He awakened in a strange place. Still clad in his green striped pajamas, he was asleep on a bare floor in a small room lit starkly from every direction. Sitting up, he looked around without comprehension of how big the room was. His body was still tired, but the adrenaline of finding himself in a strange place was rebooting his body more quickly than usual in the morning. He stayed still, waiting to notice if anyone realized he was awake.
He stood up, and felt a little lighter than usual. Five steps from his position, he encountered a wall, perfectly disguised by lack of perspective in the completely illuminated room. A couple of taps on the glowing white wall convinced him he wasn't dreaming; a creative man, he frequently dreamed in color, but tactile sensations were rare and not this comprehensive. He let that settle in: he was a captive for reasons unknown.
Feeling with his hands, he traversed the perimeter of the room, it was about 10 by 10 meters and he couldn't feel the ceiling, although he was sure it wasn't far away. He sat down in a corner, looking carefully for the lines of a door or hatchway. None presented themselves. He looked at his toes and wiggled them. A 50 year old man of average height, dark hair and 10 pounds overweight didn't register as a likely candidate for scientific study, and his police record was pristine.
He noticed a tumbler of thick, white liquid at his right hand. "How did you get here?" he asked aloud. The smell from it was slightly nauseating. A tentative sip confirmed it as perfectly revolting and he spat the sip back into the glass. No need to be rude since his captor hadn't shown himself or herself: at that opportunity, he would calculate his rudeness as carefully as he could.
Time crawled by, and his bladder began to pressure him lightly. Being a civilized creature, he said out loud: "I have to pee now." Nothing happened for several moments. The pressure wasn't urgent, and he decided to hold it until he could figure out a better option. Urinating in his room was something he didn't want to do unless absolutely necessary since he had no desire to live in the remnants of his bodily functions. Without intake, the need diminished.
He must have slept: he awakened in a different position on the floor, the tumbler beside him contained a lightly blue fluid that smelled of bananas and garlic, and a porcelain receptacle had sprouted across the room from him. Sampling the drink, he found it like drinking pure grain alcohol lightly flavored with banana and garlic, so he spat it back. Getting up, he walked across and lifted the seat to relieve himself, and returned to his place.
His eyes traveled around the room, looking for the tell tale cracks of a door or hatchway, especially next to where he awakened. Nothing presented itself. What was I doing before I found myself here, he asked himself.
It was an ordinary Wednesday night, and after a long day at the office, he'd surfed the Internet while watching television. He was sending notes back and forth with Shelley, a friend of his on the East Coast, while he monitored the news, and after saying good night, had settled onto his couch to give the television his full attention. No sheet or blanket covered him, his body lounged on the soft leather as he fought to keep his eyes open to watch David Letterman interview Amy Sedaris. He must have slipped into a dream that she had gotten up on Letterman's desk to begin licking his face, and shortly after hearing him say: "You'd better be careful, my wife may be watching tonight," his eyes opened in this place.
Who could do this? He struggled with an answer and he no luck. The only explanation that fit was he'd been kidnaped by aliens and was now their guest. All right, he was single, had a job that didn't require his presence every day, and his habits were irregular. No one would missed him for at least two days. Of course, if he had been kidnaped by aliens, they could be past Alpha Centauri before they found him missing.
He walked the perimeter of his enclosure again, looking for a crack or flaw. It was a consistent, glowing white, with no indication of a passageway. "What are you up to?", he said out loud, and silence was his answer. He paced a while, looking at the floor and ceiling in futile effort before sitting again and staring at the blank walls.
At some point in time, he must have fallen asleep, but he awaked to find he was not alone. A woman slept on the other side of the room: a blond woman with medium hair wearing a light yellow nightgown. Her nails were painted red, her skin was almost pure white, and her eyelashes were very thin. Her breathing was quiet, almost inaudible, she stirred momentarily and settled back into her slumber.
Being awakened by a stranger might be the wrong way to begin captivity together, so he sat and waited until she work up on her own. Something tingled in his memory, but he couldn't put his finger on it, there was something familiar about this woman. She grew more restless and a gradually her body turned and tossed a little before she sat up awake in a bolt.
"Where am I?" she said.
"I don't know."
She gasped and looked around at him. "Who are you?"
"My name's Mike."
"Mine's Shelley."
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." She looked around the pure white room frantically, blinking her eyes, and looked at him again. "Do you know where we are?"
"Not for certain. The best likelihood is we've been abducted by aliens."
She shrieked, making his ears hurt. "Why? What have we done to them."
"I don't know why they've abducted us, they haven't given any indication of what they look like, and they haven't tried to communicate since I've been here."
"How long have you been here?"
"I've slept twice. The room is solid white all day, no sounds get in here, and until last time there was no lavatory. Seems like they're going to no outside stimulus; perhaps we're part of an experiment and they're staying clear of it."
"I'm scared," she said, shuddering. "What are they going to do with us?"
"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see."
She looked at him closely. "You look familiar."
"You do, too."
"Where?"
"I'm not sure. We may have a lot of time to figure it out."
Looking around, she stood slowly. She walked forward until she found and wall. "It's about 10 feet by 10 feet," Mike said, "I paced it off the other day. Can't find the ceiling, but it may be 10 feet up as well. Can't jump that high, so I can't tell you for sure. Can you jump?"
"Not that high. Maybe if I sat on your shoulders."
"We can try that later."
She looked around again at all the walls and then back at him. "Can you see a doorway?"
"No, not yet. The room has changed while I've slept, but I haven't sensed anyone being in here."
"Maybe it materialized like they do on Star Trek?"
"I'll keep an eye out for that."
Shelly walked back and sat down next to him. "Maybe it's someone on earth. Maybe this is somebody's idea of a practical joke."
"Maybe. Hellva way to play a joke."
"Who would it be?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
She sat cross legged on the floor. "I hope my kids don't freak when they find me missing. Although they probably won't notice until they're hungry, or want clean clothes."
"Yes. I don't know what can be done from the outside, but it will be good that you'll be missed. I live along, and no one will notice I'm gone for quite a while."
They sat in silence for several moments. Tentatively, they made small talk and discovered they had been communicating by e-mail for a couple of years. Mike had written a few stories for a website specializing in erotic literature and Shelley was a fan of his. The revelation made them more comfortable with each other, and they swapped stories about their childhoods and lives to date. She had married after college and several children, but her marriage was stagnant and she longed to be free of it. He was a confirmed bachelor, a professor of religion at a small liberal arts college, and was relatively happy with his profession other than the usual administrative nonsense that goes with professorial duties, and the indifferent attitude some of his students had toward learning.
They fell asleep after a while. Once in a haze, he heard a gentle flow of water and glanced over to notice her perched on the toilet. He looked away immediately like the gentleman he was. "Wow," he thought to himself, "We have a toilet now!"
Awakening again, he stood and went to relieve himself once he was satisfied she wasn't looking. She lay on the floor on her side, facing the wall, breathing slowly and gently. He noticed two tumblers on the floor, and the aroma was banana. Taking a tentative sip, he was surprised to find it pleasant, like a milkshake. "Well, do you think it will kill you?" she said, still facing away.
"I'll take my chances. They brought us here for a purpose, and since it's been at least three days since I've arrived here, I think they want to try something more elaborate on us than a simple poisoning."
"You have no guarantee of that."
"True. But the only chance we have to get nutrition is to consume what they give us. Unless you'd like me to chew you arm a little."
She turned and gave him a wry smile. "Why don't you chew my ass first?"
Chuckling, he said: "I'm glad you have a sense of humor."
Taking the other tumbler, she took a tentative sip, then followed it with a few others. "Do you think they want us to eat each other?"
"We'll see. I don't think these would be here if they were."
"We can work on that basis for now." They continued their beverages, finding the liquid filling. "Mike, why are we here?"
"I dunno."
"It's like my view of the world."
"Really? Tell me about it."
"The world is like the ocean, and we're a species of fish. We can eat anything littler than us, and if something bigger than us comes along and catches us, we're food."
"Lovely. What about the purpose of life?"
"Survival. Enjoyment if we can manage it."
"Are we at the top of the food chain? Are we the sharks of this ocean?"
"Until now, I would have said yes."
"Unless I were a shrimp, I'd like to hang around with the dolphins."
"Your meaning?"
"They keep the sharks away. They're also easy going, have a lot of fun, and will look after other species and even humans if they're your friends."
"Sounds good to me. And where do we find a dolphin around here?"
"You tell me. For all I know, we're sitting the belly of a shark."
"Thanks for making me feel good about my view of life."
"You're welcome."
They slept twice more, drinking the banana smoothies and chatting idly. Nothing happened to them: no stimulus from the outside presented itself, no noise, no pictures, no indication another sentient being was present. Shelley got up on Mike's shoulders and found the ceiling, but it was as smooth as the walls and floor.
"Crap," Mike said as he awakened the third time. "It's getting cooler in here."
"Started a while ago," Shelley replied. "I would say it started a couple of hours ago, but I don't have a watch."
"Haven't you been sleeping any?"
"Not much. I'm not used to sleeping on a bare floor, and I'm not used to sleeping alone."
"Well, I've been camping in the mountains a few times, but I'm used to sleeping rough."
"Oooh, la la. You've been holding out on me."
"Be quiet. And I'm used to sleeping alone."
She looked at him curiously. "Ever tried sleeping with someone?"
"Sleeping sleeping or. . ."
"Either"
"Yes. It's been a while."
"I haven't been able to sleep much, only when I'm too tired to hold my eyes open, and not long. I'm scared. I think we'll get eaten."
"You're the one for double entendres."
