PROLOGUE · 2 · Where am I?

Man… I was drooling… This is not very comfortable.
Not that you would expect sleeping against a hard surface to be comfortable...
…
…
“Wait, what?”
I open up my eyes suddenly and get up as quickly as I can, as if I had not just been complaining about sleeping face first in a pool of my own drool for at least ten minutes without doing anything about it. My whole body feels just as expected from having slept for who-knows-how-long on the floor and I have to blink for a few seconds before I become aware of my surroundings…

Assuming one would actually call those “surroundings”.

In front of me– a long corridor that looks like it has no end.
Behind me– a wall.
“Where the fuck am I?” is the only thing I can ask myself, and you can at least give me this... it is a rather logical train of thought in my situation. I could continue to look around, standing still like an idiot for hours, and nothing would change – I can tell that for sure. This may be the emptiest corridor I will ever see and I can bet it will the longest as well.
“What am I supposed to do now?” I then ask myself, and this time I do not know if I can give myself credit for asking a logical question, as one would immediately assume I have no other choice than to walk forwards. So I quickly stretch, put my hair back where it should be and remove the absolutely gross drool from my cheek, and I start walking.

And I continue walking.

I… by this point, I could not tell whether I am more scared or bored. I certainly feel lost – I have no idea how I got here and I do not even remember what I was doing before I fell asleep. Figure this, seriously... For what I assume were ten minutes, I simply laid in my own spit, unbothered – and now I, by all means the same person, am endlessly walking through the longest corridor I have ever even seen, towards I don't even know where. That is absurd! Actually, I do not know why I thought those two different actions should be indicative of a potentially torn character. Either way, and maybe it will contribute to showing my actions are typically those of a normal person -  this is the most bizarre situation I have ever been in... And the worst thing about it is that it does not even feel like a dream. Something tells me that it is, for sure, real life, and still, deep down, I cannot believe it is even happening.

Will you believe me though, when I tell you that I have been walking for so long I am in desperate need for a break?
I tried to keep going for as long as I possibly could, truly, but out of all the facts that I am facing, that I need to stop immediately I suddenly trust for sure. As much as I would like out of this nightmarish corridor, I stop walking and just sit on the floor, because where else would I sit? It is just those white walls, the white floor and the white ceiling – and me. “Could a passageway this long really be inside a building?” I wonder, but there is no use in asking questions right now, is there? Nothing can possibly be explained. I am all alone, without even a single insect or a creepy décor to reassure me. There is nothing.

Truly,
nothing.

Sitting there, all on my own, I start to feel like maybe I should give up. I just… I do not even understand what I am doing... I do not know where I am going! I had been trying to keep myself from asking any question, I assumed that all I needed was to go forward, but actually– should I be walking at all? As in, should I have not stayed still, waiting for someone to pick me up? Is there even an exit?
But if someone were to pick me up, who would it be..? Does anyone know where I am..? I sure do not!
…
“I am not going to die here.” As sad as I feel to let myself think such a thing, finally, I realise that I can complain as much as I want, still, I cannot allow myself to do nothing.
I convinced myself pretty easily. I get up right away and start to walk forward again, thinking that my life right now allows no other option – but that is when I realise I have not even tried to call for help. I mean, it had not even crossed my mind, since I’m in a corridor of all places, but now that I think about it, who knows what goes on in such an odd place? Using one of my many talents, I start to yell out with strength.
“Is anyone here?”
Of course, no one answers.
“HEY! HELP ME! PLEASE!”
(Just in case saying “please” convinces the person who had been otherwise ignoring my calls to run to my help.)
...
“Hmpf.”
Hmpf indeed. I cannot say I am either surprised or disappointed. I have been surrounded by nothingness for long enough now that I feel like it is starting to enter me, and that soon I will feel and be nothing too.
I walk, and I walk, and I walk. And my feet start to hurt. But I still walk, because I really want to get out of this stupid empty corridor, and I do not know what else there is for me to do.
So I walk, and I walk, and I walk.
I walk, and I walk, and I walk, and suddenly I see… a door!
“Oh thank God!” I think.

Forget how tired I have been feeling from all the walking - I immediately start running towards it, you know... Just in case it decides to disappear on me. At the end of the whitest of corridors stands out a pitch black door, and that aesthetic choice cannot have been an accident, but right now, I do not really care. When finally I reach it, I immediately try to open it, and frankly… I am surprised to find myself successful.
I have no real reason to be reassured given that I still do not know where in hell I am, but I smile like an idiot as I push the door and step out.