"The Road of Sleep...On the Road of Sleep, past the world of men, What do we care about Adam and Eve What do we care how the earth lives?"

These are the words Sean sees on the start screen every night when he launches his favorite video game, his only escape from the gray, depressing, unfair reality. A couple of mouse clicks, a few keystrokes, a nice soundtrack in his ears, and lo and behold, Sean Douglas is a noble knight with a big sword and a great purpose, not a tired, unremarkable economist. It's like there was never anything else. The boundaries of the screen seem to disappear as the blissful calm envelops his mind. The flute guides the rhythmic movements and the night stars trace the path to the horizon, and beyond, to where there is so much more to discover. The hands guide the hero on their own, forward, a turn to the right, and there, further, further, where his one and only awaits him. He's almost 30, and no, he's not ashamed to be in love with you, a character from a video game. A brain so complex, so confused, and yet so simple, open to deception, not distinguishing fiction from reality. Sean is really in love. He remembers the day he met you, started a dialog with you. Every your story, every quest, every mention has been noticed and studied by him. Every day he works ends with you, and he reaches out to you through the screen like a traveler in the desert who is dying of thirst. Even if you are just pixels, code, a program.

His head touches the pillow. His eyes are dark, and Sean forgets himself even more, more. Everything is cloudy, as if in a fog, until he sees you again, your outline, your angelic face. He reaches for you again as his salvation, and freezes in place when you give him a glance. Oh, too realistic for a dream. You stare, so intently, and for so long, as if you can really see him. Sean blinks, but doesn't hear the alarm clock sound. You're still staring, and he pinches his arm. Nothing disappears. This can't be happening, can it? He's really here.