood for a moment with my gaze fixed and focused on an asymmetrical point

of the floor, as if in a trance state, but I had to expect it.

I had chosen, of my own free will, to tell what had happened to me.