beginning of summer
Bright white lights immediately hit her barely opened eyes coupled with the reflection from the bright blue tiles that seemed to blind one’s sense of vision without even trying. She scrunched her nose and shielded herself from the blinding glory of electricity and stretched her legs, letting out a grunt. Attempting another chance at sight, she stretched her upper body and slowly sat up, opening up her eyelids little by little, giving them time to adjust to the powerful glare that seemed to occupy the room. The smell of lavender hit her nostrils and soothed her nerves, letting her adjust to her surroundings.
She took a deep breath and glanced at her form. Bowing her head, she inspected her arms. She was in a weird, completely white set of pajamas with a red band around her wrist. The room was fairly large and mostly empty, her bed was completely white, with white sheets and bed covers and a white pillow. A steel coloured door stood face to face in the direction of her legs at the end of the bed and on the right side of the room....lay someone else.
He was a tall man with his back turned away from her, so she was unable to see anything of his face. He had fluffy brown hair and a broad physique, that was as much she could make out from his sleeping form. His bed was the same as hers, ghost white all over, except his clothes were a pale blue that matched well with the colour of the tiles. She stared at him for a while before lowering her legs towards the ground. She spotted a pair of flip flops placed right near her bed. She put them on and opened the steel door, only to be greeted with the sight of a long corridor, with multiple doors on both sides of the length. All of them had three digit numbers on them with two coloured strips placed on each. She looked at her door’s strip; red and blue. Glancing at the band on her wrist, she looked back at the coloured strip on the door. Maybe the other man’s wrist band was blue - matching the colour of the strips.
She slowly closed the door behind her, taking small yet careful footsteps on the white floor tiles. The doors were all steel coloured like her own and there were red arrows painted on the sea-green tiled walls. The arrows all pointed towards a staircase that she finally spotted, walking with small steps. They lead to an upper floor but not without a sign that read, “Lunch Room”, at the very bottom of the stairs.
She walked up, looking around curiously at the unfamiliarity of it all. Everything around her had the faint smell of antiseptic and handwash coupled with a loud silence. It almost seemed to burst through one’s ears if there weren’t sound enough thoughts to to clog the mind. Her footsteps seemed to echo as she climbed every step and finally after two flights of stairs and atleast 10 more arrow signs, she stood face to face with a large dark brown door.
She pushed it open softly and was greeted with an even more unfamiliar sight. There were rows and rows of tables that were placed beside huge glass windows. Some were open, some were closed but they all provided a magnificent view either way. A server dressed head to toe in black clothes walked over and stood in front of her. Bowing, he took her wrist in his own hands and looked at the colour of her wrist band. Nodding at her, he took her hand slowly and led her to a table that was covered in a light pink tablecloth and sat her down beside an open window.
“Your meal shall be right here in a moment.” Bowing to her, he walked away towards another silver coloured door, opened it and disappeared behind it.
She observed the room. The room was painted a soft pink and had pretty potted plants that were kept in different corners. It was obvious that they were well cared for, adding a serene touch to the already quiet and well arranged room. Large, wooden cupboards were placed on one side of the room that contained glasses, plates and cups of clear china. Some were made of ivory ceramic and were lined up perfectly beside each other, imitating a comfortable little restaurant. The lunch room wasn’t overly crowded, there were only a few people that sat on separate tables and ate quietly.
Shifting her gaze towards the window, she came face to face with the most beautiful scenery she would probably ever across her life.
She sat very high up inside an even higher building and gazed and gazed. There lay right in front of her, the greenest of the green landscaped that she would have ever seen. There lay numerous buildings and houses at a far distance and even farther off, she could see the hills, covered in the most beautiful dimly lit sky with soft clouds and the more green that lay etched onto its body. It seemed straight out of a painting. She suddenly could feel how much easier she breathed here, sitting in an unknown lunchroom with nobody she knew. The perfectly cool breeze that blew through the open windows that blew threw her hair, softly ruffling it was better than any life she knew before her. Even if she could barely remember who she was or why she was here, she knew she could spend hours upon hours looking at the beautiful mountain with its breeze and its grass and its fountains of pristine water and rocky entrails, she knew she could hear the mountain birds blow their whistles to wild rabbits that burrow themselves deep inside the soil of the Earth that would be softened due to light rain. She could barely move her eyes away from the beautiful stretch of imagination and reality that seemed so close to her but she was unfortunately interrupted.
“Miss.”
A familiar, deep male voice greeted her in all black, holding a white plate that held some more bowls and plates. The man lowered a bowl of fresh Congee on to the table, accompanied with a small dish containing two soft boiled eggs. Lowering the salt and pepper shakers along with a large spoon, the server bowed again and walked away.
Calmly picking up a spoonful of congee and putting it in her mouth, she relished the rush of flavours that streamed in. Savouring the light and yet fulfilling taste of the food, she stared outside, observing and taking in every little detail of the picturesque location until it was time for her to leave.
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