I had been sitting darkness for what seemed forever, and the first things I saw were blurry trees, blurry oak trees as tall as you can get them. When my vision cleared I saw that I was in the middle of the biggest Oak Tree forest in the world, with the tallest Oak trees in the world. I remember visiting them when I was a kid about eight. I thought it was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen, still do.
From the corner of my eye I saw someone run past. A girl about my age gestured for me to come closer. I stayed still. She insisted. The girl looked like she really needed me, so I walked over cautiously. She grabbed my hand and all of a sudden we were at the edge of a small town. The girl guided me towards the tallest building, leading me to the top floor.
“My name’s Katie, nice to meet you Charlie.” The girl said quickly.
“Hey Katie...” I wondered how she knew my name when I had never met her.
We arrived at the top floor which was just one room with a desk in the centre with bookshelves and filing cabinets scattered around the outside. There were windows all around us where you could see the whole town from any point of view. The woman sitting at the desk with glasses perched on her nose, signalled me to sit down.
“Katie, would you please leave us? You know what newcomers are like, darling.” asked the woman. She had a slight soothing American accent.
“Bye Charlie!” Katie gracefully walked back towards the lift.
“I’m Delilah; I am going to be your guide when you are here in ‘Comatory’. I will also be your guide and teacher for the duration of your stay.” Said Delilah “You won’t have my attention the whole time you are here, because I have duties I need to attend...someone by the name of Lily Magee?”
“Lily Magee...that’s my best friend; Is she alright? Can I see her?” I asked, firing many questions at Delilah.
“Calm down, if Lily is here then she’ll be fine. Katie will take you on a tour of Comatory before you see Lily again.”
Right on cue, Katie walked in and took me out of Delilah’s hands. She showed me
Katie took me around the block. She told me about Comatory and how the Doom and Loom pretty much run the place.
“One day you just get called there and it’s really weird and they just tell you ‘Katie you will live. You will go back to Earth on the fourth of March 1998.’ But I never go to go back ’cause the stupid doctors pulled the cord so I died and now I’m stuck here until...forever, well until they find a way for me to move on.” said Katie.
I figured that she was a bit of a bimbo, but I still felt sorry for her, she’s been stuck here for over a decade.
“Is Delilah stuck here too?” I asked
“I’m not sure, she never says but the only thing I do know is that she came here in 1975. She’s really lonely because her husband came here as well but the he died and went to heaven. At least your friends won’t forget you like mine.”
While Katie kept rambling on about how she misses her friends, I was thinking about how people pass the time here and if it goes quickly or not.
***
As soon as I saw Lily sitting in front of Delilah’s desk my body was filled with relief. I swooped her into a massive hug and told her that I was so glad to see her. Once I’d sat down Delilah started talking.
“I see that you two have some catching up to do, so after I have showed you around you can catch up in your hotel rooms.”
***
Lily and I both dreaded the day we went to the Doom and Loom. It happened on a day we didn’t expect. Our names were voiced over the PA system ‘Lily Magee and Charlie Galdo, you have a meeting with Jasper and Jonathon Marlo at the Doom and Loom’. I was scared out of my pants. This would be the fate of my life (or death).
We instinctively knew where to go at the office. Lily went the opposite way to me. This meant that we would be split up for the rest of our lives. I sat down in front of the desk when this extremely scary guy walked in. He was tall and gangly. He had a long scar on the side of his face going down under his shirt. He sat down and introduced himself.
“Hi, I am Jasper Marlo. Welcome to the Loom. Congratulations, you are going to live. You will arrive back on Earth on the twenty-fifth of December.”