Room 22: Excerpt

Chapter 3

It was the sun that woke Dylan up, not the bell. The bars over the window made the light come through in weird ways. The sun shone on the reflective floors, and the entire room lit up. He got out of bed and went over to the window. Every day he did this, looking to see if anything had changed, hoping that the morning sun would offer a new ray of hope in his dull life.

Across the field of grass and beyond the cast iron fence, there was a forest. Every day, a black bird sat on a tree limb, watching him through the bars. At first, it had seemed large and intimidating, but now it just looked like it needed a little love. He wanted to reach out to the bird, to call its name and talk to it as it sat on his windowsill, but the bird never left its tree. He never saw the bird outside of their morning silence. It just disappeared into the forest, not to be seen again until the following day.

Dylan jumped as the bell rang. One...two...three... It was time for breakfast, which was always served inside the room. He heard the sliding panel being opened up on the door, and turned around just in time to see a plate of food, along with a fresh set of clothes, being shoved through the slot. During times like these, he was grateful he was in room 1. It meant he got his breakfast hot. The others in the rooms farther down the line constantly complained about cold food and dirty clothes. He assumed there just weren't enough sets of ugly hospital clothes to go around.

"Hey, Randy!" he shouted. "Will you bring me some different clothes for a change? I'm tired of wearing these old blue and white scrub-looking things. I feel like I'm in a hospital. Oh wait..."

"Sorry Dyl. There's nothing I can do. My hands are tied," Randy yelled. Even yelling, it was almost hard to hear through the soundproof walls. The open slot in the door made their voices sound tinny and distorted. There was nothing they could do other than practically scream to make themselves heard.

Dylan knelt down next to the little sliding door and looked through it. He could see Randy's dark green pants as he stood on the other side. Randy noticed and knelt down too. Dylan admired how clean Randy looked, compared to him. His blond hair was gelled and meticulously combed back. He was wearing a white button up with a red sweater over it.

"You look like you're going to a Christmas party," Dylan said.

"Well it is nearly Christmas time."

"Already? We haven't even had our Thanksgiving feast yet."

Randy laughed. "No, I was just messing with you. It's only September."

"You know I have no way of keeping track of time in here."

"Don't worry, I got it covered. It's 7:00."

"Randy, it's always 7:00 when you bring me breakfast. It's always 9:00 when we take our showers. It's always 10:00 when we go out to the Yard. It's always 1:00 when we have lunch in the cafeteria. It's always 3:00 when we have our shots and exams. And 5:00-9:00 is always free time."

"Wow look at you, you finally memorized the schedule. For some people it takes years to memorize it."

"Most people only stay here for a couple months."

"But you're the exception."

"The only exception. Hey, don't you have to take food to the others? I'm getting tired of hearing everyone from the farther rooms complain about cold breakfast."

"Yeah I am too. They can suck it up for all I care. You're the only person I actually enjoy conversing with."

"Too bad I only get to talk to you for a couple minutes through this tiny slot. I never see you outside of the morning routine."

"I do have a life outside of this place, and another job. This is just charity work."

"Sorry, sometimes I forget some people actually get to leave this place."

"Maybe you will get to leave soon, but for now, you have to eat this slop. And I have to go deliver this slop to everyone else who isn't as mentally stable as you. I'll see you tomorrow." Dylan nodded as Randy slid the little door closed, trapping Dylan in his tiny box of a room once again.

He ate his breakfast in silence. The long periods of isolation were the hardest for him. There was no one to talk to, no one to laugh and tell jokes with, and no one to be there for him when he was upset. It didn't help that he was upset a lot.

He finished his breakfast and went back over to the window. The bird was still sitting on the tree branch, watching him with its beautiful black eyes. The sunlight illuminated its black feathers, making it seem less creepy than usual. Dylan decided to name the bird Raven. After all, that's what it was. Raven was the only life he knew outside of the few people he talked to in the hospital. The same routine every morning, the same bird in the same place. He felt, out of everyone at Creedmoore, that this raven was the one he could relate to the most.

"Are you stuck here, like me?" he called out to the bird. It didn't respond. He didn't think it would, but a guy can hope.

He stood there, watching the bird for a long time. It was the only thing he could think of doing to pass the time. Finally, the bell chimed again, but this time only once. He heard the lock on the door click, and it slowly glided open. It was time to go take a shower. Dylan smiled. He liked Mondays. They were always full of excitement.