Short stories

The room

Time. Time is such a strange thing; when you are enjoying life, time always seems to fly by, even though you want more than anything for the joy you feel to last forever. But when you are waiting for someone or something to happen, time seems to drag on, like someone is forcing it to slow down. I don't really understand time. Surely time can't slow down or speed up. Time is supposed to be fixed unable to be changed, sped up or stopped. The only thing I knew for sure was that we are all running out of time. Our pathetic lives will end at some point. Our clock will stop.

In this room however it feels as if I have been removed from time entirely. There are no clocks, watches, phones or anything that acknowledge time passing. Actually there's is nothing here at all. Just darkness. Cold, empty darkness. As I scan the room I can't even see a shred of light escaping from any crevice. My hairs stand on end. While trying to control all the fear in me. I knew I needed to keep a level head if I wanted to survive this place. So I gathered all of the strength left in me so I could get up, so I can try to find a way out. As I start to pace around the small, box like room. My hands became my eyes as I feel the walls to help direct me around the space. The walls that surround me are cold and rough to the touch.

Continuing to walk around trying to find a door; a way out, I begin to notice the poignant smell of smoke which seemed to seep into the room, as if it was a bowl slowly filling with water. The smoke began to thicken, making it almost impossible to breathe. Wrapping my scarf around my face in the failed attempt to filter or block out the ever thickening smoke.

My body starts to loose all hope and begins to slide down the hard stone wall. Hugging my legs to try and give myself some sought of comfort. A burning sensation seems to swell up in my throat causing my mouth to go dry. In a matter of seconds I started coughing.

The pain was to much for me to bare, but after a while my mind started to loose hope as well. Instead of trying to stay alive and finding a way out, I realise that there is no point, no reason to carry on fighting . Death is undeniable, either I die in here or I die out there.

Although I've excepted my fate, something in me can't give up as I know if I die here, I die alone, I die in the dark and cold, I die forgotten.

A red light flashes on the ceiling of the smoke filled room, it seemed to dance across the room. The flashing ceased. And just like that all the smoke around me seems to be absorbed by the walls, allowing me to breath. Instead of a great feeling of relief, my head feels as if it is being pressed together, causing unbearable agony to fall upon me. I put my hands on my forehead; putting as much pressure as I can in the attempt in helping to relieve the pain. Screams, escape my mouth. Echoing around the room, it doesn't seem to go quieter, it just keeps its volume as if I'm screaming all over again. Consistently.

Tears seem to stream down my cheeks making me wander if they will ever stop falling. Each tear feels like acid burning into my skin. My body is tense; my fingers stretching out, clawing the ground. Wishing for peace, wishing for the pain to stop, wishing for death. The word pain doesn't even seem to describe the amount of agony I am in now. I need to escape.

A stream of light comes across the floor, through a slit in the wall just a few centimetres above the floor. It seems to be coming from the other side of the room. A small shutter opens just above the slit of light. A knife is slid across the floor towards me. I automatically pick it up, as if I knew what was about to happen; in truth I had no idea what was happening; all I knew is that I wasn't safe here and that I needed to escape this place and the pain I felt.

While being almost hypnotised by the light coming from the open shutter, I didn't even realise that there was someone else in the room with me, until I felt a sharp pain in my rib. I could feel the warm blood seep out of the fresh wound on my side. I turn around fast. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins making my pain to cease.

Everything happened so fast, I didn't think or hesitate for even a second. When I turned around I instinctively stabbed the thing that had caused me pain. It was as if my hands and my body was no longer in my control. I didn't even just stab the person who was behind me ,I repeatedly stabbed them, with such force and anger, I couldn't stop, I tried, but I was now just a bystander of my own body unable to intervene.

When I finally stopped I could feel the blood dripping down my face mixed with sweat and tears. Starring down at the unfortunate soul which was in here with me I could just about distinguish parts of there face, through the slashers and the blood, it was a girl, quite young looking at the size of her. A child. I look at this mutilated child in front of me, my heart sank.

I'm a murderer.

I couldn't face what I had just done and the fear and the pain started to return. So I made a choice. I tightened my grip on the knife, and in one swift motion I slit my throat, letting the blood flow out of me. In that moment my clock stopped. Then all faded into darkness.