Among Myself

Among Myself

By: Zachariah Grubb

I wake up on the cold hard floor in a dark room. It’s silent till a voice calls out, “Welcome.” 

I get up off the floor and try to speak but for some reason I can’t, I’m literally speechless, I’m as silent as this dark room I stand in. I wish I could see what’s going on in here? I look upward and suddenly the lights turn on. It’s blinding, my eyes immediately react to the bright light and they close. I keep them close so I can reset my vision. That voice calls out again, “Please have a seat.”

Loud and clear but I’m confused because I still can’ t talk. I slowly open my eyes and see that the room’s walls are a very mesmerizing shade of white. I’m a little scared to look around but I do it anyways. The room I’m in is round, no door, there’s a creepy old wooden chair in the middle and two large circular holes on the wall, kinda like the room has eyes. I noticed one hole is dripping water, it’s crying? There’s one thing on my mind at this point, how’d I even get here? 

It continues to speak to me, “I will ask you a few questions once you’re seated.”

The floor I’m standing on is unnecessarily cold, I look down at my feet to see that I’m barefooted. The cloths I am wearing are something a hospital patient would have on. This must be a dream, I’m probably at home laying in my bed sound asleep. I analyse the room once again and stop to think, what was I doing last?

After some thinking, I decide to shrug it off. If this is a dream, what am I so worried about? I guess I’ll just do what the voice wants and take a seat. I don’t really have any other option, I’m stuck in this room. As I approach the old wooden chair, I can hear a soft whispering sound. It only got louder the closer I got, what should I do? It’s frightening, but I’m curious. It’s only a dream, I remind myself as I take a seat. The moment my backside touches that chair, a very loud sound strikes both my ears and I instantly cover them. Whatever that was almost made me have a heart attack. Slowly, I move my hands away from my ears, it’s silent. “I will now start the questioning.” That creepy disembodied voice is still talking to me. 

“Question one, what’s my name?

That’s a weird question, how am I supposed to know that? Well it doesn’t matter anyways, I can’t answer it because I can’t talk.

“My name is Zack.”

What?! That voice just answered it’s own question, and what’s weirder… That’s when it hits me, that disembodied voice is my voice. Am I talking to myself?

“Question two, am I happy?

Yes! Yes, I’m very happy but not right now. I want out of here, out of this room. I try to get up off the chair but my legs won’t move. Why can’t I move?

“No.”

No? I just said yes, I am happy. That voice, my voice got that question wrong. This is insane.

“Question three, do I need help?

I don’t want to hear the answer to that. These questions are making me feel uneasy, I’m getting lightheaded.

“Please help me.”

There’s a sharp pain in my chest, it feels like I’m being stabbed. Why is this happening to me? I just want to wake up from this nightmare. I want all of this to end.

“Final question, what am I thinking?”

Everything goes dark, I slowly sink into a endless black abyss. The room I was in is no more, I’m falling. I can hear laughing, crying, screaming, yelling while I fall into the shadows of my mind. There’s a small light in the distance, am I about to wake up, Is the nightmare coming to an end? As I get closer to the light, I can see it’s a person.

“I’m thinking of her.”