Summer Dreams - a multi author anthology of poetry and prose

Dreaming of Hope | McKenzie Richardson

"We have to get out of here," Ana whispered when they were once more together in the white room.

Sam just nodded absentmindedly. It wasn't that he didn't agree. It was that he had already accepted the hopelessness of their situation.

"Come on, Sam, snap out of it," she demanded.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, then looked deeply into Ana's eyes. "Okay," he replied simply, although he did not have much faith in their escape plan.

* * *

The next morning, Ana and Sam stared out from their respective cages with dull eyes and slack jaws. Their blinking was slow and lethargic. Their breathing sluggish and nearly undetectable. The only sign that their bodies were even functioning was the periodic sound of Ana's stomach demanding food. They'd discreetly scraped the morning rations into their individual latrines without eating a bite. They knew better than that. That was where the man put the sedatives.

After twenty minutes of near motionlessness, the time it usually took for the drug to take complete effect, Ana and Sam heard the quiet click of a keycard unlocking the door. It took all of her willpower not to glance over at the man who entered her cell.

Her skin wanted to shrivel away from his touch as he guided her slowly to her feet, but her determination forced her to maintain the ruse. She stood obediently while the man unlocked Sam's cage and brought him out as well.

Then they all headed up the winding staircase to the main level of the building.

This was not the first time that Sam and Ana had faked their drugged condition. It was a slow process, but between the two of them, they had learned enough about the layout of the lab to plan an escape. Today was the day they would carry out that plan.

When they arrived in the yellow room, they each took a seat in the chair they were directed to, wondering what today's test would be. The experiments varied with seemingly no regular schedule. Sometimes it was some sort of brain scan, sometimes just blood tests or shots. Once Ana had sat with the man in the yellow room for an entire hour while he simply stared at her. She almost broke that day, but she knew she had to keep up her sedated pretense. Her hope of escape would not fail her.

As his eyes stared into her being that day, she looked back at him with a dreamy, drugged expression. Inside her mind, she thought of summer. She had no idea how long they had been kept in captivity. There was no way to tell what the weather was like outside. But in her heart, she hoped it was summer. That was what she missed most about being free. Feeling the sunshine on bare shoulders, sand between toes, warm waves lapping against skin. When she finally escaped, Ana hoped it was summer.

Ana and Sam did not know what the man was studying. They did not even know where they were. Each of them had a fleeting memory of their time before their shared imprisonment: Ana watching the birds on a park bench, Sam at the fountain reading a book on an otherwise perfect day. Then everything when blank and they each woke up in a giant cage. Ana and Sam had not known each other previously, but after at least a year of mutual confinement, they had grown rather close. Well, as close as two people can be who have never had physical contact.

But when you're the only two people locked in a room full of cages, it's hard not to get attached to each other.

The man began to unroll some cords at the desk, confident that Ana and Sam would sit quietly and wait. They stared vacantly at him, sure that their plan would work. They just needed the right moment to put it in motion.

From what they could tell, the man before them was the sole person in the lab. They had never seen anyone else, experimenter or prisoner, guard or subject. They only had one chance at this. They had to get it right.

Once he had finished with the cords, the man approached Sam and began placing sensors on his temples. Sam remained calm. It was almost time. He waited quietly as the man put sensors on Ana's head as well.

When the man had finished adjusting Ana's sensors, Sam's eyes caught sight of an important detail. There was a clipboard balanced on the edge of the desk. That was the clipboard the man took all of his notes on. He would need it before starting whatever experiment he was preparing.

Sam let out a subtle moan, communicating to Ana that the time to act was fast approaching. She sat without responding, but inside her mind was racing.

A moment later, the man turned to retrieve the clipboard, allowing Sam and Ana the perfect opportunity to act.

Without warning, Sam leapt up from the chair and dove at the man who was only six inches from the desk. Caught by surprise, he toppled into the hard surface, his head banging against the sharp corner. The clipboard clattered to the floor.

Meanwhile, Ana was already at the man's side, rummaging through his pockets for the key card. They didn't know how much time they'd have, so every action needed to be precise.

Ten seconds later, Ana and Sam were at the door, desperately pressing the key card to the scanner. With a sharp beep, the door unlocked, the loud click a welcome sound to the two fleeing captives.

Together they raced through the door, down the hall, and around a corner. The exit would be just up ahead. To their delight, they saw the glowing red exit sign looming ahead of them. Their bare feet pressed harder against the floor as they propelled themselves toward freedom.

Their hearts pounded with anxiety and fatigue, the latter of which their bodies were no longer used to. Neither had been able to run since arriving at the lab.

Finally, they reached the door. Ana met Sam's eyes. He slipped his hand into hers. They hesitated for a brief second, then pushed the door open together.

Ana smiled at the heaviness of Sam's hand in her own. It felt like ages since she had had real human contact. The man who had imprisoned them was the only flesh she had felt besides her own for the last year. But Sam's touch was entirely different, warm, comforting, loving. Her heart felt so much lighter knowing that they had made it to freedom.

She breathed in the fresh warm air, forever thankful for a summer's day. 

* * *

From behind a computer screen, the man monitored Ana's brain activity, watching and analyzing the spikes and troughs of her brain waves. Sparing a glance at where she lay asleep on a hospital bed in the yellow room, he made a note on his clipboard. A catheter attached to her arm slowly pumped sedative into her bloodstream, keeping her asleep and dreaming.

The man detected a little smile spreading across her peaceful face and he couldn't help but mirror it on his own. The experiments were going well, all according to plan. It really was a very smart approach. It would never have made it passed the institutional review boards, but that was not his concern right now.

On the cot, Ana breathed in deeply as though taking in fresh air. The man pushed a button on the screen, intensifying the light of the overhead lamp that shined on her skin, mimicking the sun. He knew she preferred warm weather.

It was important, what he was doing. There was no need to feel guilty about it. He knew that. The power of hope was an important subject of study and there was no use letting the touchy ethics of the thing get in the way. Sacrifices had to be made in the name of science.

Soon the experiment would be at an end and he would make his conclusions about the human capacity to hope, of how long the body can last running on that hope, how far it can go just believing.

He watched Ana comfortably sleeping on the bed, dreaming about freedom and the perfect summer day, then scribbled another note on his clipboard.