This is not the first time I've had trouble navigating the parking system at this huge commercial complex. The last time, it took me days to find my way out. Yes, literally days! I was severely dehydrated, my kidneys were shutting down, and I had no food or drink. I almost died just trying to get out of the parking lot.
This time, I was not going to make the same mistake again. I decided to park in the first space I found, instead of searching for a space in the specific building I wanted to go to. This is a hybrid commercial area built on multiple layered hills, with each building constructed on top of a hill. Although there are parking entrances everywhere, making a wrong turn can get you stuck in a different building, and the unique exit system wouldn't allow you to drive back to the original one. This is to ensure traffic flow inside the car park remains one-way for safety and efficiency.
And I thought I got it right. Immediately as I drove into the parking area, I could see it was full and the parking indicators all showed red. There wasn't much luck in Building 1, just as I had expected. People must have parked here so they could walk out immediately. I was betting on the 2nd or 3rd building, where patrons need to climb a flight of stairs to reach the commercial area before figuring out where they actually want to go.
Lo and behold, as soon as I drove into Building 3, crossing the one-way boom gate, there were quite a number of empty spots. I knew for a fact that my destination was at Building 5, which is not far from here. So I parked the car immediately and happily walked up the stairs.
To my surprise, as soon as I took a look at my surroundings after climbing the stairs, it looked like I was in the wrong building. This seemed like Building 4, which I didn't recognize. So, I took out my phone and started my Baidu Maps, trying to navigate through the shops to reach Building 5.
The problem with cellular signals on the hill is that they are intermittent. The map wasn't providing clear directions, and as I went deeper and deeper, I couldn't find Building 5. The further I went, the fewer people there were around me. I started to worry that I would get stuck again—this time not in the car park, but in the commercial area. I thought to myself that I was already fairly knowledgeable about the car park design. I could go back to the car park and navigate through the one-way boom gates to find my car, so I could drive back to Building 5 just to be safe. So I found the car park staircase and got ready to navigate my way out of this trouble.
The moment I stepped foot into the car park, I was stunned. The car park was nearly empty, and I couldn't remember if I had taken 2 or 3 flights of stairs. Was I on the wrong level? So I went back to the stairs and went up one level. Ahhh.... This seemed more lively, so I started heading toward Building 3. Now, all these Chinese cars looked the same to me. I had trouble finding my rented Chinese EV. I started checking the registration plates one car after another, and I took out my phone to double-check the rental company's email with the registration number, just to be sure I was looking at the right car.
After half an hour, I felt a little dizzy from the amount of carbon monoxide in the caves (technically, the underground parking is built inside the hill's caves). I started wondering: did I park at Building 2, 3, or 4? Did I go through 3 boom gates (which would mean I had entered Building 4)? Or was I stuck in Building 3? Did I count the entrance boom gate or not? I felt like I was falling back into my previous infinite loop. I got goosebumps, as if the parking system was trying to swallow me alive. I knew I couldn't do this again, or this time I might just end up dying here on the parking floor. I quickly went to look for a nearby staircase, hoping to find my way up to the commercial area and seek help.
I took 2 flights of stairs, but the 2nd flight was curved. The more I tried to advance, the more confused I became, as the curve kept leading me higher and higher.... As if there was no end. This couldn't be right, where was I now? I turned around and looked back down, but I couldn't see where I came from anymore due to the curvature of the stairs. I took a deep breath and told myself: no problem, I can start counting how many steps I'm going up now. It can't possibly be more than 50.
One, two, three.... Thirty, thirty-two.... Forty-eight, forty-nine.... There was still no end to the stairs. If I missed one step, I would send myself tumbling down for at least 70 steps and get killed. I was getting really desperate. I yelled at the stairway, hoping there was anyone I could reach, but the only reply I got was a heavy echo of my own voice.
I was trying very hard not to panic. I have learned to be aware of my state of mind and listen to my own breathing—keep everything extremely slow and calm. If I can't climb these stairs, maybe it's just me. If I can't go up any further, I can still go back down. Maybe I missed a flight of stairs where there was an exit floor. I turned around carefully and sat on the steps, gently extending my legs to the next step down, then moving my butt down—this made me feel much safer going down the stairs.
I didn't count how many steps my butt touched, but it felt quite fast coming down. Before I could recall how worried I was just a moment ago, I could see the exit. I must have been overly claustrophobic. I stood up, patted my pants a little, and then proceeded to the exit.
As soon as I opened the door, I shouted, "You gotta be kidding me!" It was a different commercial building, and I had no idea where I was. I took out my phone and tried to make sense of my location, but Baidu Maps kept loading. There was absolutely no one around. Shops were empty; there were lights in the buildings, but everything suggested this place had been commercially abandoned for a long time. This was wrong. Without thinking twice, I opened the door to the staircase and rushed down. I had totally lost it. I just wanted to go back to the car park and look for anyone, any car. I didn't mind sitting there and waiting for someone to come and get their car so I could ask for directions.
I didn't think about how fast I took the flight of stairs; I think I instantly jumped down the entire flight to get to the next level. And the moment I opened the car park door—you guessed it right—the car park was entirely vacant. I didn't know where all the cars had gone. They were still here moments ago! I lost it, totally lost it. I started yelling frantically, went back to the staircase again, and ran up one flight, only to end up in yet another empty commercial building. It looked similar, but I could tell it was a different building as the setup was different from the previous one.
No.....!!!
This is getting serious. I have had this kind of nightmare more frequently nowadays. Luckily I didn't pee my pants, but I did sweat like a pig. Half of my bed was soaking wet from my sweat. Even as I'm writing this down, my palms are sweating and I get goosebumps with every other sentence. This is not the first time I have gotten trapped in a dream, and this time it "continued" from my previous dream—the last time I got trapped inside the parking system and ended up getting booted out of the exit, because I thought I could go back to the entrance and restart searching for my car, but couldn't find my way back inside.