Welcome to the Void

White, blank walls and white marble floors that are too clean, too perfect, to have ever been used. These are my first memories of existence. A white world of nothingness. I don’t know who I am or where I am. I don’t know where I come from or where I might end up. All I know for certain, is that the room I stand in is unfinished…empty.

I look down to find that I am completely nude. I move my arms up from my side and see lightly tanned skin that then becomes unnaturally pale. My arms are full goosebumps caused by the overwhelming coldness in the room. My gaze travels to my hands. The long fingers and thickness of the palms strongly indicate male. I still reach down between my legs hesitantly, still unsure of what’s incomplete about me. I sigh in relief when I feel that, at least, my sex has been decided upon. I am definitely male. For the moment, anyway.

I guide my hands back up to my face. I notice a slight trembling as it comes into view. I have a cleft chin and a wide jaw. My face widens softly just before I reach my cheekbones, before a slightly dipping again where my eyes are. I look around at the vacant, almost blinding, white room, wishing there was a mirror. I feel my shoulders slump when I realize I will probably never know the color of my own eyes.

I continue to move my hands up, feeling the slightly wavy hair on top of my head. It stops just above my ears. I grab one of the hairs in between my index finger and thumb, plucking it from the root. I quickly move my hand back in front of my face, examining the single hair. It rapidly shifts colors in my hand. It appears Iridescent, like a bubble or an opal. Briefly, it lingers on a dark brown, but quickly shifts to a jet black, ultimately returning to its confused state of indecision. I hear myself curse, flicking the hair out of my fingers in frustration. Just another thing I will never know.

I clear my throat and part my lips, “H-Hello?” My voice is deep, but inviting. It shakes slightly, due to the confusion and anxiety I’m feeling.

“Do you know your name?” I hear the voice of a woman, seemingly coming from nowhere. It’s amplified, as if it is coming from a speaker.

“No.” I sigh in relief with the knowledge that I am not alone. “Where am I? What’s going on?” I look around, hoping to see another person, hoping someone can tell me what color my eyes are.

“I don’t know. She hasn’t decided, yet.” The voice continues, but I do not see the person it belongs to.

“What do you mean?” I continue to look around, moving around the room, trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. “Who hasn’t decided?”

“Your creator.” She says, I can hear a tinge of sympathy, “You are, as of yet,” She pauses, “an unfinished creation.”

I feel my chest tighten as my breathing accelerates. “What are you talking about? I’m not a creation!” Putting my hand on my chest, I angrily tell her, “I’m a person!” I look up at the ceiling, but it reveals nothing. It’s white, completely naked.

“I’m sorry.” I hear the empathy in her voice for the first time, “I’m so sorry, but you’re not…not yet. She has to finish you.”

“Who the hell is she?” I demand, continuing to look around, but nothing is all I find.

“The author.” I hear her sigh and papers shuffling. “According to this, you are loosely based on her brother and her best friend. She still hasn’t decided which combination of the two you will be like or even what your story will be.”

“What are you telling me?” I notice my blink rate increases as my heart begins to pound with fright. I take a deep breath, feeling my heartbeat in my neck, and hearing the hammering in my ears. “I am a figment of someone’s imagination?”

“Yes, I am afraid so.” I look down at my hands, feeling my face again. I try to convince myself that this is impossible. This is just a nightmare. This cannot be real. “The worst kind.” She adds in sorrow. “An undeveloped one.”

My bottom lip trembles, “So, what is going to happen to me?” I hear the pitiful tone in my voice as my vision blurs with tears.

“That is up to her. We just keep you here until she’s finished with you. That’s our job.” There is a new harshness to her voice, as if she is trying to remind herself this isn’t personal.

I nod, biting the inside of my cheek, wiping the tears from my cheeks with my fingers, “And if she never finishes me?” I ask apprehensively. “What happens, then? Will you help me?”

“The unfinished stay unfinished. I already told you. We just keep you here.” I hear her exhale slowly, “Look, I’m sorry.” The hardened edge to her voice has faded into a controlled, calm tone. “We are but a blank slate.” She says it like a motto, a tag-line. “Nothing more.”

There is another pause as I feel my knees give, causing me to fall to the floor. I bring my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. “Welcome to the Void.” The voice says softly. I hear a slight buzzing noise and then complete silence.

“Hello? Hello?” I sound like a child, crying out for his parents in the darkness after a nightmare. “Hello? Come back!”

As I continue to shout for the voice’s return, I wonder if it’s possible for an unfinished person to break.