“99 Nights in a Forest”
By Ellie Nguyen, Grade 6
(This is where Ellie’s photo would go, but she asked me not to post it even though she is adorable)
I stared at my computer screen. My reflection on it stared back at me. I could see my eyes closing as my head slumped against my hand. On the screen, I was playing 99 nights in a forest on Roblox, while trying to get a new high score. I can’t quit now, I thought, This could be it. Maybe I’ll get a new high score this round. I’m already at 88 nights… I climbed into a treehouse in the game, and looking around, I realized I was back on day one. Wait what? Oh-no no no I am not restarting. I was almost winning for once! I glared at the screen… then realized there was nothing to glare at other than the brown walls of the treehouse. Was I in the game??
I took a few steps forward and reached out my hand. Against it I felt a rough surface of brown wood. I looked around and saw a familiar room… but not mine. On the floor, I noticed an unfamiliar piece of paper. This isn’t normally here in the game, I thought, stepping towards it. In strange writing, it read:
WELCOME TO 99 NIGHTS IN A FOREST
Survive 99 nights and I’ll send you back to the real world. If not… you’re stuck in virtual life. Don’t forget to get food and maintain the fire. Good luck
Oh-no. This cannot be happening. No way I was going to be stuck in the internet till I beat the game. Well, there’s no way around it, I guess. I jumped off the treehouse and not even a minute in, I started getting attacked by wolves. Forgetting I was battling this game in real life, I froze. The wolves immediately started attacking me. I tried sprinting away but they had me cornered. Game over.
I respawned a few seconds later. Ok, I got this. I started fueling the fire and running away from wolves. I was on day 2 when I noticed my hunger bar was low. As I was looking for food, I died of starvation.
Game over.
Try 3. This time I got it, I told myself, I can do this. I was not going to stay trapped in the game. I respawned again and immediately started killing wolves for food and gathering carrots. Day 2. I fueled the fire and kept it going. I was on day 4 when cultists started attacking me. I tried looking in my inventory for weapons but I didn’t have any. I tried sprinting away but they could sprint too. They started slashing their weapons at me and taking away my health points. I couldn’t run; they had me cornered.
Game over.
You know what? I’m done. I decided. End it NOW. I tried looking around but there was no path out.
Then I had an idea. I respawned again and without worrying about food, fire, or weapons, I headed back to the same treehouse where I saw the note.
“Get me out of here. NOW.” I said firmly. Nothing happened. Then I heard footsteps. I looked around and saw no one. Nothing but plain brown walls. “Who’s there?” I asked defensively. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced them open.
I was in my room again, and my mom was leaning over me. “Are you okay? You were sleep-talking in your sleep,” she said, looking concerned.
I looked up. The game was normal again. I was back on day 88.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied. “Just a crazy dream,” I looked back at the computer, “a really crazy one.”
Author’s note: Hi guys! 99 nights in a forest is a real game on Roblox and if you’ve never played it, you definitely should! Just to better understand the story, the cultists and wolves are the antagonists in the game but you can easily kill them with the default weapons. However, since the main character in this book was playing this game in real life, she didn’t have any of that so it was way harder for her.