Adrenaline

by Joy Louise T. Evidente

Its little animation unnerved me. On and on the lines went around in a circle, taunting me for whatever was to come. I did nothing but stare at it with clenched fists. I thought about wanting nothing more than a way out. Then a crash. My neck craned towards the sound of a pen dropping to the floor.

My toes curled at the thought of the host arriving. I looked around the room for a sign of life but found none. Just rustled papers, pens strewn across the table, and a disheveled man staring back at me through a darkened screen.

All I could hear was the droning silence of the room, slowly enveloping me into its void until I drowned in it. I shook the screen awake with my mouse and was once again face to face with a message asking me to wait.

Hours passed inside my head as I stared at the lines in a circle, unmoving from my seat. Then an hour passed in reality and I sat in a darkness. It was only the light from my screen and the message illuminating my face. The room was cool and yet all I could feel was the heat from my anxiety as I stressed.

My hand hovered over the mouse, tempted. So tempted.

Then I broke. Grabbing the mouse and guiding it towards the exit, my lips quivered, worried about the consequences of my decision. As I clicked it, the box disappeared and so did the shakiness in my breath as I let out a sigh of premature sigh of relief.

It was over.

Then a new box appeared. Larger this time and it was as sweat dripped from my face that I realized I had lost my chance to escape.

My fate was sealed.