August

Two

Beeping. I hear beeping, I thought, Is it my alarm clock? No, mine is usually music. Did I even go to bed last night? Where am I? Think August, think. I was walking to school with Nina. I felt dizzy… I must have passed out. I’m probably in the hospital. My body feels so heavy and my back is killing me. I suddenly heard a distant voice muttering to itself.

“No, no, no! He should not be awake!” Then the beeping stopped.

Who is that? I wondered. My mom and I know everyone in our small town's hospital and no one sounds this… robotic.

The voice woke me up a little allowing me to slowly open my eyes, though it was hard because the room I was in was very bright. For a split second my stomach dropped and I thought I was in heaven, but my eyes adjusted to the brightness and opened fully, revealing an adorable metal face staring down at me.

“Hello, August,” It said in a friendly voice.

The robot moved out of my frame of vision when I didn’t respond. I laid there a minute, wondering where I was. I wanted to go home so badly.

I finally built up the courage to sit up. I took a look around the room. It was round with the bed shaped to the wall. I had a nightstand with a timer that had finished counting and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was counting down to. Everything was bleach white. There was a computer across from where I was sitting, with writing in a language I didn’t understand. It was probably what was making all the beeping. I had an IV in my arm hooked up to this weird machine in the wall. I pulled it out and tried to find the way out of the room, but the room was so small there weren't many places I could look. All I ended up finding was a panel on the wall with a place for a key card, which of course I didn't have.

I sat back on the bed to think, when the egg shaped panel in the wall lifted up and the robot from earlier rolled in. I got a good look at it this time. It had one wheel that it rolled around on and two big eyes that resembled goggles, reminding me of the time me and Nina went to see the Minions movie. It’s arms were skinny with clamp-like metal hands, and a round head.

It rolled over to me with a tray in its hands and a plain old cheese sandwich on top. I took it and placed it on the bed next to me.

“Thanks,” I said, curiously.

“You are welcome August,” it replied.

I took a breath. “Where am I? Who are you?” I demanded, my voice shaking slightly.

“I am Anirtak, I have been assigned to care of you while you have been asleep.”

“How long have I been asleep?”
“About eleven years.”

Eleven years, I thought, but I was 16… that day… with Nina...

“What?! Does that mean I’m 27?” I asked.

“No. You were put into a coma when you were 5.”

I sat there staring at this machine, stunned by the information I'd just received. This must have been a dream because if it's not.., then my entire life had been one.

“This isn't real,” I said, trying to convince myself, though something inside me told me I was wrong, “Soon I'm going to wake up in my bed. Nina is going to pick me up and I’m going to go back to my regular life.”

“If you say so, if you go back to sleep you can go back to your dream life.”

    I pinched myself to see if I would wake up, but I didn’t.

So my life was a dream… at least, according to Anirtak, I thought. I want to go back home, but what's the point if it was all fake? All fake. Nina, my mom, my school, all of it, never has and never will be real. Unless I’ve been kidnapped, but nothing from my world would be this advanced in robotics, we just barely had working computers.

“No, I shouldn't,’’ I finally said.

“Ok, if you need anything, just ask.” It set a key card down for me on the bedside table and rolled out of the room, bumping into the walls a few times on its way through the long corridor outside the room.

I waited a few minutes after Anirtak left and got up to look around. I snatched the key card off the table and swiped it on the wall scanner. The door opened slowly and I walked down a long, seemingly endless corridor, still holding the keycard, dragging my hands on either side of the wall. I thought I heard a click when my hand passed over a point in the wall, but it was so faint that i thought it to be nothing. I turned around and nothing was there, so i just continued.

I kept walking, for what seemed like forever, until I saw an opening at the end of the hallway. I randomly got a burst of energy and ran to the open doorway. I almost fell right through, though I caught myself before I did.

I took a step back and looked at the room I almost fell into. It looked like I was inside a giant sphere with doors all around the perimeter. There was a clear elevator going right through the center leading to who-knows-where and I wondered how this building was even standing. There were tons of robots like Anirtak, rolling around, but each one looked slightly different, like you could see real personality in their eyes. They were rolling up walls, on the ceiling, and basically defying gravity. One of the robots spotted me and I quickly identified it as Anirtak.

“Hello again August, do you need anything?” it said.

“Uh… yes, I have a question.,” I knew that it was hopeless to ask but I still had to, “In my... dream world, I had a family and friends, do any of them exist here? Like, do you know anyone by the name of Marian or Nina?”

Anirtak paused for a moment, and in its eyes millions of names flashed up as it searched for the names I provided.

“Um… not that I can find.”

My heart sank.

“Alright. I knew it was hopeless anyways,” I felt tears come to my eyes at the thought of never seeing my mom and my best friend again. I didn't bother to wipe them away, it wasn’t like anyone was watching.

“Do not cry August. You can go back to them. Just go to sleep.”

“No. I’m not going to. When can I get out of here and out into the real world?”

I hadn't really thought of what I was going to do when I was out in the world again, but I guessed I would have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

“I am not allowed to reveal that much information to you August.”

Anirtak slowly rolled away, leaving me staring at me feet, wondering what I was going to do from here.

After a minute or two, I decided to take a look around. When I stepped out of the hall and into the spherical room, the door closed behind me, so I had to memorize where I was compared to the elevator down the center, since all the doors looked the same. I repeated it in my head a few times so I wouldn't forget and get lost, then started heading down the thin pathway that led to all the doors around the edge. I guessed the key card panels could detect people because as I walked by, the doors closed, stopping me from going in. I tested my card on a few but it didn't work, so I didn't bother trying it on all of the doors. I guessed this place is like a weird hotel to do experiments on people.

I found a ladder that hugged the curved wall and climbed down it. This place was definitely made for robots because it was very difficult to manoeuvre my way around the spherical shape. I walked over to where the elevator was and started to go in, but before I did, two robots cut me off.

“You are not allowed in the control area,” they said, completely synchronized, “You must go back to your room.”

I knew there was no way of me getting in there with them standing in the way, so I listened to their instructions and went back to my room. I was getting a little tired so I thought I should go to sleep, at least that’s what I told myself. I knew in my heart I should because I wanted to see mom and Nina again. Before I fell asleep completely I was thinking that even though I couldn't go up the elevator yet, at least I knew what was there. The control room. But for what exactly? I didn't know yet, but I wanted to find out. After a minute, my mind finished rambling and I was finally able fall asleep.

Thanks for reading!

I would like to quickly mention that some parts of this story are not written as well as i could have hoped. Mostly because this was written for a school assignement and i felt to rushed to make it well. My apologies.