The Day Before

“You’ll be safe here, I promise.” I heard the all-too familiar voice of my mother. A tinge of sadness in her tone.

“I love you, Violet.”

And then I couldn’t hear anything anymore.



It was hot. Too hot. I could feel beads of sweat trailing from my hairline, falling down on whatever I was lying on. And I wasn’t just sweating on my face, I felt a pool of it on my back. I groaned before sitting up, feeling the cold sweat seep onto my shirt.

I used the back of my hand to wipe away at my face, not noticing that I was in a dim-lighted room. I looked around, there were no windows, but there were holes on the roof, letting sunshine filter through. I felt compressed in the room, like, something was going to crush its’ walls. I scanned every corner, noticing a few feet away from me was a messenger bag, it looked stuffed to the brim.

The room looked oddly familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger of where I saw it before. And that’s when it hit me, I couldn’t remember how I got in the room. Or what happened the day before.

I heard a kind of thump-thump noise from my far left. I snapped my head in that direction, squinting my eyes to get a better view. There was a lump and I took note that it was moving, in my direction.

I took a deep breath, letting the air flow out of my nostrils. I scooted over to the direction of my bag, careful not to make noise. I was about, a foot away when I decided to quickly get up and run over to it. But, I wasn’t the world’s most coordinated person, so with a foot away, I tripped on flat ground, quickly extending my arms out to cushion the fall.

I let out a whimper, shutting my eyes, getting ready for an attack or an ambush. When none came, I turned my head in the direction the thing was coming from, my hands were beginning to get sore, but I ignored the pain.

I heard a growl, then a playful bark, and then the pitter-patter of nails on wood floor. I can only think of one dog that would be kind enough to a stranger.

“…Dash?” I squeaked out, my voice hitting an octave.

He came barreling out of a dark corner, his miniature stature, shaking, but his tail was wagging. His whole body was covered with white fur, but he had one big black spot on his back and then other little ones dusted in different places. His face was black and brown, his amber eyes twinkling with glee.

I smiled, a full blown smile, feeling the muscles in my cheeks stretch with the lack of emotion. I extended my arms out in a sort-of hug position, calling out for my dog. “Dashy, come here boy!”

He ran towards my direction, colliding into me, I laughed silently, biting away any feelings of unease.

“Hey, boy, how’d you get here?” I said, ruffling his short fur and scratching behind his ears.

He whimpered and turned his head to a wooded door on the floor, covering a square that led to somewhere unknown. Now that I looked at it, the room looked like an attic; a cleaned out attic. There was a wooden ladder on the wall, it’s hinges clearly broken off, like it was attached to something. I looked at the door, noticing that it also looked like it was broken.

I walked over to the square, curiously looking at it. I smelled a mixture of canal water and salt water. I twitched my nose, it was stench that did not go well together.

I slowly opened the door, it’s remaining hinges making a groaning sound that echoed across the room. I peered down, quickly getting a face full of green water. I wiped it’s residue off of my face and stared in horror at the sight in front of me.

The space under me was filled with sloshing water. Sloshing green clear water. It was flooded.

I let go of the door and with a crack it closed. I backed away from the square, looking over to the messenger bag. I ran over to it, Dash on my heels.

I opened it up and there was cans of food and bottled water. I looked at it confusingly, sifting through all the necessities for life.

I looked up at the holes of the roof, clearly water wasn’t pouring through. So, there was dry place up above. I hitched the messenger bag over my shoulder and eyed the ladder.

I dragged it over to one of the holes that seemed big enough for me fit through. The ladder wasn’t that tall, but it was tall enough.

Dash sat down obediently by the ladder, eyeing my actions curiously.

I stepped once, then twice, then three times up the steps, feeling the ladder go wobbly. I shut my eyes and prayed to God that it didn’t break. I squirmed through the hole, hearing my bones crack harmlessly.

With my arms straight up over my head, I jumped up placing them on the hot roof. I picked myself up and fell to the ground, panting heavily. It was like a push up and I never really liked to exercise.

I looked into the hole, scanning the room for Dash. He was climbing the ladder and I stared in awe as he waited for me to pull him through. I dropped all the contents that the messenger bag held, onto the roof. I grabbed the strap and threw the bag down. It was like a sort of carrier purse. I was glad that Dash was a toy dog, he was small enough to fit in the bag. I felt his weight in the bag and I yanked him up, pulling him to the dry roof.

The roof was flat, like a building’s roof, some parts were made of wood and it looked like to could break any minute. It had a ledge barrier, giving it a sinking look. And the sun made the pavement hot. Extremely hot.

I began to pick up all the canned goods and bottled water, each placing them neatly in the bag. After I was done, I peered over the ledge expecting to see grass, sidewalks, and roads.

But I stared in utter shock at what I saw. It wasn’t roads and grass. It was the same green clear water, stretching out for miles and miles, like I was in the middle of the ocean. And that’s when I knew that something was horribly wrong.