A Dreamer's Worlds

Birds of a Feather (Part 1 of Better Purpose)

The alarm shrieked at me, its shrill cry jolting me awake. I groaned, not wanting to get up even to silence the offending object. Heck, I shouldn't even have to silence the alarm clock.

The thing is, I don't own an alarm clock.

I opened my eyes. The alarm clock was still screeching. It wasn't even beeping, just making the most annoying siren call I've ever heard.

Still, I let it go. I needed to figure out I was. The alarm clock was one of those satellite clocks, all sleek and futuristic. I could see a brown wall behind it with a short desk pushed up against the wall.

Obviously I was in a bedroom, and it seemed like I was alone.

I hit the snooze alarm, then sat up and turned the alarm clock off for good measure.

That done, I checked myself for any injuries.

I seemed fine. No pain anywhere.

I was in my own body, which was very nice and something I'd actually be worried about.

I was only wearing pajama pants, but that was normal. I didn't sleep with a shirt on.

What wasn't normal was that this wasn't my bedroom. I got out of the bed and crept to the door.

There was carpet underneath me, so at least it wasn't hard to creep. The door, on the other hand, clearly needed to be oiled. It creaked a little as I nudged it open.

I almost ran back to the bed, but since no one heard me, I stayed.

I even pushed the door open a bit more.

Then more.

Little more.

I opened it all the way now, figuring that if something was going to get me, it would've gotten me by now.

I stepped out into the hallway, which had carpet too but the walls were made of some smooth metal. They were cold to the touch, but putting my hand on the wall as I walked was comforting.

I could use all the comfort I could get, really. I definitely wasn't where I'd fallen asleep last night.

The hallway was long, with a door every once in a while. They probably led to big rooms, and while I would've loved to go in one of them, I didn't. They were probably dead ends.

They were also locked, but the dead ends logic sounded better.

Not having anything better to do, I kept walking down the hallway. I'd have to reach an unlocked door eventually, right?

Right?

Carpet changed to wood, and I figured I was entering some place it would be hard to keep clean.

I was right. The hallway widened out into a large area that looked like a food court, if there was actually food. The shops that would advertise food had no signs or even a hint of anything edible.

Fancy, though. The wood under my feet seemed like an expensive kind, but it could've been colored that way. Make the cheap look expensive.

The tables were a couple steps down from the rest. Shallow as they were, I had to walk a bit to go down another.

They were just round cafeteria tables, like you'd see in a food court or a school. The benches were attached to the tables, which was useless information unless I planned on figuring out how to use it to my advantage.

I didn't plan to at all, so I jogged up to the shop area. It was completely blank, but I could climb over the counters and see if there was anything useful.