“How Long Have I Been Here?”

How long have I been here? Where has everyone gone? It’s so dark and cold down here. I don’t remember anything. Where . . . Where is everyone? Surely I’m not alone. Surely I wouldn’t come here by myself. But did I?

Where am I anyway? This dark cylinder is creepy. Am I being held hostage? No. There are windows. But the sunlight is blue. Why does everything outside look murky? Am I in the water? Surely not.

Why is my head throbbing so much? Hold on, is that blood on the ground? I can’t tell. Tastes like blood. I can’t believe I just licked it. Bleh. Is it coming from me? Oh dear, how long have I been out? How long have I been bleeding like that?

Wait. Was that a face? Did I just see a face out of the window? No. I’ve gone crazy. Lost too much blood, that’s all. There’s another face! No, stop it, Annelie, you’re just feeling lonesome. Quit seeing things. You’re loosing it! No. I refuse to believe I just saw two faces out the window.

What creaked? Was that a door? Does this place have more rooms. I’m gonna check it out. Careful, don’t trip on that thing on the ground. Wait. Is that an arm? Connected to a body? Is . . . Is he dead? I don’t feel a pulse. Who else is here? Was I the only one that survived?

Why is this tube creaking? Who is outside? No. I’m seeing things. That wasn’t a face outside the window, and there definitely wasn’t a fish tail connected to a human torso . . . right?

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Thank you so much for reading this short story. The prompt for this story was prompt 2 from Ricky’s Corner. Go on over and check her writing out because she’s amazing and I love her blog. If you liked this story, please hit the like button. If you’ve liked more than one story or you think you want more, feel free to hit the subscribe button.

Love y’all,

Ari D.