Lottery 1
Steven knew his traveling companion would not return for him. So as soon as he could stand he jumped around until he found a rusty old hinge with a sharp enough edge to maybe cut through some rope. He rubbed the rope against the edge til it began to get dark. Just as he was going to give up, the rope broke free.
He breathed a sigh of relief and began fiddling with ropes around his ankles.
He climbed up the fire escape of one of the buildings and laid down on the rooftop. Looking at the stars, he could see how vast they were outside the city lights. He began to feel very small, it shook him slightly. He looked away from it. He hadn’t felt so alone ever in his life. Alone and insignificant. He could die here tonight, no one would ever know. He had no identification on him. The vultures would eat what remained of him after he died, no one would know. He glanced back up at the stars.
So many stars, so many planets, moons, suns, universes. Why was this happening to him? What had ever done to anyone to warrant this kind of karma?
In the near distance he heard a howling noise, a coyote maybe a wolf. Steven did not know. He was safe here on the rooftop. The air began to grow cold. Steven closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Christine woke up in a plain white room with no windows. There were two of everything else. Two doors, two beds, two standing closets, even two desks and chairs. The room was divided evenly in half, but she was the only person in it. She sat up and looked at her clothes, they looked like hospital scrubs, but they were light beige. She got up and walked tot eh first door and opened it, but it lead to a single sink, toilet, and shower.
She opened the other door and it led to a hallway lined with numbered doors. She looked at her door it was “Eight”. “Nine” was across the hall, all the doors on that side were odd numbered. She followed the numbers down the hall until she reached one and noticed the hallway open to a common area and a nurses station.
A thin man in his early thirties looked up, “Good afternoon Christine Barrett, or should I call you something else?”
“Where am I?”
“You are in the Janston County Mental health facility, for a mandatory seventy two hour hold.” he explained slowly. “You’re just in for a mental health evaluation. If you work with your therapist and psychologist you should be out of here in no time.”
“No time?” Christine sounded insulted. “My kids have been kidnapped by the mob!”
Two large tech emerged from the back of the nurses station and grabbed Christine’s arms.
“I assure you, we are only here to help.” The thin man replied. “You are not doing your assessment any favors by throwing around wild accusations. Your paranoid delusions are not going to warrant you any sympathy here. I would suggest you keep your emotional outburst at a minimum, or you will be sedated and put in the quiet room for your own safety.”
“My own safety?!?” Christine screeched incredulously as she tried to wiggle free.
The thin man sighed and waved his right hand.
The two techs drug Christine down and adjacent hallway and into the “Quiet Room”. Despite her objections, she was strapped onto the bed and given a quick injection. The door closed behind the techs. Christine screamed at the top of her lungs, but no one could hear her. She screamed until the drugs kicked in and lost the will to continue fighting. She did her best to combat the drowsiness, until it too over took her.