Different Places

Chapter 1: A Different Place

Through My Own Eyes

As I walked down the hallway, my footsteps echoed off the metal walls. My boots were so large, and rough, that the sound would have deceived anyone who happened to hear from inside one of the rooms. They would think I was large, and angry; neither is correct. I was simply tired; the effort to lift my boots almost broke my knees as I neared the end of the corridor. Somewhere behind me, a clock struck. Two hours to midnight.

The last two hours had been hellish. I was forced to relive, to analyze, what I felt I had been imposing upon in the first place. I felt disgusting. I felt like a stalker.

A light flickered above me, and I groaned. It's almost time. I was filled with feelings of relief and dread when I reached the end of the hallway. I knew I wouldn't have to think for myself, but I had to feel, to listen, to see. But what? I did not know yet. It's almost time. It's almost time to find out. And when tomorrow comes, it'll be just like today. Sometimes that knowledge helped me. It always went through my mind, after all. But, mostly, it just made me feel stuck. Everything was always the same, until, eventually, it would end. Everything ends at some point.

I gazed at the wall before me. There was no door that could be seen by the naked eye. I aimed my stare at a dot about six feet off the ground, blinking twice, but quickly.

Suddenly, a bright light shone in a line up the wall out of nowhere. It was as if someone was using a laser to cut a rectangle out of a pumpkin. I forgot myself, and began to press on the white wall with my fingertips. It slid upward like a window, surprising me, and I stepped through, to a different place.