DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON
When Susan came to, she was still wearing the long red dress from the party. The last thing she could remember was going out onto the hotel balcony due to the effects of one glass of champagne too many and now she was trapped in a padded room with no doors or windows. Susan's mind regained clarity almost instantly after awaking and her first instinct was to feel around the walls, searching for a way out whilst screaming out for help. Help however, never came.
Susan was continuing to pound and beat on the cell's padded walls when she heard a whirring noise come from behind one of the pads. She stared at the wall in hope and anticipation that salvation may lay behind it, but it was not to be the case. The false pad slid behind another to reveal a small monitor screen and a big red button, not dissimilar from what one may have used on a daytime quiz show.
Susan stared at all three with mixed emotions of shock, confusion and dread. The button most of all caught her attention as its very presence felt like it was for the purpose of activating something. Thus, during this time of panic, anything that held even a remote possibility of being a catalyst for escape was to be welcomed. Susan ran a hand over the button's surface, contemplating giving it an experimental push. She could feel her hand ready to apply the final pressure to activate whatever the button may activate, when the screen monitor suddenly flashed up in huge red letters, the phrase:
DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON
This was followed by a digital timer appearing on screen just below the instruction, which began to count down from twenty minutes. Needless to say, Susan's hand immediately retracted itself from the button. She didn't know whether it was a good idea to follow the orders of whom Susan assumed could only be her captor, but as it seemed that she had twenty minutes to come up with a game plan for escape, she decided it was best not to rush a decision.
The thought occurred that if one of the panels in this room were false, there was a possibility that more were. Maybe she could track down a door or air vent through which to escape. Susan returned to the walls to feeling for clues but was soon stopped in her tracks by a burning sensation sweeping over her skin. Her dress felt like it was on fire and she fell to the ground, ripping her dress apart in desperation to get it away from her skin.
A few seconds of thrashing later and Susan's dress was a pile of shredded fabric with an underwear clad Susan, lying flat on her back beside it, trying to get her breath back. She looked up at the countdown which had just passed the nineteen minute mark and tried to regain her thoughts once more. Susan was adamant that the path to escape lay hidden behind the padded walls and got back to her feet.