Not much happened for what seemed like hours. I hadn't been there too long before boredom made me try the fasteners on the straitjacket. They had shiny metal and intricate structure in the buckles, and I seemed to lose track of time trying to put them together. Try after try I failed to fasten the sleeves behind behind my back. Leaning against the wall, I decided to fold my arms instead.
It's amazing what boredom can lead to. I'm not quite sure when I started to hum the alphabet....or maybe I hummed Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Either way, I started humming it to pass the time...or maybe to entertain myself. Either way, I forgot about finding an exit. Somehow humming turned to singing. I wished I had a bottle of water. Pretty soon my voice went hoarse without any water to replenish it, but I didn't stop singing, until someone interrupted me.
The door opened, revealing a white hallway...with tiles on the floor outside. I only saw a shadow of a person, holding something in their hand. Stepping forward, the figure chimed flatly: "It's time for your meds."
I stiffened, seeing a nurse with a needle in the full light of the padded room. "Where am I?" The question seemed appropriate for the first time that day.
The nurse smiled sweetly, like she would to a feral dog. "Same place you always are, Parge's Asylum."
I blinked, backing up against the padded wall behind me. "You've got it all wrong! I work in an office building! I'm an accountant!"
She winked with a sparkle in her eyes as she grabbed my arm. "Yesterday you told me you were a straightjacket tester. What will it be tomorrow? A professional bungee jumper?"
"But... I have a driver's license. Let me show you." I fumbled in to reach in my pockets, but straightjackets sleeves had been designed to be too long. I couldn't reach that far.
She didn't respond. "It's in my wallet! In my pocket!" I became more hysterical by the second.
"Calm down now, just a little poke is all." She said soothingly, as she cleared an area on my neck.
With tears running down my face I whimpered. "Please...don't. I don't belong here." I'm pretty sure she couldn't hear the last word bathed in a sob. Then the needle reached my skin, and she forced some medicine into my veins. I blacked out.
These days I spend on what I think is the 13th floor, but I'll never know because they never let me leave. I still wonder if I truly had a life outside of here...or if they're telling me the truth. One day I will get out, and I will learn what exists beyond the 13th Floor.
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