How the Man in the Room Found the Right Place and Nothing New Happened Now

“The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.”

I wrote that down and I knew that I had to because I had my red pen that always went with the reporter’s pad that said, “Reporter’s Pad” right on the front. It is the same red colour as the pen and I know that I can make notes now even if this is very strange and I do not like this place and there is no carpet here and I wonder if I am going to be in trouble because I did not show up for lunch and I am not hungry so should I worry.

“I don’t know why am here.”

That is true that I do not know. They say that if you forget something you should try to remember what you were doing the last time you could remember something and maybe it will be something that will come back to you. That was on the TV show I watched with my mom last night and she said that it was a good idea to always think about your day and then you will be able to relax and go over what you liked and what you did not like about it. The show was called Law and Order and I like that those two words and they look good together.

Law means that you have rules that you have to obey.

Order means you put everything in its right place.

I am not in the right place. I am not…in the home.

So, I need to look around and write down what I see.

“There is one door with a window that is very high up and I can see that the sun is out and the sky is very blue and there are a few clouds but I do not see anyone and I have to stop.”

The door is all grey and I can feel it and it is soft around it because it is like a pillow and I have been able to really touch it and the rest of the room has the same material and the walls are in a pattern like a mattress and no one is stopping me from touching them and I like it.

“David?”

The other voice is not a voice that I know because I would know I remember my mother’s voice, daddy’s voice, the voices of my neighbours, the ladies at the school and the other kids in the separate cubicles. I do not know their names…

“David? Are you all right?”

I look up and stare at the ceiling and I see that there is a speaker that I did not notice before because I was not looking for it and I jump a little bit.

“I’m David.”

There is a small pause and I want to write something in the pad.

“How do you feel today?”

The voice is warm and I am beginning to remember things that I did before I came into the room now and it is all coming back to me and I am thinking about this.

“I am good today, but I do not recognize this room and I do not know why I am here.”

There is a little feedback over the speaker that makes me a little scared, but I look outside the little window that is a little above my head and the sun is out and there are few clouds and the sky is so so blue.

“Yes, well, we had to put you in there because of your behaviour. Do you remember?”

I do not remember it all but I feel like I should look carefully at the room and try to understand what the voice is saying.

“I am…trying because I have the reporter’s pad that is the right colour and the pen is the right colour and I am here and I think that you are the one who put me here for some reason.”

More static hits me and I want to stay on the floor that feels like the door.

“Describe.”

“Sir, you know what I want to do.”

“Describe the room. We left the pen and the paper for you because you are a good boy and need them to talk.”

I want to leave now.

“No.”

“Use your pen and paper.”

Pen and paper. Pen and paper. He means the reporter’s pad that is the right colour and the pen that has the right colour and I look around the room that I do not know and I write down a list that is very neat and tidy and I look at it after I take some time to finish it.

“Bed, two sheets, pillow, table (no drawer), light above the bed, slippers on my feet, my pyjamas (blue and grey top and bottom), carpet on the floor same colour as my pyjamas, walls like cushions and that door with a window and a slot.”

I do not see anything else worth writing down and after I read the list there is a pause from that voice and I see that I am not alone anymore.

There is a face at the window and the man is smiling and I can see that there are a few clouds behind him in the sky.

“Good work. That was very good. Now must take this before you come out again.”

The slot that I only noticed when I was writing about the room opens up and there is a tray with a small paper cup and a larger paper cup with water in it and it is very cool to my hands and I stare at it for a moment.

“You will let me out.”

“Yes, I will. We all will start again.”

I put the pills in my mouth and they are white and blue-red, not like my clothes or the room or the reporter’s pad or the pen and it is hard to do it all with these things in my hand but I like the water. The water is very good.

“Good work. We will begin again.”

They do not notice that I did not swallow all of the pills. The blue-red one is under my tongue as I hear them put in the keys as I wait for the door and I am going to write all about this because I have my reporter’s pad and the pen is the right colour and this is going to be good right now. Right, right now.