Exit

The lights turned a sickly green, the game was about to start. Emma had been chosen to represent her country in the most popular game of the century ‘Find the Exit’. She had no say in the matter but she felt confident about her chance of winning because she had been watching the show on television since a very young age and she was always the type of viewer who screamed at the television, for the players constantly overlooked the most obvious paths.

“Remember kids, the rules are simple, find the exit or die of thirst before you do!” grinned the game host. Emma felt a shiver go down her spine, she had never liked this guy. “Go!” he screeched. The kids wandered off in separate directions, looking up at the high smooth walls making up the maze and trying to anticipate traps. Emma skipped excitedly, as long as she explored enough paths, she would find the exit. It takes a person four days to die of thirst, that would be more than enough time to discover every nook and cranny of this place. She could hear an occasional scream every now and then from a child who encountered a trap, and smiled to herself. She would not be fooled as she knew every single trick this game had up its sleeve.

Two days later she had skidded on marbles, stepped on Legos, got entangled in a spider-web…. it would take me till tomorrow to mention them all. This did not break her spirit, two days meant that she had likely explored half the maze. Her mouth was so dry that it stung when she breathed and her tongue hung limply in defeat. There was no sun inside the maze so Emma often enjoyed daydreaming about sunshine leaving a trail of glitter on a body of opaque water. She wanted to taste its coolness on her tongue. It gave her hope. She had encountered a few children her age and a great deal of them had offered her the opportunity of working together. Obviously, she turned them down. She had too much pride to walk out of the exit confessing she had been assisted by someone else. “Assuming you find the exit,” the last kid had huffed with his head held up high. Emma laughed wholeheartedly, of course she would.

On the fourth day she attempted to cry herself to sleep as she waited for death, but she had no tears left, if she did she would drink them. She missed her family and now she had accepted the fact that she would never embrace them again. She was sure they were watching her on television and feeling extremely disappointed, she had let them down. “Water!” she heard a child scream in the distance. Water? Emma used the little strength she had left in her legs to sprint towards the voice and follow the sound of the crashing waves which she could now clearly hear. She came face to face with a crystal clear, glittering lake ready to envelope her in its waves. Emma knew that every body of water encountered in previous episodes was disguised poison and so she knew that this lake would not quench her thirst. Still, she wanted to end her suffering as quickly as possible, so she dived head-first into the deep end.

“What made you realise the exit was there?” twenty journalists swarmed around Emma, shoving microphones into her face.

“Give here a break, the poor girl is dehydrated,” the game host shooed them angrily. He offered Emma a jug of fresh water as he said soothingly, “Drink up my dear, your family is waiting outside the door. You found the exit.”

Gabriella xxx