The Sleeping City

Awakening

The doctor took her to his lab in Manhattan. It was not a very flattering building. It was an old house that looked like it had seen better days. But the doctor looked so proud, she didn't wanna comment on his wreck of a lab.

   It was gray and had large windows with colored glass. From the roof there were pipes sticking far up in the air. Smoke came from them.

   It looked like an old loft.

  

  "This is your lab?" Alyssa asked in a polite tone because she didn't want to hurt his feelings, or something.

   "Isn't it a beautiful building?" said dr. Clevenz. His eyes were filled with proud and his lips was shaped into a little smile.

   "Got it for a good price as well!"

   Alyssa didn't reply, she only smiled politely to him. Dr. Clevenz made a hand gesture that was meant to say go on in. So she went in and was surprised by the huge hall she was greeted with. It looked like a royal hall, from a castle. It was beautiful with a lot of marble and glass everywhere.

   "Wow," Alyssa said as she walked in. "It's awesome!"

   "Awesome isn't really the word for it, I'd much rather like to use outstanding or perfect." Clevenz said. Alyssa hadn't noticed before now, that there was a hint of a British accent when he spoke.

   "Alright, sorry." she said.

    "Shall we go to my lab?" the doctor asked. "It's much better to talk there."

 

   He guided her to his lab, which was in the third floor, and was filled with different objects and microscopes and stuff Alyssa didn't know what was. By one of the walls there was a bench and a couple of chairs. Dr Clevenz sat down at one of them and made sign that Alyssa should do the same. She did, and the doctor stared at her with a confused look and Alyssa felt rather uncomfortable.

   "Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked.

   "Are you on medicine at the moment?" he asked. But before Alyssa could answer he said: "How long have you been awake?"

   He continued to stare at her, and she turned away.

   "A couple of hours, give or take..." she answered, confused about who he was and why he was asking her questions. And then she started wondering why she followed him here. What had gotten in to her? It felt as if she hadn't met any people in a long time, and all of the sudden  she felt sick and dizzy.

   "Why are you asking me these questions?" she asked. "And why did you bring me here?"

   The doctor smiled and started at her with his abnormally big eyes which was in an abnormally light blue color. They were creepy.

   "You've been asleep for four months." he said.

   Alyssa laughed. A cute, horse laughter that almost sounded fake. She looked at dr Clevenz with a you-are-full-of-bullshit look.

  

   "Is this a prank?" she asked within the laughing. Dr Clevenz looked slightly disappointed, and a bit insulted.

   "No, it's true." he said in an annoyed tone. His voice was sharp and almost hurt in Alyssas ears when he spoke. She felt an headache coming, and she wouldn't be surprised if it was because of his voice.

 

   "I've got proof and all, if you want to see?" he said. "Everyone is asleep! Except now you and I, obviously."

   Alyssa found everything he said very hard to believe.

   Dr Clevenz span around in his chair like a little child. Only he was a slightly old man, and he held on to his pokerface.

   "How?" Alyssa asked. That one word was the only thing that she was able to get out of her tiny little mouth.

   "Well," the doctor said. "I am not sure exactly where, or how for thats sake, but I dare to guess that there was a gas explosion in Russia somewhere, you know the Russians, always a step ahead of us, always doing... stuff."

   He continued to mumble about Russia and the spaceflight in the 60s and the cold war and Alyssa wondered if he was there to experience it.

   "In Russia?!" Alyssa shouted. "If it was in Russia then why is everyone in New York asleep?"

   "As I said: I don't know how."