crazy. Everything that I'd experienced—the calm sensation, the sense of safety, the pure lavender smell, Sam's warm touch—it had all been real.
Sam was real.
The rain began pouring buckets outside. I leaned back, gazing out my window, my mind spinning in a constant whirl. After sitting there collecting my thoughts on the day, I thought I'd feel better, or at least not as confused. But no. I was more confused as ever.
And not in a good way.
* * * *
The small room was crowded with teenagers dancing to loud techno music. Lights colored red, yellow, purple, and green flashed, pulsating on their faces in a psychedelic way. Their eyes were closed, concentrating on the beat of the music, faces a complete blank. They moved the same way, the same rhythm. All of them...but me.
I was standing in the heart of the crowd, sticking out like a sore thumb. I felt like a sheep who had wandered away from its herd, stranded in a mist of deep abandonment.
Then a door caught my eye. It was off to the side of the cramped room, bright rays of light seeping through the cracks. Almost like the lights were purposely shining in my eyes, trying to grab my attention.
I started pushing through the thick of kids, the door beckoning me to come closer. Shoving as hard as I could, I found the entrance, teens were not budging. I screamed at them to move, to get out of the way. But to my dismay they acted as if they couldn't hear me; as if I wasn't there. They seemed completely oblivious to my shouting and shoving.
Halting my rant, I gazed at them in extreme wonder and despair. What was their problem? Why were they ignoring me? I knew they could hear me—my screaming was at maximum capacity!
This had to be a joke, some kind of sick game that everyone was playing, but why me? What had I done to make them act as if I were invisible?
Relief flooded me when Kora came into view. Pushing through kids, I made my way to her, finally having enough strength and motivation to move the zombified kids.
She was dancing in front of the door I'd spotted. Funny how she wasn't there a second ago. I hugged her, greeting her, waiting for her to open her eyes and greet me back. My relief quickly vanished. Her eyes remained closed, seemingly unaware of my presence.
No. Not Kora. She wouldn't dare play a prank this nasty on me! Grabbing her shoulders I shook her, screaming at her to open her eyes and look at me. But all my trying was for nothing, my attempts failing miserably to get her attention.
I spotted Janey and Casey dancing together closely. Yelling and shaking them I also failed to get their attention. Then I spotted Brenton in the corner of the room. I was in tears, crying with frustration. Putting my arms around him, sobbing his name, kissing him on the lips—he didn't wake up.
That was when I decided this wasn't a prank. Something very peculiar was afoot. Nothing I tried had worked to wake my friends from whatever spell they were under. I could not break the trance they were in.
Feeling dejected, I glanced around the room. I could feel the wrongness in the air. The way they were swaying to the music, eyes closed—something had them so immersed that they were detached from reality. It was like aliens had taken over their bodies; Aliens who were into techno music.
For a brief moment I envied them. Wanted to be like them. Needed to be like them. I wanted to belong so badly, and dance like nothing else mattered in the world. I wanted that numbness they were experiencing, because from where I was standing I could tell that they were out of it, so much so that if a meteorite smashed into the room, no one would even notice.
But the door was calling me, not by name but by force. I knew that whatever was behind that door held answers to questions I had yet to ask.
Standing adjacent to the door, examining it, I saw that it didn't look different than any other door I'd seen. There wasn't anything spectacular about it or anything. It was just...a
Sam was real.
The rain began pouring buckets outside. I leaned back, gazing out my window, my mind spinning in a constant whirl. After sitting there collecting my thoughts on the day, I thought I'd feel better, or at least not as confused. But no. I was more confused as ever.
And not in a good way.
* * * *
The small room was crowded with teenagers dancing to loud techno music. Lights colored red, yellow, purple, and green flashed, pulsating on their faces in a psychedelic way. Their eyes were closed, concentrating on the beat of the music, faces a complete blank. They moved the same way, the same rhythm. All of them...but me.
I was standing in the heart of the crowd, sticking out like a sore thumb. I felt like a sheep who had wandered away from its herd, stranded in a mist of deep abandonment.
Then a door caught my eye. It was off to the side of the cramped room, bright rays of light seeping through the cracks. Almost like the lights were purposely shining in my eyes, trying to grab my attention.
I started pushing through the thick of kids, the door beckoning me to come closer. Shoving as hard as I could, I found the entrance, teens were not budging. I screamed at them to move, to get out of the way. But to my dismay they acted as if they couldn't hear me; as if I wasn't there. They seemed completely oblivious to my shouting and shoving.
Halting my rant, I gazed at them in extreme wonder and despair. What was their problem? Why were they ignoring me? I knew they could hear me—my screaming was at maximum capacity!
This had to be a joke, some kind of sick game that everyone was playing, but why me? What had I done to make them act as if I were invisible?
Relief flooded me when Kora came into view. Pushing through kids, I made my way to her, finally having enough strength and motivation to move the zombified kids.
She was dancing in front of the door I'd spotted. Funny how she wasn't there a second ago. I hugged her, greeting her, waiting for her to open her eyes and greet me back. My relief quickly vanished. Her eyes remained closed, seemingly unaware of my presence.
No. Not Kora. She wouldn't dare play a prank this nasty on me! Grabbing her shoulders I shook her, screaming at her to open her eyes and look at me. But all my trying was for nothing, my attempts failing miserably to get her attention.
I spotted Janey and Casey dancing together closely. Yelling and shaking them I also failed to get their attention. Then I spotted Brenton in the corner of the room. I was in tears, crying with frustration. Putting my arms around him, sobbing his name, kissing him on the lips—he didn't wake up.
That was when I decided this wasn't a prank. Something very peculiar was afoot. Nothing I tried had worked to wake my friends from whatever spell they were under. I could not break the trance they were in.
Feeling dejected, I glanced around the room. I could feel the wrongness in the air. The way they were swaying to the music, eyes closed—something had them so immersed that they were detached from reality. It was like aliens had taken over their bodies; Aliens who were into techno music.
For a brief moment I envied them. Wanted to be like them. Needed to be like them. I wanted to belong so badly, and dance like nothing else mattered in the world. I wanted that numbness they were experiencing, because from where I was standing I could tell that they were out of it, so much so that if a meteorite smashed into the room, no one would even notice.
But the door was calling me, not by name but by force. I knew that whatever was behind that door held answers to questions I had yet to ask.
Standing adjacent to the door, examining it, I saw that it didn't look different than any other door I'd seen. There wasn't anything spectacular about it or anything. It was just...a
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