5.03 - One Hundred | Stuck Station

5.03 - One Hundred

May 20 2011 Published by under Chapter Five

“Congratulations for what?” Daniel whispered.

The voice said nothing.

Suffused light emanated from the ceiling. In the glow, Daniel could see he was standing in a small, empty room with pearlescent walls.

Each wall was bare.

Definitely not hell, he thought. I mean, I guess hell could have white walls and —why do I keep thinking that? I’m not in hell!

Looking down, Daniel was surprised to see that he was now not only wearing shoes—they were white slippers—but also sporting a blue robe with the word ‘Visitor’ embroidered on its left breast.

He saw no sign of his regular clothes.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“We are sure you have many questions,” the voice said. “And you rightly deserve answers, given how hard you’ve trained over the past decade.”

“What?” Daniel said.

“Please follow the blue line on the ground to the Greeting Room, where your tour will begin. Then we will answer your questions.” 

“I don’t understand,” Daniel said, though he got the feeling he was listening to a recording.

The voice went silent again.

On the ground in front of him, a line appeared and stretched toward a wall. The wall suddenly grew an opening.

Daniel was not surprised. In a post-cloud society, shifting architecture was common.   

He stepped through the newly formed door.

The “Greeting Room” looked the same as the room he had just left — with a single difference.

One entire wall was a rainbow of paint splashes, a massive multi-colored artwork that also happened to spell out a message.

With a little concentration, Daniel saw that the artist’s message was the same as the one the cheery voice had said earlier: “Welcome to Containment Facility One.”

The words would have been easier to read if someone hadn’t scribbled across the entire thing with black ink.

In jagged five-foot tall letters, the vandal had written an unfamiliar two-word phrase that, unfortunately, Daniel would soon become very familiar with.

Stuck Station.

5 responses so far

  • John says:

    One hundred posts.

    Wow.

    Let me check about how many words that is.

    Ok, wow is one word.

    No wait, I mean, let me check how many words the whole thing has been so far.

    ... More than 32,000 words.

    Wow again.

    I want to thank Trak42, CalLadyQED, Rebecca and Jennifer for being my constant readers. You guys are awesome.

    I want to thank the people at http://www.webfictionguide.com for posting a link to this story on their site.

    I want to thank my editors at http://www.patch.com for letting me post a shameless plug to Stuck Station on their website.

    I want to thank my brother, mother and father for helping with edits.

    But most of all, I want to thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ for carrying me this far. My God and my friend, I can do nothing without you, and I hope you like what I've written.

    To my readers, new and old, thank you for checking out the site.

    And, I say this with all sincerity, I hope none of you ever end up on the real Stuck Station.

    Sincerely,
    John Crandall
    3:28 a.m.
    5/21/2011

    Oh, and if you like Stuck Station, please tell your friends. Or click the like button I just installed. (It's on the right.)

  • Pseudonym says:

    100 posts, eh? Almost poetic that your centennial post heralds the end of the world.... Naw, that can't happen, you still gotta tell us why the down-on-his-luck entrepreneur closed his kitchen supply store. Sounded like a pretty sweet setup.

  • CalLadyQED says:

    Poor Daniel. He keeps thinking he's in Hell because he is. Welcome to hell on earth. Well, not on earth, but you know, in this life vs the afterlife. I think.

  • trak42 says:

    i couldnt sleep and your posts are always entertaining. love how the message was anticlimactic. i thought it would be one of the familiar characters but it was just a recording. or maybe its a hologram of a recording. you werent clear on that point.

    • John says:

      Hey Trak42, quick question. You mentioned that you were blind. Is there anything I can do to make the site easier for you to read? (I wanted to send you this in an email but I sent you one before and I don't know if you got it.) Anyway "always entertaining?" eh? I like it. Maybe that could be the name of my publishing company.

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