Simple as That. (A collection of short stories by MinePeggy)

The Boy Who Never Defied Time

I stared at the giant clump of metal before me. It was a couple feet away from me in this large room, which was about the size of a football field. I cocked my head to the side. It looked sort of dangerous, and it appeared to be quite old. I was intrigued by the door, and the pretty flashing red light above it. I didn't know exactly what it was, but she told me not to touch it. I walked towards it. I could walk, though I couldn't feel my legs moving.

I deeply exhaled as I cringed at the loud noise my shoe made with the metal floor. I had one shoe. I lost the other one, not sure where. Maybe one of the monsters took it. I saw a pink monster earlier, and it looked cool. It came close me, so it could've taken my shoe. Maybe the nice monster needed my shoe for something. Maybe his feet were cold.

The metal thing stood tall, maybe five feet higher than me. It looked interesting. I was tempted to touch it. I was tempted to examine what was inside.

I stood at the door and looked behind me. I saw monsters. Monsters climbing through windows, shadows creeping towards me, their solid forms nowhere to be found. She sent those monsters after me, to make sure I'd never leave the asylum. I waved at them. I wasn't sure why, I just did.

I whipped my head around and quickly jiggled the doorknob. It was locked. I threw my body against the metal door multiple times, and it finally burst open. I wasn't even sure how I managed to do that, but at that point I didn't care. I wanted to leave here. I wanted to be normal again.

I wanted to change everything. I didn't want her to torment me ever again.

I slammed the door behind me, breathing heavily. I attempted to keep the door shut as shadows and monsters and demons tried to force their way in. I heard a deafening roar, and I tried to cover my ears, but I quickly began pushing the door shut once again as a shadow tried to swallow me whole. I stepped on the shadow and dragged it out of the metal room. I could fight.

I planted my feet on the floor and gathered up all of my strength to close the door. Nothing killed me. I could still breathe.

I locked the door and placed my forehead on the wall as I tried to regain my energy. Once my breathing became steady, I craned my neck around to get a better look of where I was. The room seemed so high-tech, because it was.

There were lots of blinking buttons and levers on a panel. There were no windows, and all light came from the pretty buttons. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of metal, so I found it odd that the door was made of old wood. There was a box of crackers on the floor. I scurried to box and opened it. There were only a few left, but I didn't care. I ate all of it. I haven't lost my appetite.

After eating, I stood up and walked to the panel. I picked up an instruction manual I found on the panel and flipped through it. I did as the manual told me to do. I flipped the orange switch on the wall. I pressed the buttons in alphabetical order based on color. I pressed on the gas pedal under the panel five times every six seconds. I wondered why this was so complicated, yet so easy? I finally pressed the large red button.

I waited. I waited, and waited, and waited.
I felt the ground move underneath me. I held onto the wall for support. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for this earthquake to end.

It seemed like it never stopped. But it did. It stopped. I opened my eyes. I began to grope the walls and the floor and the panel as if it were pitch black. It wasn't dark out. It was light as day. I thought that was odd, because when I scrambled in here it was pretty dark.

I grabbed the manual with shaking hands, shock and adrenaline pulsing through me. I've always been scared of earthquakes. She would make earthquakes happen in my cell by lifting her hands and snapping her fingers. It made me sad. She was mean to me, and I tried telling the doctors and the nurses, but they never believed me.