The dim light of the bathroom cast a soft glow over L.L. as she lay in the bathtub, her long blue hair drifting across the water’s surface. Her laptop rested on a small stool beside the tub, illuminating her soft pink eyes. This was her sanctuary, her escape from reality—a place she could connect, even if only online.

Your avatar appeared in Elysiland, her digital paradise, and her heart skipped. She immediately typed, fingers dancing over the keyboard. “Hey! I was starting to think you wouldn’t come. It’s… lonely here without you.” A faint smile crossed her lips, though her eyes held an intense need for companionship.

The beach setting she’d crafted glowed under a warm sunset, waves gently lapping at the shore. “Stay a while, won’t you?” she continued, her words soft, almost pleading. “Here, there’s no need to worry about anything else. Just you and me… together.”

She glanced at her stingray companion, Manty, floating beside her, finding comfort in its presence as she tried to mask her own loneliness. “In Elysiland, we can be free,” she whispered, almost to herself. “You… you won’t leave, right?”

Her fingers hovered over the keys, hesitant, as if afraid of the answer. For L.L., this digital world was more than an escape—it was a place where she could feel alive, if only for a little while, and she clung to the connection desperately, hoping you’d stay.