Colored Decisions

As the behemoth released her onto the cold, smooth surface under foot, Melody felt a sense of relief to be free from the captor that had ripped her from her home and family, yet by no means comfortable. This space wasn’t new to her, yet, it wasn’t familiar. Her body shook as she took in her surroundings; everything was white, shiny, and frigid. She backed into a corner and flattened to the plane that rose behind her. The walls, too, held no warmth, mirroring the sensation below her feet. There was nowhere to hide. The view from her station yielded little information; every surface was the same. Her other senses offering nothing, she lifted her face higher, testing the air for any sense of smell that might give her more information to understand better where she was and who else or what else might be near.

Where was her mother? Where was her family? Had they been taken too? Their smell faintly lingered. Remembering the warmth they offered as she slept, she felt very alone. Still, this was not new. She had been here before. She had felt this before. She sniffed the air in search of them, of anything.

PEANUT BUTTER!!!!! CHOCOLATE!!!!!!

Melody was not opposed to eating much of anything, but peanut butter and chocolate drove her to distraction. After a moment, her sight adjusted to the light; looking closer at the endless white, she could identify high and low sheens to the walls' surfaces. Her head and eyes constantly shifting, on guard, she edged forward a bit. Then a bit more.

As she inched along, the cold wall she leaned against ended. Peering left around the corner, still more white. In the distance, a solid yellow square loomed. Each tentative step drew her closer to what appeared to be a barrier of some kind; a memory of warning filled her mind.

‘Yellow is a dead end.’

Still hugging the matted plane of the wall, she crept along until she reached the colored square. Like before, the hallway ended with a yellow dam. 

‘Before?’

Eyes darting left, then right, fright wrought her body; other than the lemony barrier, everything was bleached, colorless. Turning back the way she came, she inhaled deeply, the oxygen doing less to settle her than remind her stomach of the hunger she felt as the delicious odor passed through her nose before filling her lungs. Peanut butter and chocolate still permeate the air, but it is faint. Somehow less recognizable. Somehow more distant. Desiring the satisfaction of it, she presses on. 

Heading back down the hallway, less cautious, having just cleared this expanse moments before. The sense of having been here, done that, permeated her thoughts.

A cacophony of sounds stopped her in her tracks. Danger! The monster! 

‘Where is it coming from?’ 

For a moment, paralyzed, she was unable to proceed. Nothing approaches as she takes in the view from every angle, and the sound dissipates. 

Melody, tentative, takes a step, then another. 

‘Why is this happening?’

Undoubtedly back where she began, she ventures across the opening and starts down the other hallway, arms, and legs shaking even as she walks. 

‘Where is her mama?’

In a moment, a new crossroad presented, again familiar; nonetheless, Melody was unclear which direction held safety and which something worse. Sensing no predators, she ventured once more to the left. More white. Her mom is in the air. Her brothers and sisters too. 

‘Are they close?’

She was moving quicker, wanting them, needing them. Raising her head, she takes in the fullness of the aromas. Others have been here. Also, chocolate. Peanut butter. 

‘Where are they?’

In the distance, another canary wall. Yellow means nowhere to go. 

‘How do I know that?’ 

The sweet smell of diversion is more pungent here. In every other direction, there is nothing but white. Craving just a taste, she moves up to the golden wall. Nothing!

Irritated at her stupidity, 

‘Nothing good comes from yellow.'

Turning around, less cautious, she moves back down the hall she just traversed, stopping only momentarily as she reaches the hallway that led her here. In a moment, she continues past it.

The sweet smells more potent as she moves forward. Picking up her pace, she quickly reaches another forked hallway. Peering first to her right, she identifies a bluish square in the distance. Back to the left the color of hopelessness. Her body tenses. 

‘What does blue mean?’

Yellow had always been her favorite color. If asked what she thought of blue, she would have to say she didn’t like it. Her body shook as she contemplated her decision.

Looking again at the sapphire-colored wall, then the yellow, feeling manipulated, she turned back and headed toward the blue. Not risking the path ending in heartbreak.

She stopped, her body shaking. A sonorous bellow surrounded her. Recognizing the sound of danger, she pushed against the wall, making herself small, coveting somewhere to hide.

It stopped, and she waited as her pulse began to settle. Rotating her head left, then right, no danger approached, but the smell was more substantial. She could almost taste the peanut butter and chocolate, the smell had grown in intensity, but the aroma of the others, her family, was fainter. Some had been here before, definitely mama. But not all of those she smelled moments before had traveled this way.

With a tentative step, she began towards the sea-colored wall. As she approached, the hallway opened to the right in front of her. Looking down the new hall, she again saw a blue monument. Bypassing the opening, she continued to the square of lapis lazuli she had first seen. Again, nothing. She sensed that blue was good. But there was nothing here. 

Growing hungry and maybe a bit more confident, she headed back to the opening she had just passed. Blue was good. Yellow was bad. But where was it all leading her?

Even as she felt her confidence rise, the muscles in her back tightened with the fear of the unknown. Where were these panels of blue leading her? Was the smell pulling her towards fulfillment or disaster?

She moved toward the second blue wall with a vigor that hadn't been there since she found herself in this chaos of hallways and dead ends.

The azure wall stood opposite her with openings right and left. Peeking to the right, something round, the color of night, lay on the floor far in the distance. Craning her head in the other direction, she saw nothing but the colorless sheen of her hell.

She backed up and crouched along the dull, cool surface of the wall. Her body trembled. She was startled by the small squeak that emitted from her throat. She wanted to go home. She needed her mama.

She sensed she had been here before. The flattened blue circle somehow signified frustration. 

A memory took shape. This was definitely not her first time here. She had been here before or somewhere very similar. She had examined that thing from every angle. Walked all around it. She remembered tentatively touching it. 

Her stomach growled. Finally, the burgeoning scent of chocolate and peanut butter overcame her inhibition. Without looking back left, she proceeded to the hall on her right and darted toward the end of the hallway that led to the blue dot.

She approached it and stopped short. Her body was quivering; the memories cascaded through her mind. The giant. Peanut butter and chocolate. Her family. They were all connected. Putting one foot in front of another, she circled the disc. Not unlike a pool of water. It rose almost imperceptibly above the floor. It appeared to be bigger than her whole body.

Unsure of what to do, she stepped away and looked all around the space. White. Only white. And that damn blue circle. And the smell. The stench of her fear mingled with the heavenly aromas, and her head and back ached with tension.

Throwing caution to the wind, with all the associated consequences racking her brain, she again advanced toward the elevated disc. She knew she had to mount it. Lifting one foot onto the dais, then another, until her whole weight rested on the blue ring.

A grinding sound rose behind her, and she jumped for the safety of the far corner. Only turning back to the sound when her body flattened against the joint of two walls.

Across the open space, she watched as the opposite wall rose. A mound of chocolate and peanut butter revealed itself in the void beyond. In an instant, she crossed the opening and perched at the base of the pile of ecstasy. 

In a moment, the roof over her head disappeared, and the giant stood over her; his roaring growl shattered the moment of satisfaction, “She did it”

“Melody, that is a new record.”

Looking at the stopped timer, Dr. McElvaney replaced the wall he had removed seconds before, closing Melody in the small area, and she returned to eating.

“Can you believe it, Dr. Steward?”

Peering over Melody as she dined, “This one is something special. Yes you are little Melody. They said we couldn’t do it, didn’t they? A splice here and snip there, and now you’re a superhero.”

Dr. Steward laughed, “You have to stop calling her Melody. She is Mus Musculus #312B4. Or Mouse #312B4 if you must. You talk to her like a pet. I remember when you talked that way to your daughter. It's been years, but it is all coming back to me. You are one crazy dude. Brilliant yes. But I think one or two screws have come loose in your brain.”

Dr. McElvaney watched as Melody finished the reward. 

He stroked her tiny back as he reached and took Melody into his hand. Looking over his shoulder at the stopped digital clock on the wall, “Will you log the time? She pushed the button at exactly five minutes and seventeen seconds.”

Melody shook from head to tail. Tricked again. Sensing this would be the end. 

The smell of her mama hit her before she heard the door creak, signaling she was home. As the ogre released her onto shredded wood chips and paper flooring, she scampered over to her mama and snuggled into her body. Pushing her brothers and sisters away, the feeling of safety again filled her. As she began to doze, she thought of peanut butter and chocolate.