by Tim Al an White

1 Entryway Hall

Shadows in the dark. A floorboard creaks upstairs. The hollow doors breathe in. ‘Hey there?’ you call.

Go to Library (2) or Sitting Space (3 )

2 Library

Tables, candle lights, walls of books– books hung from the ceiling. You stumble and fall. The flooring is made from books, spinal columns vertical, stomped like cobbles.

Go to Gallery (4) or Research Study (5 )

3 Sitting Space

Varnished black flooring. Stogie smoke. A wood train on its side, wheels still turning. You blink and the space is dancing with fire. Then you’re back in the black space. It reeks of ash.

Go to Research Study (5) or Kitchen Area (6 )

4 Gallery

A framed river. Water swells, great brushwork lost to thick, blue oil. It swallows the canvas. It slicks the flooring. It’s filling the space.

Go to Conservatory (7) or Restroom (8 )

5 Research Study

An incomplete essay on the table. A half-hearted history of Christianity starts, however drowns at the bottom of an upturned ink well.

Go to Restroom (8) or Cellar (9 )

6 Kitchen Area

A range kettle whistles. Fruit turns to dust prior to your eyes. A tap leaks, as night-time seasons pass outside the window.

Go to Cellar (9) or Dining-room (10 )

7 Conservatory

Thick vines strangle empty window frames. However their colours aren’t right. Fragments split underfoot. You touch a vine– it’s plastic.

Go to Terrace (A) or Bed Room (B)

8 Restroom

It shines like a glacier, however your reflection is ill and twisted. The wall is melting! You sprinkle through the slush towards the door.

Go to Bed Room (B) or Attic (C)

9 Cellar

Bare walls. No flooring. Darker still. Mouthy, mouldy breathing surrounds you, like your home wishes to consume you.

Go to Attic (C) or Wing (D)

10 Dining-room

Hot radiators. Voluptuous lights. A table nicely laid, a lidded plate in the centre. It sounds like a bell– there’s something alive under there. Prepared, however alive.

Go to Wing (D) or Garden (E)

A Terrace

You’re cornered. There’s no other way back and somebody is crossing the landing. A cold wind trips over your skin. You leap.

Go to End

B Bed Room

Somebody’s chained to the bed, underneath the sheet. His head raises, still covered. His mouth opens; he’s consuming the sheet. It declines, however there’s just empty chains.

Go to End

C Attic

Moonlight shines through the skylight. A rocket races towards the sky. It takes off. There were individuals onboard, you understand. The abundant.

Go to End

D Wing

You should not remain in this home. A lot of definitely not in this wing. Somebody lives here. They desire you to go. NOW!

Go to End

E Garden

Is it sunset or dawn? Summertime or winter season? What’s the distinction when they all return around? Simply as all these courses lead back to your home. This is not the escape.

Go to End

End
You resume doomscrolling through Netflix. You must draw the drapes, however you can’t. You must go to sleep, however you will not.

Go to Entryway Hall (1 )

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Tim Alan White is an author for computer game. He has OCD, which he felt related to this style.

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Our Reader stated:

I actually delighted in the language in this and the environment of surprise threat with a twist at the end.