Trapped

chapter 3

Chapter 3

      “Ok.” I said to Sam, “Got any ideas on how to escape?”

       He looked at me for a minute, a small smile curving up one side of his perfect mouth, and then he turned around suddenly and started walking briskly towards the tallest wall with the only windows I had seen since we got here. The ceiling started at a normal level but then started upwards at a sharp incline leaving the wall standing at least twenty feet tall and the windows were right at the top of that wall.

      “I see what you’re getting at.” I said while nodding slowly as it started to click, “But, how do you plan nbbbb on getting up there?”

       He turned back towards me once we were close to the wall and said as if it were obvious, “We climb.” As if it was that simple.

      I kept staring at him waiting for him to explain but he just started barking orders to the other teenage boys standing around the room to start lifting tables and setting them on top of each other. My eyes widened as I realized what his brilliant plan was. And it really was quite brilliant.

      The process was slow-going but Sam’s vision was coming together. The tables were being stacked in the shape of a pyramid so it would be more stable than stacking them straight up. I started to get excited and anxious to see the outside world for the first time since… I couldn’t remember.

      I tried to think about the days before waking up here but I came up blank. I tried going further back in my memory but I could only fish out a few foggy memories of things like fishing in a little lake, swinging on some old creaky swing set and eating dinner around a large round table with the blurry faces of my mom and my little brother staring back at me.

      Panic clenched my gut at not being able to remember most of my life. I scanned the room for the only person I knew, Ari. When I spotted her brown head from across the room I ran over to her and said, “Ari!” a little too loudly and she jumped.

      “What’s wrong?” she said when she noticed the panic I was sure was plastered all over my face.

      “Quick, what do you remember about the days before you woke up here?” I asked quickly, my brain spinning.

       After giving me a wary look, she took a second to think, then turned to me with eyes filled with horror. “I don’t remember.” She said quietly.

      “That’s what I was afraid of.” I said as I started to pace. What happened to our memories? Did the people who put us here take them away? Why would they do that? What was the point? What was the purpose of us being stuck in this place with no memories? There has to be a purpose. All these questions swirled through my mind with no answers. “Gah!” I yelled in frustration, earning me a few weird looks from the people standing around us.

      “What’s wrong?” a voice said from behind me and I jumped and spun around and ran smack into Sam, who had come up behind me. Electricity sparked where our arms brushed and I jumped back with a squeak of surprise.

     “Sorry.” He said smiling at my jumpiness, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

     I waved off his apology to continue pacing, “Do you remember anything from the days leading up to waking up here?” I asked without even looking up at him.

     I paused my pacing long enough to look into his face to see that it was tense and there were lines on his forehead and in between his eyebrows that I yearned to smooth out with my fingers, weirdest thought in history. I felt my cheeks get warm at the insanely embarrassing. I cleared my throat.

      “Well?” I pressed, my voice softening at his broken expression.

      “I remember I have two little brothers and one sister and that I took care of them because my parents had to work a lot… but that’s about it. I don’t know where they are now. Or if they’re safe.” He said softly. “They could be dead for all I know….” All his love for his family and his disappointment at not knowing where they were showed on his face and in his voice. I wanted so badly to comfort him but I was scared to, fearing it wasn’t my place.

      “Ari and I don’t remember anything either.” I said softly, “I remember my little brother and my mom. I remember us fishing, going to the park, having a family meal, but all those memories are fuzzy at best. And I don’t know why. We need to figure it out. Maybe then we can find our families.”

      My little speech seemed to bring him out of his stupor and his broken expression turned into one of steely determination. “I guess we had better get to work then.”