So I've come here again. It's funny how little time it takes for things to go wrong.
The corridor is filled with a strange lavender light. It stretches out endlessly in front of me and the end (or the beginning?) is indistinguishable amidst the shadows. Above me; lightbulbs suspended from the ceiling that give off that eery purple glow. They are spaced evenly and follow the narrow hallway into the long dark. The black cords from which they lights are strung stretch up into nowhere and don't appear to be connected to anything. I look more closely; the cords writhe and start to split into smaller tendrils that resemble nerve endings. The lightbulbs seem to change, too. Alien gazes, lavender eyed, follow me as I start moving.
I make the mistake of looking down. The floor, grey carpeted, shifts and ripples and I find myself suddenly up to my ankles in cold black water that reflects the purple bulbs. Twin ceilings (floors?) and the corridor seems to be entirely swallowed into the inky abyss. Carefully, I stretch out a hand and am surprised when it brushes the firm surface of the wall I had only moments before lost sight of. It appears as though the structure is still very much present. To confirm this I reach out my other hand and, yes, the cool surface of the parallel wall presses back against my fingertips. Reassured, I continue walking in the strange shadow-and-lavender-lit space. I must have been a strange sight, to walk with arms spread like wings.
I don't know for how long I walked. The water, oddly warm, slosh against my feet and sent ripples that distort the reflection of the orbs. I often pressed more firmly against the walls in the attempt to feel for a change in direction, perhaps a crossing way in which the corridor branched off but found nothing. The corridor went on endlessly straight. My arms were beginning to tire.
On and on and on and on. The strange purple lightbulbs hovering above me pass in slow succesion. The ones in the water progress at an equal pace. I'd started counting my paces but had lost track. (100? 1000? More? Less? Or perhaps I hadn't moved at all...)
The scene became monotonous. I close my eyes and continue forward, guided by touch alone. The water continues sloshing about my feet and fill my ears and the empty spaces of my skull. I was reminded of something (the sea?) but the thought went away as quickly as it came. Without warning the gentle sloshing of the water is replaced by a thunderous roar and the temperature plummets, sending painful spikes of ice shooting up my legs. Strong currents grip my ankles and the air gains a salty tang. Almost instantly all this cedes and I pause for a moment, frowning, focusing.
The lavender lights wait patiently with me. The rippling water below me murmurs as I shift my weight. A moment passes. Another. I shrug, stop concentrating, and resume walking. It must have been nothing. As I walk this event fades from my memory and I would be unable to recall it later.
Another unmeasurable amount of time elapses. God my arms are on fire.
It happens so suddenly I almost miss it. The wall to my left, which up to this point had been following quite faithfully abruptly cedes and my fingers trail cold air instead. I halt, eyes flying open, head snapping left.
There was nothing. An abyss, as clear and as dark as everything that surrounds me. The only difference is that by all appearances the wall should still have been there. I flex the fingers of my left hand and can feel, only faintly, a cool draft of air pass by. Another moment passes. Another draft, this one a bit stronger. In any case, an indication that there was, indeed, a space there. I turn towards it and take a step in the direction of the opening.
Once I pass by the threshold there was a shift. The space seemed to open up around me; the sound of the sloshing water was no longer restricted by the narrow bounds of the corridor. After a moment's hesitation, I let my arms fall to my sides to ease the burning and let out a sigh; my arms shake but they no longer hurt so much. I take the moment of rest to glance out ahead of me but it is black and there is nothing. The dark weighs heavily on my eyes and I glance back over my shoulder in hopes of spotting the lavender orbs. They have disappeared.
For a moment I stand there dumbly, staring in disbelief. Something like panic claws at my throat and the balloons that are my lungs inflate-deflate at an alarming rate. My fingers grope for the wall before I can process what I'm doing. As soon as my skin brushes the familiar flat surface I let out a harsh breath and slump against the structure. Relief floods through me and after a few moments I am calm again. It takes me another moment to realize that somewhere in the process of all this the water had disappeared.
I crouch, back against the wall. My hands reach out in front of me and pat the ground awkwardly. The floor (stone?) is dry and any evidence the water had existed at all is gone. I raise back up to my feet and for the first time become aware of the empty space in front of me. The nothingness beyond the weight of the shadows on my eyes. I frown. I try to form thoughts.
Another immeasurable amount of time elapses. I stand staring at nothing, concentrating. Trying to think. I grab the shadowy figure of a thought in the cavern that is my skull but it slips from me, disappears. I try again. Nothing. Another thought that escapes. And, then, finally-
Where am I?
The thought flows so smoothly that I start.
Where am I?
And then-
I need to get out.
I blink at this and peer into the darkness again. This time, instead of words, I try to conjure up images. I start -as much as I can, anyway- envisioning the strange lavender lights from earlier. The lightbulbs, alien eyes, black cords ,nerve endings. The corridor. The hazy purple glow over all of it. The endless stretch of lights into nothing.
A moment passes. Another. Nothing. And then-
The corridor is filled with a strange lavender light. It stretches out endlessly in front of me and the end (or the beginning?) is indistinguishable amidst the shadows. Above me; lightbulbs suspended from the ceiling that give off that eery purple glow. They are spaced evenly and follow the narrow hallway into the long dark. The black cords from which they lights are strung stretch up into nowhere and don't appear to be connected to anything. I look more closely; the cords writhe and start to split into smaller tendrils that resemble nerve endings. The lightbulbs seem to change, too.
Alien gazes, lavender eyed, follow me as I start moving.
God my arms are on fire.
I need to get out.
The corridor is filled with a strange lavender light.
And then-
The corridor is filled with a strange lavender light. It stretches out endlessly in front of me and the end (or the beginning?) is indistinguishable amidst the shadows. Above me; lightbulbs suspended from the ceiling that give off that eery purple glow. They are spaced evenly and follow the narrow hallway into the long dark. The black cords from which they lights are strung stretch up into nowhere and don't appear to be connected to anything. I look more closely; the cords writhe and start to split into smaller tendrils that resemble nerve endings. The lightbulbs seem to change, too. Alien gazes, lavender eyed, follow me as I start moving.
I make the mistake of looking down. The floor, grey carpeted, shifts and ripples and I find myself suddenly up to my ankles in cold black water that reflects the purple bulbs. Twin ceilings (floors?) and the corridor seems to be entirely swallowed into the inky abyss. Carefully, I stretch out a hand and am surprised when it brushes the firm surface of the wall I had only moments before lost sight of. It appears as though the structure is still very much present. To confirm this I reach out my other hand and, yes, the cool surface of the parallel wall presses back against my fingertips. Reassured, I continue walking in the strange shadow-and-lavender-lit space. I must have been a strange sight, to walk with arms spread like wings.
I don't know for how long I walked. The water, oddly warm, slosh against my feet and sent ripples that distort the reflection of the orbs. I often pressed more firmly against the walls in the attempt to feel for a change in direction, perhaps a crossing way in which the corridor branched off but found nothing. The corridor went on endlessly straight. My arms were beginning to tire.
On and on and on and on. The strange purple lightbulbs hovering above me pass in slow succesion. The ones in the water progress at an equal pace. I'd started counting my paces but had lost track. (100? 1000? More? Less? Or perhaps I hadn't moved at all...)
The scene became monotonous. I close my eyes and continue forward, guided by touch alone. The water continues sloshing about my feet and fill my ears and the empty spaces of my skull. I was reminded of something (the sea?) but the thought went away as quickly as it came. Without warning the gentle sloshing of the water is replaced by a thunderous roar and the temperature plummets, sending painful spikes of ice shooting up my legs. Strong currents grip my ankles and the air gains a salty tang. Almost instantly all this cedes and I pause for a moment, frowning, focusing.
The lavender lights wait patiently with me. The rippling water below me murmurs as I shift my weight. A moment passes. Another. I shrug, stop concentrating, and resume walking. It must have been nothing. As I walk this event fades from my memory and I would be unable to recall it later.
Another unmeasurable amount of time elapses. God my arms are on fire.
It happens so suddenly I almost miss it. The wall to my left, which up to this point had been following quite faithfully abruptly cedes and my fingers trail cold air instead. I halt, eyes flying open, head snapping left.
There was nothing. An abyss, as clear and as dark as everything that surrounds me. The only difference is that by all appearances the wall should still have been there. I flex the fingers of my left hand and can feel, only faintly, a cool draft of air pass by. Another moment passes. Another draft, this one a bit stronger. In any case, an indication that there was, indeed, a space there. I turn towards it and take a step in the direction of the opening.
Once I pass by the threshold there was a shift. The space seemed to open up around me; the sound of the sloshing water was no longer restricted by the narrow bounds of the corridor. After a moment's hesitation, I let my arms fall to my sides to ease the burning and let out a sigh; my arms shake but they no longer hurt so much. I take the moment of rest to glance out ahead of me but it is black and there is nothing. The dark weighs heavily on my eyes and I glance back over my shoulder in hopes of spotting the lavender orbs. They have disappeared.
For a moment I stand there dumbly, staring in disbelief. Something like panic claws at my throat and the balloons that are my lungs inflate-deflate at an alarming rate. My fingers grope for the wall before I can process what I'm doing. As soon as my skin brushes the familiar flat surface I let out a harsh breath and slump against the structure. Relief floods through me and after a few moments I am calm again. It takes me another moment to realize that somewhere in the process of all this the water had disappeared.
I crouch, back against the wall. My hands reach out in front of me and pat the ground awkwardly. The floor (stone?) is dry and any evidence the water had existed at all is gone. I raise back up to my feet and for the first time become aware of the empty space in front of me. The nothingness beyond the weight of the shadows on my eyes. I frown. I try to form thoughts.
Another immeasurable amount of time elapses. I stand staring at nothing, concentrating. Trying to think. I grab the shadowy figure of a thought in the cavern that is my skull but it slips from me, disappears. I try again. Nothing. Another thought that escapes. And, then, finally-
Where am I?
The thought flows so smoothly that I start.
Where am I?
And then-
I need to get out.
I blink at this and peer into the darkness again. This time, instead of words, I try to conjure up images. I start -as much as I can, anyway- envisioning the strange lavender lights from earlier. The lightbulbs, alien eyes, black cords ,nerve endings. The corridor. The hazy purple glow over all of it. The endless stretch of lights into nothing.
A moment passes. Another. Nothing. And then-
The corridor is filled with a strange lavender light. It stretches out endlessly in front of me and the end (or the beginning?) is indistinguishable amidst the shadows. Above me; lightbulbs suspended from the ceiling that give off that eery purple glow. They are spaced evenly and follow the narrow hallway into the long dark. The black cords from which they lights are strung stretch up into nowhere and don't appear to be connected to anything. I look more closely; the cords writhe and start to split into smaller tendrils that resemble nerve endings. The lightbulbs seem to change, too.
Alien gazes, lavender eyed, follow me as I start moving.
God my arms are on fire.
I need to get out.
The corridor is filled with a strange lavender light.
And then-
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