I am lost. The floor beneath me feels different from where I am supposed to be. The hard and slightly dusty cement that I feel at my feet is not the same as the warm and inviting carpeting that is supposed to be there. The tense and strained muscles in my back feel as if I have been laying on the cold, hard, floor for what seems like hours. The air smells like mold and like a room that has never been used. After multiple attempts, I finally gain enough strength to push myself off the floor. Automatically, I walk in the general direction of the light switch. The walk from where I was just lying to the light switch is longer than it should have been; if there is a light switch. The room is pitch black. My eyes are open but it is as if they are closed. I can barely see my own hands. I make sure I am alive by touching my face and my arms. I am here. But where is here? Where am I? Questions continue to race through my head.
“Hello?” I say, and no one replies. The sound of my voice bounces off the walls and echoes. My curiosity starts to grow. I slowly creep around the walls of the room, feeling for a sense of hope; a vestige that I am where I was when I fell asleep last night. The walls are smooth. I can feel the slight imperfections in the wall as I run my hand along them. When I reach a corner I turn. I notice that there are no objects in the room. Just me and the cold, confining walls that surround me.
My hands run across the smooth walls, waiting for something. The third time I make my way around the room, my hand travels over something foreign. My hand suddenly stops and starts to shake. A hard, round, smooth, plastic button. Instinctively, I press it, bracing myself for what is to come. I hear the sound of machinery across the room. Sprinting, I feel an opening that was not there before. I release a sigh of relief. Hope. My heart starts to race. I start to sprint down what seems like a hallway. I continually trip over myself because it is still dark as coal. I start to slow down as I feel like I am making it to the end. Abruptly, I reach the end of the hallway. I feel the familiar wall that sends shivers down my spine. I turn left, expecting a door, or another button or a keyhole. Nothing. I turn right, searching for a handle, or a latch, or a knob. Nothing. I start to panic.
“That’s it!” I scream at the blank walls. I am out of breath. I cannot even stand any longer. The air running through my lungs is dry and stings my throat. I slump down in the closest corner I can find and something miraculous happens. It is like someone heard my plea for help. A small panel opens into a tunnel, opening a path. A lighted path. I have been staring into darkness for so long that the small artificial lights that line the floor hurt my eyes. I start to run forward. The only thing I can think about is getting out of here.
The long lighted tunnel leads to another door. This time, the door is locked. I push and shove at the door and nothing happens. My only option left is to use all of my weight to get the door open. I back up a few steps, waiting for the right moment to run forward as hard as I can to push the door open. My body collides with the door and my arms are spread out in front of me. My eyes open, and I am shoving the covers off of my bed, panting and shaking as if I had just been lost in the darkness.