June 4, 2017

A friend and I were texting back and forth about plans to watch a movie this afternoon. I fell asleep soon afterwards.

It was four in the afternoon when I woke up. It wasn’t past our arranged time to meet, but I kind of wished it was.

–

My uncle threatened to seal my lips shut with a lighter if I wasn’t quiet. “Okay”, I said, before continuing to talk. “You’ll be mute for the rest of your life”, he went on. “Sounds good to me”, I responded. He had a confused look on his face before adding that I wouldn’t be able to eat pizza.

“You have to understand we don’t really care about dying”, is what I wanted to say, but I walked away instead. People were organizing sports events for the school and were procuring parent email addresses. There was an announcement about a new EU4 DLC focused on the New World and its upcoming demo version.

I told one of the organizers that I wasn’t going to give up this time as I turned to walk back to campus. They interpreted it as a reference to suicide. I thought about the concept of being “Buddhist by osmosis”. It was raining now and large puddles had covered the sidewalk. I noticed that I had socks on and wasn’t wearing any shoes.

–

The attraction was a single corridor, advertised as a “hallway of whale tongues”. I was handed a large combat knife upon entry. The carpet was red while the walls had an ornate gold decor. Wooden frames were on the wall at regular intervals.

As I progressed through the hall, heads resembling those of aquatic creatures would spring out from the empty frames on both sides, trying to grapple me with their mouths. I had to cut my way out of eight or so pairs until I got to the end.

When I got out I was given a survey asking about my enjoyment as well as several recommendations for mental health resources.