Virtual Reality and the Heat of the Moment

Virtual Papi

Ines Mendoza

The headset settled over her eyes, a silent promise of a world I could not enter. At first, there was only a quiet curiosity in the way she held her body, a slight tilt of her head. Then, a soft gasp escaped her lips, a sound that seemed to hang in the air between us. Her shoulders relaxed, then tensed, as her hands rose, fingers tracing invisible shapes in the empty space before her. A flush crept up her neck, painting her skin with a warm, rosy hue as her breathing shallowed into quick, soft sighs. She leaned forward, as if drawn by an unseen force, her entire being focused on a reality only she could perceive. A low, helpless whimper escaped her, a sound of pure, unguarded feeling that made my own heart clench. Her back arched slowly, a delicate curve of surrender to the digital phantom she embraced. When she finally pulled the headset away, her eyes were glazed with unshed tears, wide with a vulnerability that left her, and me, utterly breathless. In that charged silence, the air itself felt different, thick with the ghost of sensations I could only imagine.