Life Time

Beginning

The bus ride takes an hour. We only needed one bus, since there are only twenty students. Joe and I shared a seat; the eighteen others were all people neither of us knew, so we stuck together and spoke little.

At the end of the hour, Joe, myself, and the others got off of the bus to find ourselves standing in front of a large, white building. The shiny white walls of the building are almost blinding, and I can’t even point out the entrance. The bus is greeted by a young woman by the name of Shelby. She looks like your typical model: blonde, tall, tan, and blue-eyed. She smiles at all of us and then leads us into the white building, which she calls ‘The Terminal’. The Terminal, she says, is where all twenty ‘environments’ are. Each environment is different and unique, and each pair is given an environment based on personality evaluations.

Once inside, Shelby shows us to the testing room, where the personality evaluations are done. Girls are sent to one side, boys to the other. I am seated in front of a computer with only a controller and two buttons. One button is green and has the word ‘yes’ printed on it; the other is red and says ‘no’. The test begins. I answer questions like, ‘Do you enjoy the company of animals?’ and ‘Do you like the outdoors?’ or ‘Do you prefer winter (green) or summer (red)?’

It was so stupid.

The test was only twenty questions long, so everyone finished quickly. After this, Shelby led us all to the results room.

I met up with Joe and we received the result of what our ‘environment’ would be. He was already holding a thick sheet of blue paper.

“ ‘Congratulations, Alea and Joe! Based on your personality evaluations, the two of you have received the Cabin Environment. Your results are as such because, collectively, the two of you are indifferent to a preference of outdoors or indoors. Therefore, the Cabin Environment provides you with the best balance. The Cabin Environment includes: Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, one kitchen, one recreation room, an outdoor deck, a lake and earthly surroundings. The cabin is fully refurbished and supplied with all of your needs. For anything you may need that is not already in your environment, please submit a list to: A. Cunningham, your environment advisor. Thank you, and enjoy your stay at the Cabin Environment!’,” Joe read.

“How pleasant,” I remarked. “Anyway, where is this place?”

“Uh…here! It says… ‘Please ask your guide for directions.’ That’s helpful,” Joe smirked. I called Shelby over and asked her to show us to the Cabin Environment. She immediately agreed, and began leading us down a long hall until we came to an elevator.

“So, this paper says that our environment includes a lake?” I asked Shelby. “How is that-”

“Possible? Impossible is only a word, my dear,” Shelby smiled. “Each environment is quite large. That’s why this building is as big as it is.”

“But a lake?”

“You’ll understand when we arrive…and here we are! Now, is there anything either of you need before you begin?”

“No,” Joe and I replied faintly. Shelby had opened the door to the Cabin Environment. Inside, there was a wooden cabin, a large forest-like area, and a lake. It looked so real, as if I had just stepped out into a real forest. The door shut behind us.

I took a step forward, and took off my shoes. I wanted to make sure that the grass beneath my feet was real. I tossed my shoes aside, now knowing that the grass was real, and ran to the cabin. I threw open the door, and examined each room. Just like the paper had said, there were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen.

I was just rushing out of the one bedroom when I accidentally ran into Joe.

“Oh, sorry,” I stammered.