Until the computer. So when Denise found Worldcraft: World of Cubes, she installed it immediately, and used it frenetically during the weeks that followed her birthday that month.

She built and built in Single Player mode, finger pads tapping the screen, building lackluster houses with limited block selections in worlds that cut off in ungraceful edges of still water and unnaturally tall trees sunken into blood red soil.

It didn’t bring her much joy, due to its limited building freedom, and visuals. Plus, everything looked so ugly compared to Minecraft. Gradually Denise would start to feel annoyed by the sight of the game.

In January of 2018, at fourteen, she stopped playing and the game sunk to the bottom of her app list along with all the other W’s. She seldom even used her computer at that time.

Instead, Denise poured her energy into a new hobby, begging her dad for a cat. She wanted a black cat, and already had a name in mind: Nile, for either a male or female. Denise felt that the name Nile, which meant ‘the river’ was perfect for the cat she’d never have.

Because of course Denise’s father refused the cat idea, and always turned back to his green notebook, grumbling at her to stop disturbing him.

Once seeing that there was no chance in her father, Denise turned to the thought of her mother. Hope had risen in the prospects of Victoriya’s next visit; she would be much easier to ask.

But Victoriya never came that year, leaving Denise to start bringing her silver computer out and awake almost every evening, despite not finding anything interesting within its glassy screen, to look for the last images of her mother in it.

Then she came across the game again that year in March. Denise had half a mind to uninstall it, but she opened the game up again, just to see if there was anything more to the game. If it was as good as it proclaimed it be, then there would be more to the game than just a few dirt blocks. Or building alone as a lone player in a limited space.

And it was true.

There was certainly more than Single Player mode.