This story is Copyright of Andre de Hoog. All rights reserved.

DEEP INSIDE

1

A distant flicker of light pierced the coal black gloom. It caught his attention and he lurched towards it, his dark sensitized eyes watered with pain. The entombing darkness held his shadow less shape like an insect trapped in molasses.

He battled to place one step in front of the other with his numb, uncoordinated body. His sweat bathed face glistened with exertion and concentration as the light grew brighter, closer.

He was amazed to see the flickering lights were from lit candles on a cake. Through tear blurred vision he made out the inscription.

Happy Birthday Donald

A bolt of recognition flashed through his consciousness.

“My God! That is my name!” he cried.

“Where am I? What is this place?” Donald shouted into the dark as fear took control.

The darkness was suddenly replaced by the harsh glare of a mesh encased single neon tube as he woke up from his dream.

Gummed up eyelids made seeing difficult, and when Donald tried to raise his hands to rub them clear, his arms would not move. Rational thought fled as panic fed and grew.

“Am I paralysed?” he mouthed but his words were garbled grunts. His tongue lolled behind furry teeth in a parched mouth filled with a bitter chemical aftertaste. Donald tried to swallow but his raw throat protested in agony.

His head pounded, his breath stank and his full bladder ached. Confused thoughts raced but he tried to keep calm.

He rationalised that a paralyzed body could not feel pain.

Full of fresh hope, he concentrated on his arms and felt he could move his fingers. They barely moved, numbed from the restraints. Relief fuelled hope further while tears of joy slid down his cheeks.

Stiff, rough material held his arms across his stomach. He tried to see his arms but the neon glare was blinding. Hard lumps confirmed he was lying flat on his back.

His frustration came alive.

He thrashed wildly against the cocoon struggling to free himself from this injustice. He rolled off the cot and his face hit the padded canvas floor, tearing open one of his eyelids, allowing him to see he was in a small windowless room. A large opening appeared in one of the white walls and two shadows fell across his face. Hands roughly gripped his body, and threw him back on the cot.