I woke up to a loud thump. I looked around only to see a black room with red lines all around it. As I struggled to remember anything, I looked to my left and my right and find my arms and legs strapped to a chair. I panicked and started to squirm in the chair. Then sounded another loud thump, and one of the red lights went out. “What does this mean?”  I asked myself.  Is it counting down?  What could it be counting down to?  My death?  The end of the world?  I kept asking myself more and more questions. “I need to stay calm.” I told myself. I needed to think of a way to get out of this chair.
Scanning my surroundings, I saw a knife peeking out from under the chair. But I had no way of getting it. It’s like it was just there to taunt me. I looked around some more but I saw nothing else. But then it hit me. I started to very slowly push the knife up between my legs, trying to get it in hands reach. This took multiple tries, but I managed to do it. As I started to saw away at the leather straps on my arms and legs, there was another thump. Standing up, the whole rest of the room became clearer. Towards the back of the room there was the final red light that said, “Time’s up.” A screen then turned on and a dark shadowy figure started talking.
” Bravo! You have passed the first stage.” It says in a deep scary voice. “But this is only the beginning. You must complete 4 other stages, each one getting harder as you progress.”
“Who are you, what do you want with me?!?” I yelled, expecting an answer. I realized it was a recorded tape and continued to listen.
“As you know, you are being timed. Every 5 minutes 1 of those red lights go out, and as you probably know already, once the last red light goes out, you meet your sudden death. “Hurry now, you only have 5 hours.”
The screen then went blank, and I stood there shocked. I then noticed there were 4 doors all around the room and 1 of them opened. “Those must be the 4 stages.” I told myself. As I walked toward the open door, the room became clearer. I saw pipes on the left and the right of the room. As soon as I entered the room the door slammed behind me.. Then a screen emerged from the wall and a dark shadowy figure started to speak again.
“Welcome to stage 2, in this stage you will retrieve a golden ring, but it won’t be easy. You will enter either pipe and find your way to the ring. While doing so the pipes will begin to fill with water. How long can you hold your breath?” The figure then proceeded to laugh, and the screen went blank.
“This is horrible!” I told myself. I then took the right pipe. As I entered the pipe, I heard another thump. Once I was in the pipe, It closed behind me.
“Of course!” I yelled
I then quickly began to crawl through the pipes. Every time I came to a junction, I took a right. After about 1 minute, I felt the water rising above my knees. I panicked and began to crawl faster. Once the water got to my chest, I started to worry. But then I saw it. “The ring!” I said as I struggled to keep my head above water. I grabbed the ring and started to make my way back.
At that point the pipe was full of water. I had a little more than a minute to make my way back. I went the opposite way I came from by going left every junction. I began to feel my lungs, push against my chest. At that point I couldn’t see where I was going. Everything was a blur. I then felt water rushing below my body.
As I opened my eyes, I saw the room I started in with the ring in my hand. “I did it!” I yelled with excitement as I coughed out gobs of water. I then saw a slot in the wall that read “insert here.” Making my way towards the slot, I inserted the ring. The door that I entered in then opened.
I walked back into the circular room to find about 6 lights gone. “I’m doing ok on time.” I thought to myself. I then entered the second doorway and found blades, pillars, ropes, and shifting walls. The screen turned on yet again. “Welcome to stage 3. In this stage you will be doing a little bit of an obstacle course. Once you get to the end there will be another golden ring. Don’t worry I’ll be nice and not make you go back.” The recording then ended.
I then found the start to the course. As I looked at the first obstacle, a shiver ran down my spine. It was a rope swing. Below the rope was a pit full of spikes. As I went to jump for the rope, I hesitated. “I can do this!” I told myself. I then sprinted as fast as I could and leaped for the rope. I quickly held the rope as tightly as possible and it started to swing. I got close to the other side but I wasn’t ready. I had to jump at the second swing or I wouldn’t have enough momentum to get to the other side. Once I got close to the edge again, I jumped. “I don’t know if I have enough power.” I thought to myself. But I then quickly grabbed the edge. I climbed on the platform and lied on the ground as I thought of how I could have died.
The next obstacle looked to be shifting walls. There were about 10 walls that moved in and out in sort of a wave pattern. In order to get through this obstacle, I needed to run as fast as possible. As soon as the first wall was back, I started to sprint. As I ran, I felt the wind from the walls closing on my neck. A few times, I felt the walls graze my body as they were closing. I then finally got to the end and I catch my breath.
“The final obstacle!” I said excitedly. As I looked up, I saw blades moving back and forth. I needed to take my time on this one. My timing needed to be perfect. I quickly ran past the first blade, and stopped before I got to the second one. I then continued to do that until I got to the end. The ring was there, standing on a pedestal, waiting for me to insert it in the slot. I did just that. As soon as I put it in, the door opened yet again. A ladder then extended, allowing me to get down.
As I exited the room, I saw about half of the lights gone. “I need more time!” I yelled at the blank screen. I then ran towards the 3rd doorway, expecting the worst. But as soon as I entered, it was just a normal room. It had a table, a few chairs, a tv, bookshelf, and a bed. The screen turned on. “Wow I’m surprised you’ve made it this far. This is stage 4, all you must do is find the golden ring. That’s it! Good luck!”
“There has got to be a catch.” I thought to myself. I started by looking through the bookshelf. I looked between every book and found nothing. I looked behind the bookshelf, nothing. Under the chair and table, nothing. It had to be under the bed. I lifted up the mattress and I found a knife. I then cut open the mattress and pillows and searched through all the stuffing and feathers. After about 10 minutes of searching, I found absolutely nothing. Getting super frustrated, I started to punch the walls. Then it led to flipping over the bed, then the chairs, then the table. I then picked up the tv and threw it at the wall. It broke into hundreds of pieces and then there it was. The golden ring. UI put it in the slot, and the door opened. I stood there relieved.
The room looked to have about 10 lights left. As I stood at the final doorway, I thought about how after I finished this stage, I would be home free. I walked in and saw multiple buttons. The screen turned on for maybe the last time. “Welcome to, the final stage. In this stage you will be pushing the correct buttons in order to get the ring. There are some hints around the room to help you. However, if you make a mistake a light will automatically be removed. Good luck!”
“Where do I begin?” I thought to myself. I glanced at the walls and saw the letters M, T, W, O, I, H, E, and T. As I looked at the buttons, I saw the same letters. It had to spell something out. I tried to think of words that use all the letters, so I tried HOME. A loud buzzing sound went off. “I can’t afford to make any mistakes.” I told myself. At that point there were at least 5 lights left. I kept thinking and thinking. I was running out of time. I then looked for more clues and found some text that said, “Who are you?”
“It’s a name, of course!” I yelled. Although time was scarce. I had to think quickly. I then quickly came up with TOM. All I needed was the last name. I had the letters W, I, H, E, and T left. “White!” I thought “Tom White!” I quickly entered the letters in the correct order. I grabbed the ring and put it in the slot. I looked at the lights and I had 1 light to spare. “Yes! My name is Tom White and I completed your stupid test!”
The screen then turned on. “Congratulations Tom, you have completed the test. Now you might be wondering, “why did I have to do all of this?’ “Well, it is the year 3030 and the Earth has reached its limit. The Earth was populated with over 20 billion people. Food and water was scarce, space was limited, and resources were basically non-existent. So we made this test. Only the ones who complete the test are worthy of living. This would reduce the population gradually and the Earth would be back to its normal state. Why remove your memory you might ask? Well we needed stable tests. We couldn’t have you distracted by family, friends, or just life in general. We needed you focused at the task at hand. Anyways supplies are available on your way out. Good luck on your new life.” A large exit then opened. I walked up and grabbed fresh cloths, food, and water. As I exited I saw a large barren land with little to no vegetation. As I looked around some more, I saw more buildings that had to be the same puzzle I just completed. I see a sign that reads, “This way to Paradise.” With an arrow pointing north. “That must be some sort of safe house.” I said to myself. I head north, thinking about the goals for my new life.