Place

There’s that music again. I know I’m drifting in and out of consciousness but it seems like every time I start to come back, I hear that same mournful organ music. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Hours? Days? All I know is this music is like a soundtrack to my pain. I crack open my eyes and start to find some focus. I’m lying on my side, looking through the bars at the wall straight ahead. It’s pale grey. A nothing shade of grey. Its only feature is a slice of windows high up, with more bars. I can see it’s dark outside. The wall stretches to the left and right of a corridor lit by a single dull fluorescent tube. I push myself up on the bunk and my arms shake. I have to squeeze my eyes shut to stop the dizzying galaxy of stars that fill my head. After a few breaths I try again, this time making it down the ladder to place my feet shakily on the concrete floor. I see that there is no one on the bottom bunk. It’s little wonder, I’ve probably been moaning and writhing around on that top bunk since I arrived. But I can’t be sure of anything because I feel removed from myself now, just a shell. I turn left towards the huge iron door at the end of the corridor and as I walk, a sea of faces seem to float past me, behind those rows and rows of bars.