Locked Door

Take a deep breath I tell myself. I can barely breathe, I try the door again but it won’t open. What is going on? Who would want to trap me in this room? I touch my hands to my face as the panic once again set in.

My oxygen supply is running out, I know it, I feel it. All of the air is being sucked out of the room by a vacuum, or a heavy suction device. This is it, I am going to die and will never know who did this to me or why. I donate money to charity, hell I just gave a homeless guy $10. So why am I being kidnapped and killed? There is no one who will pay ransom for me, and financially my head is barely above water.

It can’t be an ex, they all left me. Evan, who promised to love me forever, found that blonde at the gym a little too enticing and was gone before I came home from work one night. Once they leave me, I don’t go chasing after them; I figure it’s better to let them live their lives in peace.

The walls start to close in on me. I try pushing them to keep myself from being crushed, to stop from being killed in this way. Who ever thought of moveable walls is a genius, and should be raking in the money. I am about to be compressed, flattened, and yes I will be dead.

I jiggle the handle of the door again, it has to work, and it has to release me from this certain tragic fate that I now face. I close my eyes and silently pray for release, for a miracle to happen before the walls get any closer together, trapping me and my corpse in this hell for a lifetime. Why won’t it open? It’s locked but I can’t tell why, this is it! I’m a goner.

My feet are wet. I look down and see the water seeping up, and the floor is now lurching towards heaven too. It’s a race between the water and the walls to see which one claims my life first, I stomp my feet in defiance. I will not be killed by inanimate object or the liquid we clean ourselves with, I can and will overcome. Water splays on my knee and I realize that it is now ankle deep, where is it coming from?
I refuse to go down like this. There has to be away out of this trap, somehow I must be able to escape. I just need to focus my mind, that’s all I need to do. I close my eyes again trying to assess the situation and come up with a solution before it’s too late. Maybe I could kick down the door, yes that would work, I’ve done it before.

My feet feel like cement because of the water but that has to work in my favor, I reason. I lift my foot to pound against the door, but I lose my balance. My head hits something, I assume a wall, I struggle to sit up but nothing happens. All of this could have been avoided if that damn door had been unlocked, who could have done this to me.

My eyes won’t stay open; I won’t fall into the blackness though. I can’t because if I do there is no coming back for me and there is no way I am going to die without a fight. Like the walls before it, the blackness starts to surround me, hugging me tightly. It’s cold though and I need to break free to warm myself up, the thought propels me to re-open my eyes.

Once I do I spit out water that I must’ve swallowed while I fought against passing out. Bracing myself against one of the walls I slowly lift most of my body out of the water, and see that it only comes to my calf. As I look around I see the sign of the devil written everywhere, and I realize now where I’m at. I am in the waiting room to hell. The death I fought so hard to stop had already happened and now I was stuck in my worst nightmare. Any minute the devil or one of his advocates would be in to tell me what horrendous fate lay ahead of me and how my eternity would be spent. Why was I in Hell though? That’s what puzzled me, as I said earlier is that I always have considered myself a good person.

Finally the locked door, the one that contained my future opened. Rather than being the salvation that I had hoped it would be, was now a harsh reminder that I would no longer be near my family and friends. I was now going to have an eternity of fire and brimstone all by my lonesome. This ending for me fit quite nicely, since I spent the majority of my life alone, isolated from my loved ones.

Bright light shined from behind the door, blinding me temporarily. “Mr. Johnson will you be please be quiet. Other patients’ are trying to get some rest,” I couldn’t make out what she looked like but from the sound of her voice I imagined that she had a pointed green face, with a tongue that darted out with each syllable spoken, and talons for hands.. “If you would like, I can have the doctor come speak with you today, maybe he will life the solitary confinement,” She’s quiet for a moment then asks “Did you pee yourself again?"

“Let me out of here lizard lady!” I won’t give up without a fight. Sure this creature may take me down but I’m already dead so what do I care?

Before she slams the door shut behind her once again, I hear her mutter under her breath “I do not get paid enough to deal with this shit.”