Shame

The next day they woke up and found themselves in the same circumstances. Julia shouted for help while John remained silent, observing the room and trying to find a way out. He stood up and started searching his side of the room, looking around him and finding the radio. On his side of the bed, John approached the table, hoping to find a clue to get out of this room. Turning on the radio, a song was playing. “And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...” Julia shouted, ‘Stop!’ John quickly turned it off, questioning, ‘Who is doing all this, and why are we here in this room, naked? Who’s behind this?’ Julia replied, ‘Why are you asking me? Do you think I know? I just want to go home.’ Then again, she started to cry.

John begged her to stop and said, ‘I’m in the same position as you, but someone’s keeping us here for a reason. Do you’ve any enemies? Maybe we have a common enemy who locked us up here?’

‘No, I have no enemies. I live alone; I’ve no one.’
John started thinking about whether anyone he knew could do this. Julia impatiently stood up and told John to turn around and face away ‘I can’t sit here anymore.’

He obeyed, both searching again for a way to escape. ‘What’s your name?’ Julia asked.

‘John.’ Again Julia asked, ‘Do you have a family?’

John paused before answering, ‘I’m hungry, can you please check if there’s anything more to eat?’

‘My name’s Julia… Yes, I’ll check, but look away.’

Julia found more food, and they started to eat.

‘I don’t know how long we’ve to stay like this… or who would do this, but I’ll kill them if we ever find out.’, Julia snarled.

‘This place isn’t so bad.’ John replied. ‘The room’s spacious and full of light… but how did they get us in here if there’s no door or window?’

‘At least we’ve food and a toilet. If we had our clothes, we could pretend it’s a vacation. And we’ve got the music to listen to. Do you want me to turn on the radio?’ John asked.

‘No, not now. I’m thinking. Why can’t we find the door? Hey, wait a second. John… are we dead?’

‘What!?’ John shouted.

‘Yes. Can’t you see? We’re not wearing any clothes… After death, we don’t need any clothes, right?’ John laughed. ‘You’re right! Maybe we’re dead. Maybe God wants us to dance. Come on, Julia, let’s dance.’
Julia laughed for the first time. ‘No way! But I’m not joking… Why are we here without clothes and where’s the door!?’

’Yes, good point. There must be a door somewhere. This is like a room you see in science fiction movies. Maybe it opens automatically.

‘I know where you’re going with this… Do you think we’re in a spaceship? Wow!’ Julia laughed.

‘I don’t know, but there must be a way out, and we need to find it.’

John searched the wall on his side of the room, tapping it in the hopes of detecting any sounds. Julia did the same. They were so focused on the task, suddenly they were right next to each other, their bodies touching. Embarrassed, they returned to their sides silently. The rest of the day was spent in silence, Julia feeling ashamed and scared. Tears rolled down her face, wetting her rosy cheeks and dampening the bedsheets. The silence continued until the room grew dark. John couldn’t bear Julia’s weeping and tried his best to distract her in conversation. ‘Julia, did you notice the light? It shifts into a low light at a certain time of day. What do you think it’s for?’ ‘I don’t know.’, Julia mumbled.

‘I think it must be night. We’ve to keep an eye on it to record the days.’

‘Are you planning to stay here for a while, John?’ Julia sarcastically replied.

‘Why not?’ John joked. ’It’s a pretty nice place to live, apart from the obvious. It has everything we need, and we don’t have to work for any of it.

‘And what about freedom, John? Would you like to stay in this room forever!? Never see the sunrise or set again, or other people?’, Julia growled.

‘Hold on, hold on. I was just kidding, trying to lighten the mood.’, John replied. ‘Fine, but let’s stop. I don’t want to talk anymore.’ Julia added, and, finally, they fell asleep.