Vehicles honking. Motorbikes cruising by. Those were the first sounds I heard when I opened my eyes. The sunlight streaming in from the window is blinding. Blinking my eyes to adjust to the brightness, I tried to move the muscles in my body gingerly. Pushing with my elbow, I sat up and immediately regret it as my head pounded terribly. My right palm aches badly from a tightly clenched fist. Opening my fist, I saw a clean, mint silver key.
Still feeling confused, I looked around trying to figure out where I am. I am in a room. The paint on the walls and ceiling are peeling away. The room smelled of mould and cheap alcohol. A key card holder lying on the desk reads, “Maggie’s Inn”. Something is not right here. I grabbed the bottle of complimentary drinking water and left the room with the silver key still in my hands.
There is only one person manning the reception at the lobby and he seemed to be busy watching Netflix on his mobile tablet. Not knowing how to explain myself for my shabby looks and the reminiscent odour of yesterday’s perfume turning sour, I walked out of Maggie’s Inn.
The streets looked familiar but I can’t seem to recall where this place really is and how I ended up here. Feeling my pockets for a phone and realising I have none with me, I continue walking aimlessly until I reached a bus stop. I need to sit down and think. Opening my palm again, I stared at the key hoping that it will give me a clue to everything that has happened in the past twenty-four hours.
I’ve probably sat at the bus stop for a good hour. Many buses went by. People boarded and alighted. And I am still staring at the key. Tears start to fall with the realisation that I might never remember.
I AM LOST.
.
.
.
“Beep! Beep! Beep!” My alarm went off. Opening my eyes, I came to understand that I fell asleep in front of the television clutching the remote tightly in my right palm.
This post is specially written for the Rhapsodist Writing Contest #6 created by @lpfaust .
About the author: I'm very new to writing and expressing my thoughts verbally. Through Steemit's platform, I hope to improve my writing skills. Please highlight to me any grammatical errors within this post and I definitely welcome all constructive feedback.
Images used within this post are under the CC0 Creative Commons license usage.