Grace

There was a 9 year old little girl named Grace who led a happy carefree life together with her loving daddy and mommy. One morning, she woke up and finds that something is a little... different. The room seems a little quiet. Too quiet. As if all the sounds had been sucked out of the world. Feeling a little perplex, Grace got out of her bed and walked towards the door.

When Grace opens the door, she saw that all the lights in the living room were on, she walked to her parents bedroom to look for her mommy and daddy, but saw no one there. She thought this was strange because this is Sunday and her parents never work on a Sunday. So she thought her parents were hiding from her, she started to open one-by-one all the doors in the apartment to see if her parents could be hiding behind them; but still she cannot find them. At this point the only door she has not opened yet is the front door of the apartment.

She tried to open the door. It was locked. The lights flickered. The familiar living room now seems eerie to Grace, even though it was a bright sunny morning, What is going on? She thought. At this moment, the TV suddenly came to life. Grace walked towards the TV wearily. The screen was showing her exact same living room from a corner, and it was at night. There was a girl in the living room but Grace can't see her clearly. Then the TV camera zoomed in slowly on the girl. To Grace's surprise, the girl was Grace herself. And she was smiling at Grace.

"Hello Grace!" The little girl in the TV said to her with a big smile. Grace was stunned but also curious at the same time at what the girl is going to say next. "I am Grace91865, please do not be afraid. I am an animation, controlled by artificial intelligence" "Now you are alone in this apartment and my job is to guide you through your next 3 days. your parents like all other adults in this town have been infected with a disease that kids age 16 and below seem to be immune to. In 3 days, somebody will pick you up and take care of you...

Grace woke up with a start. It was so strange for her. Am I even capable of doing this? She thought. Grace walked out of her room and her house. It was a Sunday morning, but it was quiet... very quiet. The Sun was completely hidden by a depressing grayish haze. No one else could be seen on the streets, as far as the little Grace could see. Not even a single animal.

However, Grace was very used to this, though. She had seen the same scene everyday for the past 500 years.

But for the first time in 500 years, something different happened to her. Is this what they called...a dream? Who was that little girl that is identical to her?

Grace91865 sat down on the bench in her porch, looked up at the gloomy, hazy sky... and wondered.

- Written by Jiefeng & Clara