- Ross!
Paper Trails
My footsteps
echoed through the concrete hallways, the same sound today as it was yesterday.
I bent down to pick a crumpled piece of paper from the ground and slipped it
into my pocket. Every day was the same for me, I prowled this concrete maze
gathering the paper that lay like breadcrumbs, guiding me through the
labyrinth. Of course by now, I knew that they guided me nowhere, it was but a
sick ruse that gave me false hope of an escape, something that didn’t exist in
this hell.
I have been
here for as long as I can remember, where here is I’m not sure I’ll ever know.
My prison, is a sprawling concrete maze which holds no entrance. At its centre
sits not a grand statue that befits a maze like this, but a small cube that
emits a blue aura. I have spent many hours sat in front of the cube, it’s blue
aura and gentle humming brining a sense of tranquillity over me, allowing me to
mull over my existence here.
I exist to
gather the papers, just as the papers exist for me to gather. Without one the
other would just lay there, gathering dust until the end of time. It is in
front of the cube where all this is clear to me, I understand why I gather the
papers, why I continue to cling on to this desperation to survive, when giving
in is so much easier. Where the blue
aura of the cube reinforces my desire to live, the darkness of the corridors
corrupts me. My mind becomes filled with the same darkness that clouds the
corridors. It envelops my resolve and squeezes it to a pulp, slowly draining me
of my desire to live. More than once I have found myself sprawled in the middle
of a concrete hallway, the papers I treasured now scattered in a fit of hate. I
have found myself lying in the darkness more often now, succumbing to the fact
that I am alone, alone and destined to play this cruel game till I die.
Despite this
sense of isolation, I knew I was not alone; for every day the paper was placed
anew. My captor, whoever they may be kept me here for reasons unknown. They
placed the papers and I picked them up, that seemed to be our lives. My life
consisted of the paper, that was my sole reason to live, but what was a life of
pleasing my captor? The more I realised this the more my view changed; this
paper trail was not leading me to the exit I saw in the aura of the cube, it
took me towards the shackles that already bound me. The paper no longer acted
as my saviour, it now mocked me, laughing at the fact that I was playing the
role of my own captor. My other captor was clever, and I hated him for it.
It was with
this hatred lodged in the forefront of my mind that I sat in front of the cube,
and unlike every other night of this torture I was not cleansed of it. The
hatred stayed, the darkness that had previously lurked only in the corridors
now created an aura that resided within me. My darkness counteracting the tranquillity
of the cube. It is in the darkness that my mind began to wander, and as a
result my plan was born.
It occurred
to me now that this paper did not appear out of nowhere. Every night whilst I
slept my captor must place each piece separately. However sick my captor may be
he’s certainly clever. The cube, much like the paper, was never my friend. The
cube it seems was a device there to be brainwash me, it possessed this
unfathomable power to enter my head and push away my negative thoughts. My
captor wanted me to play this game of his and the cube was his way of making me
do so. It was with the pieces of the puzzle all arranged in my mind that I
found myself crouched in the shadows of a hallway, waiting for my captor to
appear. It was time to escape.
I remained
crouched there for what felt like hours, waiting for the smallest sign of life
besides me. Nothing had happened yet but still I crouched there; this was
nothing compared to the eternity I would spend here if I failed to escape. I
was determined that tonight I would beat my captor at his own game and leave
here, free at last. It was then I saw it; a ghostly blue light emanated from
the hallway to my left. The light rendered my hiding spot useless and so I
stood, ready to face whatever this was. In the middle of the hallway there was
a sphere of the same light suspended in the air. Slowly the sphere grew in
shape and size, moulding itself into an ethereal body. I looked at it, momentarily
paralyzed by its sudden appearance, though even that would not quell my anger.
I ran at it, screaming, the rage the cube once kept in check now bubbled over
and I harnessed it, charging at this body of light with the intent to kill.
I should
have realised that this, thing, whatever it was certainly wasn’t human. It took
my fist passing through the entire of its head to realise that. The momentum
carrying the punch brought me face first into the concrete. Now filled with
fear of the creature I scrabbled backwards from it. It cocked it’s head at me,
perplexed, and shuffled slowly towards me. My back hit the wall but the creature
kept on moving, slowly, drawing out my inevitable demise. The creature now
stood over me, it’s hands moving towards my neck…
…I awoke,
basking in the aura of the cube, being filled with the tranquillity it offered.
I stood and went to collect the papers.
