Kissing Razors | Tony Perry

18) A Flair For The Selfish Machines

The silence is almost deafening. Darkness has me surrounded in its grip as pressure in the air builds all around me.

It almost feels like I'm drowning, but at the same time, I can't feel anything, nothing hurts.

It's peaceful.

I feel at peace.

My eyes slowly open, the bright light of the sun shining through the trees cause me to squint, as I roll my head to the side, covering my eyes with my arm to block out the rays.

I lay there for a few moments before I force myself to sit up, rubbing my eyes with my hands before looking ahead.

I furrow my brows confused, I look around me as I'm surrounded by endless amounts of trees, and nothing else in sight for miles. My hand comes in contact with the ground, the soft grass caresses my skin as I sit there for a moment trying to figure out what is happening.

The cool breeze hits my skin, carrying a gentle melody that joins in with the birds soft songs I can hear, singing out into the air.

I look down to see a big white dress sitting perfectly on my body, spread out delicately around me. Small white and yellow flowers scatter along the dirt and grass, swaying softly in the gentle breeze, taking in the new, but weird environment.

"What...?" I whisper to myself, trying to remember anything, anything at all, but nothing comes to my mind. From the corner of my eye, I see a bunch of red roses spread out next to me, but just out of reach from my grasp.

They lay there delicately as the wind threatens to blow them away. I quickly lean over and grab them before the wind picks up it's strength, unfortunately causing one to fly away before I can save it from the sudden harshness.

I watch as it disappears into the darkness between the thousands of tall trees that surround me, making me feel small.

But, how did I get here? What happened? Where am I? Who am I?...

I can't find a way to answer my own questions. I don't remember anything. Not a single thing.

As of right now.

I'm simply, just, existing.

The sound of a twig breaking snaps me out my thoughts, my head instantly turns towards the noise in-front of me as 2 kids suddenly stand before me, but far enough away where I can only make out that it's a boy and a girl.

I look down at the girls hand to see the rose that had flown away from me just moments earlier. My breathing pauses for a second, my lips part slightly as thoughts run through my mind one by one, before the kids suddenly turn around and begin to swiftly walk away.

"No wait!" I yell out, I push myself off the grass, the roses in one hand and the front of my dress bundled up in the other as my feet quickly make their way towards the 2 kids, but the closer I get, the further away they look.

My feet move fast as I try and catch up with them, running around trees and under branches, trying not to lose sight of them, but it's no use, they are too far out of reach.

My footsteps come to a halt as I bend over, placing my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath, before looking back ahead to see I'm right back where I started, and the roses that were once in my hands, are now placed neatly in front of me on the grass, where they once laid before.

My brows furrow as I lean down and pick them up once again, bunching the stems together in my hands as I look around me confused. But instead of 2 kids standing where the trees start, it's a small wooden house, hiding away in the distance.

My feet instantly make their way towards the small box like house before stopping right in front of the door. I look around me for a moment, seeing if anything has changed, or if anything else was around, but everything is the exact same. I take a deep breath in before hesitantly turning the doorknob as it slowly opens revealing a rather large plain black room.

I carefully step into the room as I look back to see the door closing behind me. As the door shuts itself the room goes pitch black, making it hard for me to do anything at all.

I slowly start to walk around, my hands placed out in front of me to see if I might be able to touch something, but instead I feel something glide past my cheek, catching me off guard. I move my hands up higher, trying to feel for that thing as it touches the back of my hand. I grab hold of the string like thing and pull down on it.

Suddenly the lights turn on, letting me finally see my surroundings, but it's.... Empty?

I take a deep breath in, confused on where I am, and why this little house is even here, if there's nothing actually.... Here?

I let out a sign before turning back towards the door and opening it, expecting to go back out into the open but it leads me into another darkish room.

The walls are just curtains that go around in a circle but there's a little opening gap, inside is what seems to be, a hospital bed?...

What?...

Beside it is a dresser with a mirror on top and beside that is a lamp that is turned on.

I cautiously step into the room and through the curtains before I feel something hit me from behind. I quickly turn around to see the little girl and little boy running towards the door giggling before slamming it shut.

"NO WAIT! PLEASE, I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM! IM BEGGING YOU LET ME OUT!" I scream, as I try and turn the door handle but it doesn't seem budge.

"FUCK!" I yell before slamming my fist against it, frustrated as ever.

I swing back around as I see the rose that had flown away from me earlier sitting on the ground in-front of me, but now, squashed...

I must have accidentally stepped on it when the door got shut on me...

I frown slightly as I place the beautiful rose with the rest of the others, but before I go to start walking towards the bed, a sudden pressure, flows through my stomach, causing my hands to instantly hold myself.

I look down confused before removing my hands to see blood all over the roses as well as my hands. My face drops, I start to feel myself go cold as I walk over to the mirror, seeing blood quickly spreads across the once, pretty white fabric.