Best Twist Winner: Never Ending by Lanelle Jandreau
As I walked into the abandoned gym, the ground under me broke with glass. My shoes were covered in sharp clear glasslike shapes. The room was pitch black with a little ray of moonlight. The walls on the left of me felt like foam walls. I walked forward and tripped over something heavy then fell on my face.
I got up only to have a headache and trembling with fear, because I tripped over a dumbbell and landed hands first. My hands covered in glass, I stood up to hear a fly buzzing in my ear. I still can’t see anything around me. I start to feel the walls, I feel a square, like a light switch. I move my hand to feel a button. I press it. The lights turn on which then enhances the room. My heart pounds with fear as I see four walls around me.
All I hear is silence. There is nothing on these four walls. No pictures, no calendars. Just a small square in the middle of this gym. I get confused why this room is in an abandoned gym. I start to panic. As I heard a woman screaming, a part of the wall starts to open.
The opening is big enough where I can just crawl into. The screaming turns into crying. I want to help this person. I start to crawl in without thinking. As I start to get more and more down the tunnel, the light gets darker. I crawl away from the small room. My body starts to shut down. I start to hear other noises, other than the woman’s cries for help. I heard a bang behind me, the bang started to get louder and louder.
By the time I see light the banging has gotten louder. I cuff my ears to try and block out the sound. The banging is too loud for my hands to silence it out. The banging stops for a little bit. I’m almost out. I see light up ahead. My chest starts to pound, I can’t catch my breath. I see the woman. She is coming towards me in the tunnel. The lady is sitting next to me now, I can feel her breathing on me. Her breath is warm.
Then the lady starts to sing “The walls are falling down!” Her singing gets louder and louder. Then she melts away as if she was ice cream on a hot sunny day. I notice her melting away. The tunnel was getting hot. The light I thought was an exit was actually a heater. The heater started to move down the tunnel. I start to crawl towards the opening of the tunnel. I could feel the heater coming towards me.
I get out of the tunnel dripping in sweat. I could feel the top of my hair drenched in sweat. My hair was an ocean of sweat. I see the woman again. She is in the corner of the square room. She is rocking back and forth. The lady was crying. Her arm had a burn on it. I go towards her, as I notice the burn. I found a medical kit in the small room. The lady starts to scream as if I poured hot lava over her head. I drop everything in my hands to cover my ears. As everything drops the woman jumps on me. Her hands cuffed around my wrists. I barely have strength in my body. My body is trembling with fear. The room starts to cave in. The first wall in front of me starts moving irrationally fast. As all the walls start to close in on me, the woman disappears.
Now I am screaming at the top of my lungs. All I hear is sirens. I fell to the ground. I hear people outside shouting. I smell something strange. I turn around to see a fire. The lady must have done something to the light switch. I try to get up off the ground as I hear banging.
There is a man shouting “Is there anyone in here!”
I opened my mouth to shout but I couldn’t. Then I raise my arms towards the walls and start to bang. The man rushes in as he tries to help me.
I shout, “What about the lady?”
The man states “What lady?”
“There was a lady in the corner.” Said trembling with fear.
“You are the only people we found Miss.”
As the man carries me out of the burning room, I see the lady again but she is burning alive. I turn my head only to see my fourth therapist of the day say:
“We should check you into that mental hospital.”