I
moved—but just barely—until I reached the washer and climbed up on
my stool. I flung open the lid of the washer (careful to use my
left hand this time) and proceeded to try desperately to get my fly
down.
As soon as my body was aware that it was
going to get to pee soon my amazing dam-like control over my
bladder seemed to weaken by an appreciable amount, and I began
losing the war against wet trousers in small squirts.
Finally managing to get myself freed from the
prison my jeans had become, I aimed to where I was pretty certain
the opening of the washer was, (at this point I really didn’t care
if my aim was off,) and let loose. The amount of relief that came
from accommodating that simple biological necessity was tantamount
to the level of pain I had endured throughout that miserable
day.
I stood there for what felt like hours, and
when I finally finished my business I kicked my shoes off and
stripped my trousers and underwear off and threw them in the washer
on top of the already thrice washed towels. I closed the lid and
felt around for the knob. It was tricky to get it set right in the
dark but I finally managed, and got the washer going.
I wasn’t about to try and go back to sleep
laying there exposed, in nothing but my socks and a tee-shirt, so I
felt my way over to the linens cupboard that stood near the washer
and found a blanket which I wrapped snugly around myself.
I had just hobbled back to my chair when I
remembered that there was an old mattress leaning up against the
wall, very near the linens cupboard. I dithered for a moment on
whether or not it was worth the effort tonight to drag it over to
where my chair was setting, but the kink that was already
developing in my neck from laying on the chair made me decide that
it was, indeed, worth the effort.
Dropping my blanket on the chair, I went and
found the mattress and dragged it over near the chair. There wasn’t
enough room for a mattress and a chair so I had to fold up the
chair and slide it out of the way; no easy task in the pitch dark,
I assure you.
With that done, I plopped the mattress down
in place of the chair and searched around a bit for my blanket.
Once I found it I plopped myself down on the mattress, snuggled as
deeply as I could into the blanket and fell promptly back to
sleep.
I slept through the rest of the night, but
was plagued by a horrible dream. I dreamt that I was running
through an endless hallway, dimly lit by wall sconces set about
five feet up from the floor on either side of the walls. All the
sconces were shaped like the Snoopy night-light in our own hallway,
only much larger. Every sconce showed Snoopy peacefully sleeping on
his doghouse and each Snoopy would have been about a foot tall if
he were standing on his hind legs.
There were doors on both sides of the stone
walls spaced at intervals of about ten feet and set directly across
from each other.
Something was chasing me. I couldn’t see it,
but I knew it was there. I could hear it making slurping and
dragging sounds behind me, leading me to believe it was the
tentacle ridden blob that I imagined beneath the boxes.
I ran as fast as I could, but it was not fast
enough. The sounds behind me kept getting louder. I stopped and
tried a couple doors—they were locked. The monstrosity was gaining
on me. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if I could see it in
the dim light, but behind me was all darkness. The Snoopy sconces
were shutting off as I ran past them, leaving nothing but a black
void behind me.
I was running out of breath, my lungs and
legs were burning, but I knew if I stopped whatever was behind me
was going to get me for certain. It was already very close. I could
hear it just behind me. I looked, but saw nothing. As I swiveled me
head forward again I had just enough time to see that the hallway
ended abruptly in a solid stone wall before I plowed into it and
fell down.
I landed flat on my back, but quickly rolled
over and sat up, and pushed my
moved—but just barely—until I reached the washer and climbed up on
my stool. I flung open the lid of the washer (careful to use my
left hand this time) and proceeded to try desperately to get my fly
down.
As soon as my body was aware that it was
going to get to pee soon my amazing dam-like control over my
bladder seemed to weaken by an appreciable amount, and I began
losing the war against wet trousers in small squirts.
Finally managing to get myself freed from the
prison my jeans had become, I aimed to where I was pretty certain
the opening of the washer was, (at this point I really didn’t care
if my aim was off,) and let loose. The amount of relief that came
from accommodating that simple biological necessity was tantamount
to the level of pain I had endured throughout that miserable
day.
I stood there for what felt like hours, and
when I finally finished my business I kicked my shoes off and
stripped my trousers and underwear off and threw them in the washer
on top of the already thrice washed towels. I closed the lid and
felt around for the knob. It was tricky to get it set right in the
dark but I finally managed, and got the washer going.
I wasn’t about to try and go back to sleep
laying there exposed, in nothing but my socks and a tee-shirt, so I
felt my way over to the linens cupboard that stood near the washer
and found a blanket which I wrapped snugly around myself.
I had just hobbled back to my chair when I
remembered that there was an old mattress leaning up against the
wall, very near the linens cupboard. I dithered for a moment on
whether or not it was worth the effort tonight to drag it over to
where my chair was setting, but the kink that was already
developing in my neck from laying on the chair made me decide that
it was, indeed, worth the effort.
Dropping my blanket on the chair, I went and
found the mattress and dragged it over near the chair. There wasn’t
enough room for a mattress and a chair so I had to fold up the
chair and slide it out of the way; no easy task in the pitch dark,
I assure you.
With that done, I plopped the mattress down
in place of the chair and searched around a bit for my blanket.
Once I found it I plopped myself down on the mattress, snuggled as
deeply as I could into the blanket and fell promptly back to
sleep.
I slept through the rest of the night, but
was plagued by a horrible dream. I dreamt that I was running
through an endless hallway, dimly lit by wall sconces set about
five feet up from the floor on either side of the walls. All the
sconces were shaped like the Snoopy night-light in our own hallway,
only much larger. Every sconce showed Snoopy peacefully sleeping on
his doghouse and each Snoopy would have been about a foot tall if
he were standing on his hind legs.
There were doors on both sides of the stone
walls spaced at intervals of about ten feet and set directly across
from each other.
Something was chasing me. I couldn’t see it,
but I knew it was there. I could hear it making slurping and
dragging sounds behind me, leading me to believe it was the
tentacle ridden blob that I imagined beneath the boxes.
I ran as fast as I could, but it was not fast
enough. The sounds behind me kept getting louder. I stopped and
tried a couple doors—they were locked. The monstrosity was gaining
on me. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if I could see it in
the dim light, but behind me was all darkness. The Snoopy sconces
were shutting off as I ran past them, leaving nothing but a black
void behind me.
I was running out of breath, my lungs and
legs were burning, but I knew if I stopped whatever was behind me
was going to get me for certain. It was already very close. I could
hear it just behind me. I looked, but saw nothing. As I swiveled me
head forward again I had just enough time to see that the hallway
ended abruptly in a solid stone wall before I plowed into it and
fell down.
I landed flat on my back, but quickly rolled
over and sat up, and pushed my
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