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RealityLoading...
by Maia Milcev
You wake up with a bright smile on your face. Today was the day! Excited, you yank at your blanket and jump off the bed. You rush to the bathroom as if there was an invisible force pushing you from behind. You brush your teeth hurriedly and then head back to your room as if you were an eagle dashing back to its nest. You change into the outfit you have picked the night before, which now seemed not good enough, but it had to do. You run down the squeaky stairs, that now no longer bother you. Why were you so excited? Today was the day you graduated from Caltech!
A few hours later…
Finally, you have arrived at the gates of your college. You walk over into your campus, knowing that it was the last time you were walking through the gates as a student. Everything seemed brighter on that day. It seemed like everyone was smiling at you, and the sun cast no shadows, but only rays of light. A few minutes later, you find your group of friends and rush over to them. They are all glowing from the excitement and chattering, gossiping, and exercising their speeches. Nothing could ruin your day.
After the graduation ceremony, to celebrate, your class goes over to the nearby restaurant, Patrick’s, for food and drinks. You join them.
You get back home and are laying on your bed. The couple of hours you spent with your friends feel like a blur. Not a bad blur, or a nauseous one, but just a distorted view of the happy, worry-less, congenial few hours. You are very tired, a pleased tired, however. Knowing what comes next, you try closing your eyes. Slowly, the convulsions slip you back into the abyss you knew was your home. The illusion is no longer there, and you see the gore-colored walls, decorated by the pattern of scratch marks you contributed to. You look around and see the tens of wires anchored in your flesh, filled with drugs that weaken your body by the hour. You laugh at yourself, mocking your faint hopes that this was all a dream. You strain your neck painfully to look at the narrow window on the wall opposite you. You stare at the all too familiar seemingly endless columns of cells just like yours, sheltering human beings in their poisoned womb. Sometimes, you wish you never knew the truth.
A few hours later…
Finally, you have arrived at the gates of your college. You walk over into your campus, knowing that it was the last time you were walking through the gates as a student. Everything seemed brighter on that day. It seemed like everyone was smiling at you, and the sun cast no shadows, but only rays of light. A few minutes later, you find your group of friends and rush over to them. They are all glowing from the excitement and chattering, gossiping, and exercising their speeches. Nothing could ruin your day.
After the graduation ceremony, to celebrate, your class goes over to the nearby restaurant, Patrick’s, for food and drinks. You join them.
You get back home and are laying on your bed. The couple of hours you spent with your friends feel like a blur. Not a bad blur, or a nauseous one, but just a distorted view of the happy, worry-less, congenial few hours. You are very tired, a pleased tired, however. Knowing what comes next, you try closing your eyes. Slowly, the convulsions slip you back into the abyss you knew was your home. The illusion is no longer there, and you see the gore-colored walls, decorated by the pattern of scratch marks you contributed to. You look around and see the tens of wires anchored in your flesh, filled with drugs that weaken your body by the hour. You laugh at yourself, mocking your faint hopes that this was all a dream. You strain your neck painfully to look at the narrow window on the wall opposite you. You stare at the all too familiar seemingly endless columns of cells just like yours, sheltering human beings in their poisoned womb. Sometimes, you wish you never knew the truth.