RelaxationA short story by Rick Rosonowski
Relaxation
I'm trying to sleep but, the silence is so loud.
30 minutes had passed. The deprivation tank opened. They removed the hands from around the throat in order to unfasten the restraints.
After the ambulance had ambled off through the city streets, one of the attendants finally spoke. "Did you see the smile on his face?"
Sensory deprivation.
What a concept. Complete and total nothingness. Ever felt it? Big blackness. That's one way the describe it. Big empty blackness. Scary really.
The last ten minutes or so really haven't been that bad. Well deserved relaxation.
Now I just feel alone. Alone except for my thoughts. If my memory serves me right, my thoughts aren't something to be left alone with.
Deafening.
I'm beginning to spin.
Spinning out of control.
OK. Relax, you can control it.
Concentrate.
It's working.
I'm slowing down.
OK, breathe in.
Breathe in slowly.
Relax.
Flashes of light.
My childhood...Normal...Everyday.
Lights changing colors.
Moving in and out.
Almost blinding my minds eye.
A long hall.
A small door.
The door opens.
Large rushes of noise.
Pain.
Someone let me out of here.
No one comes.
Maybe they have forgotten that I am in here.
I can visualize the empty weight rooms.
Empty except for the acrid smell of sweat and a coffee pot left on too long,
Could they have really forgotten about me? I suppose they could have.
I tug against my restraints, releasing only small webs of pain in my shoulders and arms.
Oh No! Here we go again.
Spinning,
Faster and faster.
I combat it with relaxation. It works. The spinning slows to a stop.
I begin to imagine myself within my own mind.
Corridors bright with neon, and others dark except for light at the ends.
I am walking now. I look down, I can see my arms and my legs. It seems so real. I stumble over my own feet. This must be total reality.
The corridor that I am in seems endless. A rolling white linoleum floor and bare walls.
The deafening sound of silence replaced by my foot falls. The quiet click of my shoes quickly becomes powerful thuds. The bright light ahead and the thuds of my feet leave my head aching. I continue on toward the center.
The closer I get, the louder the roar. It is as if a raging river lay just ahead.
I reach the end of the hallway. I blink against the blinding light and wince from the roar. I squint around the light.
The light obscuring his face.
A man appears.
As he approaches I realize that it is me. I step forward to accept an embrace. Elation and curiosity wash over me as my hands stretch around my throat and force out the life.
