Delusions

It was the wrong building. He had no knowledge of this, but that did not change the fact that he may soon walk into the incorrect structure. He knew something was odd about this particular building, it appeared deserted. It jutted out awkwardly, surrounded by no other buildings, like a singular mountain placed strangely in the center of a field. However, to him this was the correct building, in his mind he was walking where he should be, just a hundred or so feet away from the entrance now. However, his reality was quite different from the truth, for, should nothing hinder his rapid approach, he would enter this building. Should no force come in his way, his life will change quite soon.

If this man does not stop, he will enter the building. The wrong building. If he makes it into the entrance, for his sake we shall hope this does not occur, he would be met by a large and well decorated lobby. There would be desks of dark oak and equally dark computers sitting atop them, with a green carpet hugging all the walls. Should this man look up after entering the lobby (which may or may not occur at this point in time), he would likely gasp at the sight of an enormous chandelier of glass and electric lights. Shards of crystal swinging across all sides on silver ropes.

However, if this man does continue into the building, it is unlikely he will look up, for he would be preoccupied with contemplating the fact that not a single human occupied the room. Should this not overwhelm him, he may turn around, only to be greeted by black doors, appearing as large pupils, unblinking as they drill through his mind. Only, these doors, which he may possibly see (and due to his proximity to the building it seems likely that he will), are not, in fact, black. They would be rectangles of metal framed glass, high end glass from Malaysia, to compliment the overly high-end style of the lobby. Through this glass would lie pitch black nothingness. Absolute emptiness. A vacant gap, void of anything. How this man could come through the entrance only to be greeted by emptiness behind him is irrelevant, but should he enter the building, this will be the case. Without an option to exit, he would check his phone only to find it absent from the pocket he always keeps it in. In fact, he would find the entire pocket nonexistent, as he noticed the new clothes he was wearing. Clothes that his eyes had never seen before. He would search the room to find no doors, just a large, decorated box, with no way in or out. Much like a cardboard box. In fact, the walls were quite the color of cardboard. He would look down and stare at a cardboard floor, with no rug. No, this is the trick of a broken mind. There is the rug, quite green and ugly, but it's presence welcome over the insanity that would accompany its absence.

However, there would be no void behind the man. No glass doors, but an elevator door. No, this would not replace the glass doors. Instead, the man would look up to find himself on the other side of the room, the glass doors far in front of him, miles away but clearer than his own arms. Behind him would still lie the shining steel doors of an elevator. He would be startled to find a hand resting on the call button. His hand. It would have reached out without his knowing. In this moment, he would be even more surprised to see the back wall of the elevator approaching him quickly, but in actuality he would be approaching it. His legs would carry him into the elevator unconsciously, and before even realizing this fact the thick doors would close behind him. Now he would sink into darkness, with no lights in the elevator. His hands would fling out instinctively, groping helplessly for something, anything, to grab onto, overriding his fear of actually touching something. Then he would hit something. A cobweb, deserted as the building he might soon enter. No, not a cobweb, but a string. A string with a plastic cone at the bottom. He would pull this cord and his eyes would shut quickly to close off the speeding light. Couldn't he simply keep his eyes closed? What purpose was there in opening them? He could allow the monsters and demons his mind was now imagining to simply tear him apart. Why watch his own demise? No, he is a reasonable man, he will survive.

He would raise his eyelids tentatively, letting the light seep in slowly, only to find that he would have been better off keeping them closed. The elevator would no longer be there. Instead, he would find himself standing in a gray room, with a gray desk positioned near the corner. No doors, no windows, not even any lights. Yet, he would be able to see clearly, as though the sun itself could shine forever through the walls. He would not be hungry, not thirsty, he would have only one desire, to sit down in the gray chair now pulled out from the gray desk, welcoming him. He would look down to find himself lacking any clothes, or any body for that matter. This would not startle him. He would sit down, but feel no contact with the gray chair. He would not pull the chair in physically, but he would move himself towards the desk nonetheless. For hours he would sit, and something would grow in his chest. The only emotion he retained, sadness. He would question himself, Why did I enter this building! Why did I get myself stuck here! Hours would turn to days, to years, to decades, to a countless measure of time. No time would really pass, but this is unimportant. He would stare at the gray wall, stare at the hospital gown lying on the floor where he first stood. His piercing gaze would tear a hole in the ceiling. The ceiling would become the wall. He would stare at this hole in the wall. A cold wind would blow in from this growing hole. It would take on a rectangular shape. Through this window he would see himself, walking towards the building, still able to make the choice to stop, to turn around, to save himself from endless agony.

This is all possible, but it has not yet occurred. However, if he continues to walk towards the building, and if he enters the doorway, it will all happen, all of it, but as of now he has not entered the lobby. As he walked to the building he heard a piercing wail, the wail of a dying man. Looking around he noticed many things. The building he was walking to was not alone, there were many surrounding it. How could he have missed those earlier, they stood against the sky hundreds of feet in the air. Ahead he saw the correct building he wanted, and he realized the fatal mistake he almost made. He turned around and saw a familiar person, waving at him frantically from a third story window in a gray room. He looked quite ridiculous. Now, the man on the street closed his mouth in pity as he noticed a sign outside the building, Asylum for the Mentally Insane. Gosh, the patient did not look very good, he almost looked gray. The man turned around and assumed a quizzical expression as he noticed something was missing. What it was, he could not remember, but his mind noticed something. The missing item was, of course, the building, but he did not know this. He dismissed these thoughts and walked to the correct building.