Dear Earth,

I thought I had left you behind alongside the pain and brokenness, that Dev was salvation. Now, I
wonder if I was ever supposed to escape you. What if the cost of salvation was more than I could afford?

Dev turned out to be a painful illusion, buttressing the fact that the devil I knew would always be better than a supposed angel I didn’t know. I don’t know who is reading this but I want you to know that perfection would always be an illusion, a mirage – the more you see, the more you realize it’s a lie. I went to Dev because I wanted a world of control.

I was born into a poverty-stricken Nigerian home, a background that sets you up for all the sufferings possible in a lifetime.
The life I lived was humiliating, working any and every job, bowing to richer, spoilt kids just because
their families had deep pockets. Even the poor here had categories and the least-earning families were
castigated and mocked. And the rich? They oppressed, bullied us and stashed up funds for their
generations while others present had to be content with crumbs.

When Dev was launched with its promises of freedom, equality and a world void of suffering, I decided to go but not without a premium subscription. I wonder why I didn’t think – how could Dev offer equality when there was a bridge already?

My parents went first to leave, six months ago, too eager to flee the humiliating lives they led on earth. I was to come quickly to hear stories of the ‘perfect utopia – our salvation’. If only we knew…
I arrived Dev with expectations and was impressed at first, my subscription gave me the liberty to access Dev’s administration, the choicest locations and to meet people I never thought possible, even the world’s most brilliant scientist – Tariku Negasi. Just one thing left…family.

I did find my parents – I found hollowed-out versions of who they used to be. They didn’t remember me. I spoke to them but they only smiled blankly, nodding politely, I had become a stranger to the only family I knew.

I talked to the Dev administration but their data was already corrupted. Free users had just six months in a world that wasn’t meant for them, they wouldn’t die, but fade, first memories, then existence – into oblivion.

Today as I write this letter, they are no longer here, they stamped their deaths when they thought they could live in perfection without a cost. If I had known, I’d never have come, we would have stayed in the dirt, hunger and imperfection of home because earth never erased the people I loved.

Now, I’m torn between regret and a crave for revenge. ’’Earth was broken, but it never erased me. Dev promised paradise. But what’s heaven worth if it costs you the people you love?’’
BUT I HAVE A PLAN TO BREAK DEV…shushhhhh!

Jenny

Written by Anyanwu Jennifer