I started running as fast as I could, hearing the crunchy sounds of my footsteps sound like the effects of the game. My heart beat so hard I thought it would explode out of my chest, and I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer without breathing.

I made it to a small clearing and took a couple deep breaths. I could feel my stamina returning.

“Hello! Is anyone there?” I yelled out, hoping there was some kind of explanation waiting for me in a reply. No one replied, the plump villager was nowhere to be seen and the growling of zombies were the only voices I could hear.

I closed my eyes and slapped myself.

Oof, that hurt!

I opened my eyes and I was still inside the world of Minecraft. My body was still made out of blocks. And the sounds of the zombies were still all around me.

They were getting pretty close now too, I had no choice but to fight them. Just then I realized that I already dropped my bow and I have no other weapons to defend myself with. I can already hear my mom yelling about how I should always put my things in my pockets and not place them anywhere else, like that time I lost my phone at the mall.

The best part about being stuck inside Minecraft right now is that my mom’s not here to yell at me about it.

Oh man, at least I hope she isn’t.

The worst part about being stuck inside Minecraft, obviously, being the fact I’m about to be eaten by a zombie horde.

Something rustled behind me, and I whirled around, ready to fight whatever was behind me, but instead, it was just the wind.

My house! I remembered.

The house I already built, if I can find it, I’ll be safe for the night. I closed my eyes and tried to remember any landmarks I saw. I know my house was nearby a lake, but that doesn’t really help me here. All I see around me are trees, and more trees.

Wait!

In the distance I spotted a giant tower of dirt that I made last week and consequently jumped off to test the fall damage. The tower is nowhere near my house, I built it in a completely random place. But looking at the tower does give me an idea.

First, I’m going to need dirt. Lots and lots of dirt.

Please work, I hoped as I got on my knees and got ready to punch the ground. I swung straight for the ground, but just before I hit it, I pulled back.

What am I thinking? What if I break all my fingers? Wait a second. I looked closer at my hand and made a startling discovery. I don’t even have fingers. My arm and hand are just a single rectangular block. But for some reason I can still feel my fingers.

The sounds of the zombies were now joined by the rattling sounds of skeletons. And they were all getting even closer. Okay, there’s no time to waste. I have to do this.

I pulled my hands back up and rushed down to punch the ground. I kept full speed all the way down and did not pull my fists back. I slammed straight into the blocky grass, causing it to pop up from the ground and absorb into my seemingly bottomless pockets.

Woah. This is cool!

I kept punching as the sound of the zombie horde got closer and closer. Soon enough, the zombies came into view. I was surrounded, more zombies than I had ever seen before in the game. I didn’t even know this many zombies could spawn together in the game. There must have been almost fifty of them. I had to go now.

Time to execute my crazy plan.

I looked down at the block of dirt I was standing on and then jumped straight up, quickly reached into my pocket and threw a dirt block right below me. I was now one block higher up.

It worked!

I started jumping and placing the dirt blocks below me. I got three blocks high when a zombie rushed over to me and grabbed my feet as I was jumping and pulled me straight back to the bottom.

I squirmed and tried to pull myself back from its monstrous grip. With my free leg, I kicked it in its face until it let go of me and rushed back to my three-block high tower. I quickly started jumping and placing the blocks again.

The zombies surrounded the tower in the bottom, but I was high up enough that they couldn’t hurt me. I looked over at the giant square moon in the sky. As long as the moon is up there, the zombies will never stop trying to get to me. The only thing that can stop them is the sun. Looking at the position of the moon, I realized sunlight would take too long to arrive. I’ll have to stay on top of this tower for a while.

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I took the time to take inventory of what was in my bottomless pockets. Some arrows, lots of dirt blocks I haven’t used yet, some sand blocks and some redstone I was playing around with earlier. Nothing to craft weapons with to fight the mobs—I have no choice, but to stay up here till the sun comes.

WOOSH!

Something flew by my head, missing my ears by inches. I looked down to see what it was, there were a group of skeletons at the base of my pillar, but I noticed them too late.

An arrow pierced into my feet.

“AHHHHHHH!” I screamed in pain as two more arrows flew by me, barely missing my blocky body.

Okay, staying up here—bad idea. I started using the remaining blocks to go up higher, to see if I can spot my cabin from up top. I built and I built, doing my best to avoid getting any new piercings from the arrows flying by me. Then I saw it, right by a small lake—my cabin! I quickly started building a bridge towards it using the rest of the dirt blocks.

The zombie horde and the skeletons followed from the bottom as I dodged and weaved from the arrows they were shooting at me. Once my tower bridge reached the top of my house, I was stuck. There was no way to come down. Usually at this point in the game I would just jump off the tower and respawn, but I had a feeling that won’t work here.

The sand blocks!

I remembered that unlike other blocks in the game the sand blocks are actually affected by gravity. If I place them down, they will drop, and I can create a staircase down.

The plan worked well, I got closer and closer down and I landed on the roof of the cabin. The zombies and skeletons that were following me began to surround the cabin looking for a way in. There was no way to safely get off the roof and use the door. I quickly started punching the wooden roof instead. I can still enter my house from the top.

HISS!

I recognized the sound immediately—it was the familiar hiss of a Minecraft spider as it jumped on to the top of the cabin.

Oh great, my day just keeps getting better and better.

“Nice spidey, nice spidey, who’s a good boy…or girl…” I gently said as I held my hands up in the air harmlessly. “Nice spidey, no bitey.”

I quickly found out that there was no reasoning with monsters when the spider launched at me.

“No!” I yelled.

I didn’t have time to react, as the spider quickly crawled onto my head and tried to bite me on the neck. I fell backwards, landing on my back, and rolled to the edge of my house. I pushed the spider off me, and it fell off the roof. The zombies and skeletons below grew louder, seemingly hungrier after seeing me almost dangle off the roof like it was feeding time at the zoo.

“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!”

I thought about how much I wanted to live as I went back to punching the wood to break into my house from the rooftop. There’s so much I haven’t experienced in life. I’ve never went on a roller coaster. I’ve never read a Stephen King book. I still haven’t gotten around to watching the new Avengers movie despite having the whole thing spoiled to me by Liam. Wait! I’ve never even had a girlfriend.

Just as I was contemplating having possibly lived a life without finding true love, the spider jumped back onto the roof.

“Really, you’re back?” I complained. The spider crawled closer and closer to me. “I’m still in the middle of accepting I’ve lived a life without love, you know?”

The spider did not know. It kept crawling towards me, and as soon as it got close enough, it lunged straight at me and just then the wooden block finally broke, and I fell into my cabin with a loud crash.

The spider hissed from the top of the roof trying to squeeze in through the one block hole, but thankfully it couldn’t fit through.

“Should’ve skipped lunch,” I taunted the spider.

Just when I thought I could finally calm down, I realized I forgot about one big thing. I never finished repairing my house after the creeper blew it open last week. There was giant hole in the back of my cabin that the mobs could come in from.

Fortunately, the mobs were now all gathered at the front, trying to break the front door—they hadn’t discovered the hole in the back yet. Unfortunately, it won’t be long till they do.

Think Michael, think!

There has to be a way out of this! I’m outnumbered and surrounded by more mobs than I’ve ever seen in the game. My life is at stake. It can’t be over! There has to be something…

Just then I remembered our family trip last summer to Rome. My dad was always talking about how he loved Italian food, and how he wanted us to try the authentic stuff. We ordered everything on the menu, and of course, I ordered pizza. The waiter brought out the most beautiful pizza I have ever seen in my life. At the sight out of it, my dad blurted out a “Mama mia!” and my mom facepalmed in embarrassment. My dad’s response— “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

When in Minecraft, do as the Minecrafters do…

There is a way out of this! It’s time to craft!

I sprinted over to my chest and crafting table. The chest was mostly empty, there was only some TNT and a single stone block. That’s all I had crafted last week. I grabbed all the TNT in the chest and used the crafting table to turn the wooden block I broke out of my roof into a stick. Then I used the stone block and the stick to craft out a lever.

I equipped the TNT blocks and placed them all over my cabin. By using the redstone in my pockets I connected all the TNT blocks and created a line that went outside my house and to the lake and placed the lever at the end.

Here goes nothing, I encouraged myself as I ran back inside the house and did the unthinkable. I opened the door. The mobs rushed in like water through a broken flood gate. I ran as fast as I could with the arrow from before still sticking out of my feet, ducking and evading any other arrows from hitting me. The mobs chased after me. Ignoring all the redstone and TNT around them.

I sprinted as fast as I could and finally reached the end of the redstone line and triggered the lever. I quickly jumped into the lake as the redstone activated and lighted up.

BOOM!

The TNT inside the house exploded, and the moaning and hissing of the mobs finally stopped. I waited inside the lake and listened carefully to make sure no other mobs were alive outside. After waiting for as long as I could, I swam and crawled back out of the lake. I saw that my entire cabin was destroyed, and the countless mobs were dead around it.

I finally got time to relax, I closed my eyes and rested onto the soft sand hoping I would wake up in my own room. I close my eyes and imagined the soft sand below me was my mattress.

This was just one weird dream, I hoped. Once I wake up, I’ll be back in the real world.

I was weary from all the running and the fighting. Not to mention the constant feeling of having my life on the line. It’s only been one night, but I’ve had enough Minecraft to last me a lifetime.

Sadly, as we are all about to know, this was just the beginning.