Pendulum

November 4, 2026

I open my eyes but see nothing. For a minute I consider blindness. My eyes soon begin to adjust to the darkness that encompasses me. The shivering is so uncontrollable, I could swear I'm having a seizure. (I wonder...if this is what Antarctica feels like?) I begin rubbing my arms and legs to try and keep warm. I've been here before, hundreds of times, maybe even thousands, yet I've never been to this place. I look around, everything still dark, looks unfamiliar and familiar all at the same time. The cement walls surround me, and somewhere in the distance I hear the faint drip of water. "There's no time to be a coward!!!" I tell myself. I begin to search frantically for my clothes and shoes, the temperature only seems to be getting colder. I find several large objects, made up of some sort of metal(rusted now.) They look centuries old, and probably just as long out of service. I find no clothing nor anything else useful. After scouring the room it is clear I'm here alone. I lay down in the corner of the room(like a baby in its mothers womb.) I say a short prayer "God save me from this place..." I have never wanted God to save me, answer me, or be real more in my entire life. I closed my eyes and let my thoughts drift away to the sound of the dripping water. 

November 5, 2026 

The next morning I wake hungry and still ignorant of where I might be. I'm not positive on the date, I have no sense of time or day here. I assume its morning though I see no sunlight, the room is dark, though not as dark as it had been prior. I feel a sense of hopelessness, I sit wallowing in self pity. I begin shouting "HOW DID I GET HERE!!!? WHY AM I HERE!!!?" While shouting, I hear a somewhat familiar voice. I hear several voices in the distance. I try calling for help once, twice, three times with no reply. All I could hear was my echoing voice. Can they not hear me? "SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, HELP ME!" I cry out for help with no reply, for what seems like an eternity. I shout to the point where my throat feels dry and cracky (I feel as if I've been at a concert all day.) I didn't know I was capable of crying that much, or for that long(I could give Niagara Falls a run for its money.) I didn't know when or how I fell asleep. 

November 6, 2026 

The next morning I woke up without a voice. What would I do for a glass of water? Today I see no point in crying. I should preserve what energy I have left. Scouring the room coming up with the same conclusion as before, there's no way out! I don't even see a door. I trace the cracks in cement floor with my index finger. I notice the walls are covered with carvings. I feel with my fingers to make out what they say, the walls have my sins, my past mistakes, my mess ups, and broken promises written on them. 

November 7, 2026 

I wake to sound of rats. The disgusting part was I wasn't afraid, if anything I hoped to lure them into a trap that I might have something to eat. I have been here for days now.....it feels like years. I think about the writings I found yesterday and try to make sense of it. I never thought that my life would end this way but I guess we don't always get what we want. I thought maybe a car crash cause I always text and drive. Or perhaps in my "office" cause I always dreaded that(I think Elvis died like that.) Or if God really had a sense of humor maybe when I'm old cause I'm scared of wrinkles and don't want to get old. I sat waiting for a sign, a reply, a miracle. I waited for the cement walls to shake and fall. I was waiting for God to reply. He never answered, and I was waiting for my friends to hear my cries, but they too had let me down. I was truly alone and without hope, in what seemed like a dungeon. 

November 8, 2026 

I am suddenly awakened by a dim distant light. A joy overtook any prior fear. Hope resonated throughout every inch of my body. I ran toward the light. As I approached the light all my emotions came to a standstill. In the middle of the large room was a cement platform, one that had never been there before. As I approach the platform, my jaw drops and I cannot believe my eyes....



I'm laying there, tied to this platform. My mouth is gagged. I looked up and thought surely I pictured this different. A cathedral sized ceiling and hanging from it a titanium pendulum. The kind you see in a scary movie or read about, shout out to Edgar Alan Poe. The pendulum began to swing from side to side, almost in a hypnotic fashion. It was the most unpleasant and beautiful thing in the world, as the pendulum reflected the shining light. I was sweating uncontrollably, I tried screaming but I did so in vain. The tattered rope on which the pendulum swung seemed to be giving way. Bit by bit the rope started unraveling. The pendulum lowered inch by inch, I heard a faint voice. "Time is running out....serve me or serve yourself." Time was running out this was His reply. Terrified beyond belief the answer was clear...following myself would lead to death, but following Him would lead to life. In that instance I shouted "I choose you! I will serve you! I will follow you!" Just then the rope gave way, the swinging pendulum came crashing down slicing my being in half. Warm blood, like rain in a thunderstorm, fled my body. My corpse lay there lifeless. 






..........As I walked away I knew which way to go.