The Inevitable Conversation

I was on my morning walk one Saturday morning with my head in the clouds when I tripped on something and almost fell face-first onto the ground. I looked down to find a strange-looking Rubik's cube. Given that it was shattered on the ground, calling it a cube was a stretch. I looked around to see who it belonged to. When I couldn't find anyone, I picked it up and carried it into my room. Like any rational person would. I stared at it long enough for my mind to concoct explanations for why it was brought there that rivaled even the most outlandish conspiracy theories. After what seemed like hours, I picked it up and slowly began arranging the pieces that fit together.

Suddenly, everything went white. I blinked. I knew I should have listened to my parents when they told me that my screen time would make me go blind. Before I could panic, my vision cleared and I found myself in a plain white room. Of course, I got transported to a twisted Harry Potter-looking dimension. The onetime my conspiracy-concocting brain was right- I’m not alone. Far away a man sits down back turned toward me, enraptured in a book. Great. What is worse than being trapped in a weird white dimension? Being trapped in a weird white dimension with a creepy dude to keep me company. Maybe he brought me here to make me a slave in his huge, otherworldy palace. Or maybe he was a troll and I was dinner.

Now, I began panicking. I looked around. If I was lucky, the walls were a hallucination, and I could walk through it. I walked into the wall and was welcomed by cold brick. Maybe I was dreaming, I pinched myself long enough to leave a scar. Maybe there was a loophole in the walls. I ran my hands along them, desperate for an escape. Eventually, I collapsed onto the floor five seconds away from breaking into loud ugly sobs.

Finally, I had to decide between being stuck here for the rest of eternity or talking to the weird guy, both seemed like equally awful options. Maybe, he was trapped in here too and was not trying to kill me. Considering my excellent luck, I doubted it. I tried to remember what I learned in the karate lessons my mom forced me to take six years ago. I cursed myself for quitting.

The man is still buried in the book. I wonder if it’s one I’ve read. My heart thundering, I approach him. I stand far enough away so that I can through an expert punch if he tries to come at me with a knife, grim reaper style.

“Um…excuse me? Do you know where we are?” I ask.

He looks up at me and without missing a beat says, “Look who finally came around. That wasn’t so hard was it?”

I don't have time to wonder what on Earth he meant because suddenly the world goes white again and this time when my vision clears, I find myself back in my room."