As a child, you had quite a knack for discovering the extra lives that were hidden throughout virtual worlds. You always knew which waterfalls to look behind, which walls to reach through, and even what pottery to break- yet for some reason, you never found the ones that we left behind specifically for you.
The first life was hidden atop the water tower next to your elementary school’s playground. We soaked it in bright blue pixels so that you could see it clearly from the highest point on the swing. We heard that was your favorite color, too. Sadly, you never noticed, and it has long since been pecked apart by seagulls.
The second was hidden in a cave just off the trail during your family’s vacation to Niagara Falls. Save for the sapphire glow, it looked exactly like your face- some of our best work. Some other kid found it shortly after you left, however, and he wore your identity as he leapt from the falls laughing. Quite a waste, if you ask us.
There were others as you got older; one was barricaded in an airplane lavatory, another was covered in dust under your first lover’s bed- but your curiosity had long since waned. You stopped paying attention to the details of your own world, for your focus had been conquered by a cell phone’s stale glow.
Even so, we haven’t given up on you just yet. Search your surroundings carefully, for there’s another one somewhere close by.