The constant loud honking is now the soundtrack of my situation. It guides me throughout the identical passageways that I zoom through. I don’t know where I am going, but I have no other choice. A sense of freedom mixed with terrifying fear is what keeps my energy running high. I continue running on, not seeing another human being to be found.

Suddenly, I see little holes open up in the wall. Slowly, very thin needles begin to close in through the side. I keep bolting down the never-ending hallway while trying not to get too close to the walls. It feels like they are caving in, except they’re sharp. With every second, the space that I’m in continues to grow narrower.

I see a corner approaching as I watch the room get thinner. All I have to do is turn, but one wrong move could end it all. I start squeeze by the side, nearly jabbing myself on the way. I see the shininess flash besides me out of the corner of my eye.

I can see out into the distance that I’m coming to a dead end. And at that end is the window to the city that I saw earlier. The thought of getting stuck starts to takeover me. I try to pick up the pace and I sprint towards it. I don’t have much time left before I get closed in and I’m hoping that this window will lead to something. I make the final burst, and suddenly I’m there. I take everything that is in me and break through it. The glass shatters and the image of the world fades.

*****

The world is now dark and I can’t see a single thing, but I hear noise coming from somewhere. I’m trapped and isolated, and I also feel like I’m being suffocated. It’s like something is on top of me.

I turn my head and get a view of my living room. Wait.

I was face down on the couch and didn’t even realize it. I’m not sure when I came over here, but I must have fell asleep at some point and had this crazy dream. That all felt so vivid and real, but it’s nice to know that it was an illusion. I never went to that horrifying summer camp and I’ve been home all along. I walk up and turn over the kitchen table, content and relived that this is my actual life.

I approach the table only to see two people sitting on the chairs, and I don’t recognize them. My mother must have invited some work friends that I’ve never met before. I would love to introduce myself, but they are just cutting up slices of steak and ignoring that I’m there. I guess I can just move on and continue where I think I left off before. I move forward and turn the corner into my bedroom and grab the book off my dresser.

I open the book and my bookmark flops right out. I start flipping the pages to find where I was last. But something has changed. The page numbers aren’t in order, and the words on the page don’t make sense either. They all seem jumbled much like the writing I saw in the hallways in front of each classroom. I toss the book onto my dresser, hoping that it will go back to normal at some point. How could this possibly be where I was before my weird dream?

I decide to step out of my room and go back into the kitchen. I discover that the people have now left, leaving their dishes behind on the table. I also notice something else, a diamond studded purse. I’m assuming it belonged to the woman who was here earlier. Hopefully she doesn’t forget to come back for it, I have no way of returning it since I don’t even know her name.

I hear the sound of the front door crack open, and then footsteps shuffling in. I see the man who was here earlier walk into the room. He stops over to the kitchen table and angrily stares directly at me.

“Hey you! What made you think it was right to steal my wife’s purse? That cost $3000.”

“I…I-” I start “I didn’t do anything. I just came in here now, I didn’t know she left it here. Had I known who you were, I would’ve tried to return it to you.”

“Oh so you think because you didn’t know us that you could just keep it? You will pay for this.”

“I never said I wanted to keep it. It’s just a piece of junk, I didn’t know there was value to it.”

The man starts walking over towards me, never loosing contact with my eyes. I dodge over the side of the table, reaching to grab the purse. I stare into his dark, frustrated eyes and throw it into his arms.

“Take it, I never wanted anything to do with it. What is going on right now? Why is everything so different? I mean, you’re literally about to fight me over taking something that I never touched.”

I never get a response. He turns around and walks away to the front door. I follow him as he steps out and closes it. All I can feel is constant tension, this doesn’t seem like it can be regular life.

As he finally exits, I lock the door behind me. I walk back into the living room and flop myself on the couch in attempt to comprehend what is going on, but I just can focus. I hear far too many noises to be able to form a single thought. It sounds like a construction zone, but ten times worse.

“Why!” I yell out pointlessly.

I decide to get myself out of the same spot and get some answer. I open the front door, with the mystery of the man who left still in my mind. I hope he isn’t waiting for me outside.

I set my hand on the handle reluctantly and turn it. I open the door to reveal the outside and step into a world that I haven’t before. The sky is grey, but it’s not from the clouds. It seems like the natural color. If depression was a town, this is what it would look like.

I start walking around the house to see an unrecognizable person in front of my garbage. They are wearing a full hazmat type suit, face covered and all. Only their eyes are visible through smudged clear plastic.

As for the garage, it’s been covered with some sort of stone. There is a weird paste in between them, holding it together. With dirty handed gloves, the person picks up each stone and glues it to the previous one.

“Um, excuse me.” I ask.

Startled, the person jumps and turns around.

“Yes?”

“What is going on?”

I get nothing more than a head shake from them and the stone drops out of their hand. The person gets up and runs off around the corner, how unusual.

Ignoring that, I make my way into the front yard. Cluelessly, I start walking with no destination. Looking over, I can see a man wearing a suit. Not the full body protective kind, but the one you would wear to a formal event. He is staring at me, almost as if he is waiting to give me the answer. I start walking over in hopes of finding out what I do not know.

He starts to speak. “Was the purse returned?”

“Yes”

He picks up his smart watch to his mouth. “We’ve caught the girl.”

“What? Why? What did I ever do? I didn’t steal anything!”

I see his hand dig into his pocket and he pulls out a gun. He brings it up and points it right at me, but I don’t flinch at all. If I can break a window and transport somewhere, then I can very well get shot and I won’t be dead. His finger slips over the trigger, and he pulls it back. The gun budges, but nothing comes out.

“What!” He exclaims.

“That was anti climatic.” I say.

He frowns and moves his hand to speak to his watch again. “I’m unloaded, send out the team.”

Within seconds, I hear the sound of helicopters in the distance. This must be the team he sent out, and I have to get away from him. I begin running until I turn to the space that leads me to the back door. I can get in and act like I never left the house.

Once the door spot actual become visibly, I can see that it already has a layer of the stones applied. Great.

Breaking a window isn’t an option either. I can’t just leave a spot open that someone else can get into. Maybe I can make it back to the front door. I look up at the sky to see helicopters approaching from the distance, and then I begin running. As I speed up, it sounds like something else is crunching through the grass behind me. I turn around and see that the man who tried to shoot me is now coming after me. I’m running faster than ever before, and it brings a feeling that I am on top of the world.

I turn to get to the front door, but I trip by the garage. My constant run is broken when my foot stops against a stone, and I fall on top of the other. I start moving my foot back up, and then forward. I swing it around and push myself off the ground to get back on my feet. I’ve managed to pick myself back up, but I’m cutting this extremely close. The helicopters are nearly over my head as I try to sprint to the front door.

I get to the door, but it’s locked. I twist and turn the handle, but nothing happens. I pull so hard that the door shakes back and forth, still nothing happens.

There are now a few helicopters directly over my house. I see a rope drop down from one of them, and people come sliding to the ground towards me. I look at their black uniforms and read their vests. It’s the FBI. The FBI is actually here, and for me. Never once did I think I could get into this kind of trouble. At fourteen years old I’m already seen as a criminal.

They begin to walk towards me, handcuffs and weapons in their hands. Everyone has a gun in their pocket. The odds of them not working are pretty low now. There is no longer a reason or point to run away, I must let this play out how they want. If they bring me into a smaller situation, then I can control it to my advantage.

My hand slides off of the front door handle, surrendering. Five agents approach me and stop. They are probably wondering when I will take off and are surprised to see me still standing there. I won’t leave. I have already accomplished what I needed.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Rather than an answer, I get handcuffed.