Guinea Pig – Chapter 1

Oliver was lying on the ground. he stepped up with one leg, he felt his foot sink into the ground, as if it were a giant cushion. And it was. Oliver blacked out for a moment. “Ahh…”, he said while holding his head. “I got up too fast.”

The short man examined the room after he could see again. He realized that he was standing on a bed. The room looked like a hotel; an expensive one. If he hadn’t known better, he would even think it were the Presidential Suite of a 5 star hotel. He heard a knock on the door.

”Room service,” Oliver heard from the outside. He peered through the peephole and saw a stereotypical overweight woman pushing a cart. He opened the door.

“Yes, come in,” stuttered Oliver. He couldn’t remember why or how he is in the hotel. He tried to collect his memories. At the moment Oliver believed he remembered something, the maid turned on a vacuum cleaner and started cleaning the carpets. Oliver was unsure if he should or even was allowed to ask the maid to clean his room at a later time. Oliver was a very quiet man, and never did anything extraordinary, which includes staying at a hotel, never mind the Presidential Suite.

He sat on the bed and watched as the fat lady vacuumed the carpets. He realized that she was doing this in a very orderly fashion, pushing the vacuum cleaner forward and backwards, moving to the right, and slowly working up from one “row” of the carpet at a time.

Oliver did not realize that he was just sitting there until she had finished, from the door to the far wall. As quick as she entered, she proceeded with the vacuum cleaner in hand to the door. However, before leaving the room, she stopped and looked at Oliver, smiled and said “Planet Earth.”

“What do you mean?” he said in a puzzled tone. However, she did not flinch at his question, and left. Oliver was confused, and pondered what she meant. He sat on the soft bed, and thought of how he ended up in a hotel room. Suddenly, the memories flew into his mind.

It was December 21, 2012. Like any other day, Oliver was walking through Time Square, New York for some lunch. However, on any other day, the ignorant citizens of New York would walk around uncaring for the world except for their own. But today was different; the people stopped, and the world held its breath as noon passed. Actually, 12:21:12 PM, to be precise.

For some odd reason, the world was fooled into believing that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012 because the Mayan calendar “ends” on that day. Most people don’t realize that the Mayan calendar, in fact, loops and starts from the beginning again. Although many people claimed not to believe in this, they too held their breath for 12:21:12 PM to pass. A part of them wanted the myth to be true and for the world to end; then, the selfish part of their minds explained to the other that if that were to happen, they would die.

Oliver was quite a short man; he too was worried that the world was going to end in less than a minute. He walked on his toes and tried to look at the clock, but five feet and four inches just didn’t cut it. Tick. Tock. 12:21:02 PM. Tick. Tock. The cars on the streets slowed and halted to watch the large LCD monitor with the time. 12:21:09 PM. Oliver, who was frightened, yet anxious, jumped at the last second, only to see 12:21:12 PM.

The lights went out. The monitor turned off. The Hard Rock café neon lights were down. All was quiet, except for the quiet hum of the car engines. And as quickly as it left, the power was back. For ten whole seconds, everybody stood still and didn’t move. Quietly, a man mumbled to himself, “Well, that was stupid.” However, he was obviously heard by the entire crowd, as all at once, they walked to their previous destinations and back to their regular lives in shame.

Oliver’s memory was interrupted when he heard someone speak by the door. “The preparations are complete. We’re green and ready,” the man with the booming voice said. Oliver was confused, but curious. He left the suite and looked down the left side of the corridor, but saw nobody. He quickly looked at the other side, and saw the shadow of two people turning down the hallway. Oliver dashed out of the room and through the right side of the corridor, making a left turn. He followed the voice down another hallway, down four flights of stairs, and finally stopped in front of a lonely looking door.

The short and unfit man was extremely tired; he had never run this much at once ever in his life. After recuperating to the point where his throat and chest did not hurt anymore, he opened the single down in the long hallway, and faced with darkness. The room was pitch black, as if it were a black hole, where no light that entered could ever escape. Oliver took a step, only to be welcomed by the realization that there was no floor.

He fell.

And fell.

Oliver was scared for his life. He was moving at such a high speed that if he faced the wind head on, he couldn’t even take a breath. This wind suddenly slowed for no apparent reason, however. Eventually, the wind stopped, and he felt as if he were floating in air.

A large light appeared above him, and the same booming voice echoed through the space.

“Hello.”