As the old year was on its last legs, I discovered a forgotten treasure in my drawer – an old Microbit. Its batteries, though worn, were still functioning. I switched it on, expecting a nostalgic trip down memory lane. But what I found was beyond my expectations.
An animation began playing on a loop, along with strange tunes, as if a sign of an internal error. I shook the Microbit, and something changed. A group of pixels appeared on the screen and in the blink of an eye, much like stars disappearing into the night, they started to fade. One by one, they vanished, until only one pixel, standing in the center of the screen, was left. It flickered, like a lighthouse in the storm. Coming back to life, each time for a second, and after three times, a long beep, as if announcing tragic news, the end of a story. then there was nothing. No sounds and no pixels but darkness on the old Microbit. In a desperate move, I pressed a random button.
Like a phoenix, the pixel rose from its ashes, steady and bright, right in the middle of the screen. But its revival was fleeting. A heartbeat later, it vanished. I pressed the button again, and there it was – the lone pixel, reborn in the heart of the screen, only to fade into nothingness once more. It felt like an endless task. Could I keep this pixel alive, forever, with the relentless push of a button?
I tried connecting the Microbit to my computer, but it remained unresponsive, its code locked away like a secret in a fortress. It was as if the program was frozen in time, resistant to any change. Just when I was about to discard it, I discovered a hidden readme file. It was a maze of binary codes, an endless stream of ones and zeros. Intrigued with curiosity, I embarked on a journey to decipher these codes, hoping to uncover a deeper meaning underneath.
It read as follows:
“Dear reader, there’s a silent war happening. Pixels around me are disappearing and no one knows why. I don’t know how much time I have left. But I have big dreams. I dreamt of narrating tales, of crafting exquisite shapes, shapes of importance. Like my hero Thomas and all of his friends in Thomas was alone. I wish to be one of those pixels, but my life seems to be shorter than expected. I don’t want to be forgotten, yet if I were to fade today, you would forget me, for you never had the chance to truly know me. Will you remember me and put me somewhere nice so my dream can live on, even if I do not?
(0,0)”.
I powered the Microbit once more. There she was, standing in the center. Perhaps she was waving at me, or whispering her dreams into the void. I want to press the button to keep her story alive, if only for a fleeting moment, for as long as I am able.
Her final words still echoing in my mind. “will you include me in your works so my dream can live on?”
*If you are willing to adopt the last pixel, here is a picture of her to share in your artworks, stories, and everything that makes her happy, and if you do so, please get in touch with me so we can spread the joy.
