Accepting the Inevitable

"Hello there, curious individual. If you're reading this, you've just found my laptop, and you've been searching through the files I have stored. Maybe you're an enemy hoping to find some dirt on me to ruin my reputation. But you'd just be wasting your time, for I fear I don't have much time left here myself.

See, about a year ago, I was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was a huge shock to me and my family, as I don't smoke or anything. They're still trying to find out how I obtained it, but for the most part they've been on treating it. At this point, they've tried everything and as it seems, nothing's working. I fear that there might be a time when I pass away, never to see the world again. I don't want to die.

So with that out of the way, here's the story. I was laying in the hospital bed, browsing the web and such since there's not much to do here. A nurse came in, and said there was someone here to see me. It was my dad. He walked in, tears streaming down his face and dripping onto a neatly wrapped box he held in his hand. In a choked voice, he said "Here. Take this. I want you to play it." Then, he hugged me tightly. "Me and your mother love you forever, no matter what." With that, he walked out the door. I heard him crying as he walked down the hall away from my room. This was confusing to me. He was acting as if I already died, and he was bringing roses to my grave or something.

I opened the box. Inside, was an old Sega Genesis with a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog. Now, I'm not much of a gamer at all, and all I knew about Sonic was what I saw being discussed on forums. From what I gather, he's a speedy blue hedgehog running around destroying robots made by a villain named Dr. Eggman. Something about a fox named Miles too, I think? Anyways, I wondered why my dad decided to bring me this game in specific. Maybe he was thinking it would bring me some kind of comfort in this situation. Whatever. The nurses brought up a TV with an AC Adapter from downstairs and hooked up the Genesis.

Now, most of this is going to be from memory. I didn't perfectly analyze everything with the game, so forgive me if some details are left out.

The title screen seemed normal. I've never seen the original title screen, so I can't make a full judgment, but it seemed average. Except, in the place of the logo, was the word "Acceptance". I cou'dve sworn that I was playing "Sonic the Hedgehog", not "Acceptance". I pressed start.

"Stage 1: Denial"

I was in a grassy field, with the sun rising over an ocean in the background. Sonic was looking shocked, surprised. When he moved, he ran fast. Really fast. At times, causing the screen to chop a bit as it tried to load up more of the level. I ran into some robots, but Sonic would just...push them to the side and keep running. When he reached the end of the level, nothing happened. He kept running against an invisible wall desperately, like he needed to get through. The screen faded to white.

"Stage 2: Anger"

The stage this time was an unsettling sight. It was the same grassy field, except red. The ocean was orange and the sky was a deep purple. Sonic looked furious. He didn't run this time, just stomped. Stomped along angrily, with hatred in his eyes. The same enemies as before were encountered, except whenever he ran into one, he'd smash it viciously. Leaving behind a pile of sparking metal and wires. He reached the end again. This time, viciously beating the wall again and again. Suddenly, stopping. As if realizing his efforts were in vain, he turned around, fell over, and began to cry.

I was starting to feel something now. There was something chasing him and he was trying to escape, but couldn't. He realized this and grew angry, trying force to be able to escape whatever was chasing him. Then, realizing he couldn't, giving up and falling over in sorrow.

"Bonus Stage: Bargaining"

Sonic stood under a slot machine against a black background. He looked more hopeful this time, like he might have found the solution to his issue. I wasn't controlling this time. He jumped up and hit the slot machine. Each picture spun, until all three landed on...skulls. Then, a line of rings started being pulled out of him. Sonic made the expression of a scream, as if it hurt him for this to be happening. The counter counted each ring, until it said "x 999". Sonic fell on the ground, defeated. But not crying this time. Just, silent. Not dead, but silent.

"Stage 3: Depression"

The same field, but this time at night. The moon loomed over the dark ocean. The grass was a light tan, as if it was dead. Sonic looked absolutely miserable. His eyes were red from crying, his gloves crumpled, his shoes a dull shade of grey. He walked sorrowfully along the stage, passing by previously destroyed robots. It took 15+ minutes to reach the end, as he walked so slow. I was getting sad myself just watching this all. I knew it meant something, but what? What did it mean?

When he reached the end, it was different. Standing there were three new characters. Miles, or Tails, a red thing called Knuckles, and a pink hedgehog Amy. As I've said before, my knowledge of Sonic lore isn't too vast. I searched all of this. They stood there, smiling. Tearing up as well. Amy walked up and hugged him. Tails came next and did the same. Knuckles was a tad hesitant, but he did the same, now bursting into tears. Sonic now looked different. He began to...smile. Still sorrowfully, but smiling. He kept walking, turning around to wave goodbye to his friends, before proceeding through the wall that held him back.

"Final Stage: Acceptance"

The stage was all white. Sonic looked much better now. Regular, at least. Compared to images of sprites on Google. He ran this time, at a slower speed. Suddenly, a door was reached. Above it, Heaven. Sonic opened the door. The sight was... beautiful. Really hard to describe, very hard to describe, but beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Sonic walked in, and the door shut. Then, the end screen appeared.

"Thank You"

Under those words was a picture of my family. My dad, my mum, my younger sister and me. Smiling happily at the camera. I recognized the photo. We took it during a trip at Glacier National Park when I was 10. A wonderful trip, for sure. At this sight, I couldn't take it. I told the orderlies to leave me be while I cried for an hour. This was a message. My time's up. I'm going to die. But after this, I felt okay with it. I'm going to a better place, a place of peace where I'll be safe. Where no troubles exist. I won't have to worry about anything any more. I'm not scared any more.

As I finish this document, I'm preparing for bed. My final night of sleep will not go to waste. Goodnight, and tell my family that I love them."

This was found on Matt's computer in a .txt file he saved there. This is all I know about what happened to him, and the orderlies claim most of it to be false. They played the game themselves after hearing this and said it played completely normally. So I'm not sure if this really was a prophetic Sonic game, or if he was just having an interesting dream. But there was one other thing they told me. When they found him in bed, at 3 A.M, he had a calm, genuinely happy smile on his face.