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I felt like going to the mall for the first time. I didn't like driving by my house and seeing it being torn up by the decorators. I didn't like the idea of friends coming over. I didn't know why I was so uptight about it. I thought I would be tired, yet that was not the case. On the contrary, I wished I was exhausted, but that feeling had already left my body. I was pretty much in control of whatever was to happen, yet I still felt a deep nervousness at the thought of letting my friends in. I didn't like funerals, I didn't like surprises. I wasn't in the mood to be anywhere in particular. Luckily there was a mall close by. I've never been in that mall. I've driven by many times, and I always thought it was strange that the only part of town that had a mall also had a cemetery. This building had an arced roof and was white and had red spotlights at night. The parking lot was big, and there were always people there, always couples at the food court or sitting in their cars. I never liked going places that were always busy, but here, it was different. There were always people here, and it was kind of nice to see that. It seemed lively. It wasn't an exciting place like a movie theatre or a park, especially at night, it was just a normal place full of people, like a community center.
I parked my car and went into the store I had been planning on going into. The store was a normal store, stocked with clothes and shoes. I don't like clothes shopping and I only bought what was necessary for me to survive. There was a shopping bag in my hand, and I was headed for the parking lot. I wanted to be alone, and I was determined to get what I needed and get back to the safety of my house. I got into my car, turned off the light, and closed the door. I dozed off to sleep, only to find myself in the mall once again. This was not a good feeling. I was in the food court sitting at a table looking at junk food. I opened up my shopping bag and found nothing from the store. I went to another store and then another. I have no idea what was going on. I was pretty sure I had been to all of the stores in the mall, and I had not found anything. I felt like I had been in the mall the whole night. I left the mall and went into another store. I looked carefully at the store around me. There was a light and an exit sign. There wasn't a soul in the store. I turned around and looked straight out the door from which I had come. It was night now, but there was no light; it was blocked out by darkness. I opened the door to the store that I was in, and the outside door opened too. I was afraid of what I had been seeing the whole night. I decided that it was a nightmare and tried to leave, to open the door, and find that it was not actually open, in the realm of where the mall is.
I walked to the rest room, and I could feel something on the other side of the door. I tried to push the door open, and that too was not an option, it was just one big solid thing. I panicked and punched the door, and as hard as I did, it just went through the door. The door felt like it was made out of soft skin, and it did not hurt my fist at all. I ran out of the door and down the hall while I was doing so. I came to another door and as I opened it, I could see humans. They were in pain, and they did not look like they were able to move. I could see a few bodies on the floor and I ran away. I still was not sure if this was a dream or not. I could not leave the store, and the store was not a dream. The humans were real. It was a nightmare. I decided that if I was seeing humans suffer in real life, then I was still dreaming. I decided that after I woke up, I would visit the mall and confront the nightmares. There would be only a few people there, and I would stand there and tell them what was going on, say that it was all a big misunderstanding, that I was just a guy who liked to write stories, and I only dreamed up the nightmare, and it was all fake. I decided that I would start walking toward the door, and then I would wake up.
I walked down the hall, and I felt like I was not in control. I could not make my feet move fast enough.