Gray Box

-1-

Hello! My name is Kanari. I live in a gray room. Well, I think I live in a gray room. I actually don’t know. One day, I just woke up in a different place, different from my room, and that’s where I am right now.

To be honest, I’m not even sure if this room is gray. Everything is gray in this room. The bed is gray, the desk is gray, the chair is gray, the books are gray, my clothes are gray, and even my skin is gray. But that’s wrong. I know that my skin is pale with an orange tint. I know that these jeans I’m wearing are deep navy blue. I know that plants are green due to chlorophyll. But everything is gray. Maybe I’m looking at the world through gray-tinted glasses.

-2-

It’s been exactly two weeks since I remember living in this gray room. How do I keep track of days, you ask? I don’t. I just go to sleep when tired, and when I wake up, I count that as a new day. Also, every time I wake up, a tray of food is placed at the front of my door.

Speaking of doors, I can’t seem to get out of this room. There is a window, but that thing is shut solid. And as for the door, it seems to be locked from the other side, so I can’t open it. There is a bathroom, but the vents on the ceiling don’t have any bolts that I can unscrew, and I don’t think I could even fit inside them in the first place. So in conclusion, I’m trapped. I was probably kidnapped and am being held hostage. Why? I don’t know.

Back to the food. Even though whoever—or whatever—brought me here clearly didn’t want me getting out any time soon, it seems that they are feeding me pretty well. The tray in front of me has three boxes, each labeled “Breakfast,” “Lunch,” and “Dinner.” Each labeled with a black sharpie.

They’re also surprisingly balanced nutritionally. Honestly, I’m eating better than when I was living back in my cramped apartment, so I’m not particularly complaining about this aspect of my confinement. Today, I had granola with berries in almond milk for breakfast, salmon with mashed potatoes for lunch, and shrimp paella with Caesar salad for dinner.

-3-

I’m borrreeeeedddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd. I don’t have my phone, tablet, or notebook with me. The only thing that’s here is this old computer that requires floppy disks. I’ve never even used floppy disks before. They’re like a relic of the past.

But, today, I’ve gotten an opportunity to use them. When I woke up, the tray had a mysterious fourth box alongside the usual three I got for food. It was labeled “???” with a blue sharpie. Informative. I know.

When I opened it, I discovered a weird, flat little black square with a hole in the middle. It was a floppy disk! I marveled at how outdated yet cool it looked. I immediately went over to the computer, throwing the box to the corner of my room, and inserted the disk. Or, at least, I tried to. It took me half an hour to finally manage to put in the disk, and probably another ten to actually boot up the computer.

On the black and green screen, words started to show up, accompanied by the whirling of the computer fan.

-Hello, Kanari Tsephorah. Welcome to the Gray Box. You seem to be confused about why, and how, you ended up here. Those are all needless questions. For now, all you need to know is that you're safe. See you tomorrow.

After those last words, the screen froze for a minute, then shut down. I tried to withdraw, then put the disk back in, hit the computer, unplug and replug the power cord, but the screen wouldn’t turn back on. I was even more confused than I was before at what was going on. Why can’t I see colors? Have I always never known colors? Then why do I know what a red is, or what a blue is?

The only thing I could do was wait until tomorrow. And the only way tomorrow would come was if I were to sleep. So, I did the only thing I could do. I slept.

-4-

-Welcome back, Kanari Tsephorah. I hope you slept well. It seems that I was rude yesterday by not even introducing myself. My name is E. I am an EBD(עבד). You know what that means. I am here to help you adjust while things get sorted out. Like I said. You know what that means. You also most likely are having difficulty bringing up recent memories, right? That’s because you have amnesia. Again, like I stated, this is for your safety. I shall see you again tomorrow.

That’s it? Again? I tried to see if the keyboard and mouse even did anything. They didn’t. I leaned back against the backless chair in frustration, falling to the ground with a heavy thud. The carpet didn’t do much to soften my fall.

I took the tray that laid in front of me in defeat. But then, I realized something. Yesterday’s tray was gone even though I didn’t even eat anything from it. In fact, the trays would always be replaced every morning that I wake up. And, I checked the corner of my room that I threw the box to, and it wasn’t there.

That means that someone had to have come in here to clean this place up. While I was asleep. And they were probably the same ones that were giving me the tray with food. How long was I asleep for? I don’t know. All I have to go off is that it was ample time for them to clean my room and for me to feel hungry after not eating the previous day.

With this newfound knowledge, I decided to do what I do most: sleep.

-5-

I lied. I didn’t sleep. I just pretended to be asleep by closing my eyelids and thinking about dogs.

One hour in and nothing.

Two hours in and nothing.

Three hours in and nothing.

Four hours in and nothing.

Five hours in and nothing.

Six hours in a— zz zzz zzz z zzzzzzz zzz z z zzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzz z zzzzzzz zzz zz z z zzzz zzzzzzzz zzzzz

I failed to discover who the person coming into my room was and fell asleep. When I woke up, the boxes in the tray were fresh, and there was an envelope this time along with them. I peeled it open to find a short note that said,

If you try that again, you will face consequences. We know when you’re up to something. We’re you.

What does that mean? Before I could contemplate any further, my stomach growled. That made sense since I haven't eaten anything for 2 days now. Or at least, what seemed like 2 days. I opened the box on the left labeled, “Breakfast” and ate the bacon and toast with sunny side up eggs. It was good.

There was no new message from EBD today.