Young Writers Society

White.

Everywhere I looked, White. Where am I? What am I doing here? These questions flooded through my mind as I opened my eyes. I was in a room with dazzlingly bright white walls. At first I thought that it must be a lab but as my eyes adjusted to the light I began to notice the finer details. I was lying on a stone cold table, painted white. There were bars on a small window. Bars? I asked myself. There was a solid looking white door to the left of me and a silver ventilation duct to my right. It was the only thing in the room that was not white. From outside the door I heard footsteps. Terrified I looked for a means of escape and turned to the ventilation pipe. It was screwed on so I used my nails to turn the screws. The footsteps approached and the door opened as I slid into the pipe and not a moment too soon. The door creaked open and a man wearing a white lab coat stepped in. he spoke to someone outside the door, out of view, and hurried off. He looked menacing.

I breathed a sigh of relief and collected my thoughts. My mind turned to where I was. The last memory I had was of taking the bus to school as I did every morning. After that it was all blank, white.

I crawled forwards. The further I went the darker it became until it was pitch black. I wanted to cry out. I felt suffocated, but I knew no help would come from that evil looking man. Ventilation duct? It felt as thought there was no air in here. I’d lost all sense of direction. I was lost. I pressed my ear to the side of the metal tunnel. I heard the whirring of machines and the cries of birds. I must have been near the exit. As I shuffled forwards the tunnel seemed to grow smaller. Very soon I was pulling myself along with my elbows no longer able to crawl. Just then I heard an alarm bell ring and a voice that wasn’t quite foreign, but sounded exotic at the same time.

“Where is the boy?” he cried.

I realised that if I could hear them out there, they could probably hear me too. I stopped moving. Slowly, cautiously, trying not to make any noise I inched forwards and round a bend. Ahead I saw a speck of light. The ventilation shaft came to an abrupt end and I tumbled forwards and hit the floor. This corridor was grey but I could see the end. I pelted forwards. I didn’t care if somebody heard me. I could see the light and I was going to get there. The light was growing smaller as I ran towards it. A security lockdown. I’d heard of them. It was what happened in a prison if a prisoner escaped. All the doors automatically locked. I sucked in my tummy and threw myself through the gap just as the door slammed behind me. I was out in the cool night air.

I slipped into the night.