Virtual reality

For the first time in sixteen months, there are writers in this room. I don’t remember the last time we were here. It all happened so quickly. There was no alarm, no evacuation procedure. Just one day we were here and the next we were in our separate rooms, grappling with this monster called Zoom.

Two of our group are on Zoom today too while the rest of us sit around the table. They beam in on my laptop and we beam back at them. Is this the new normal? Some kind of hybrid of the virtual and real. Who even knows anymore what normal is? Or who is in control of reality?

On the page, the lines are always blurred. We create a new reality with pen and paper. We’re magicians bringing things to life, like the little pig who is doing yoga on the table in front of me or the Jane Eyre mug that holds my tea. Jane Eyre could be in this room with just the flick of the pen. Or Charlotte Bronte herself might be summoned from the grave. Perhaps she too could join us via Zoom. Anything’s possible in this room.