The Room

Four walls. A door on one. One bed. A chair and a table. That was his life.
"Good Morning Larry."
It was the voice. High-pitched and cackling. The same voice that came day after day from. It seemed to come from the door that never opened.
Larry didn't reply. He was not going to give them the satisfaction. Not today. Not ever.
"Larry, I said 'Good Morning'."
Larry turned around and walked back to his bed.
"Come on Larry, answer me. "
Who are you? Why are you doing this to me? He couldn't remember anything from before. All he could remember was being in this room. Trapped . He sometimes felt like his very existence revolved around this room. He was sure that his name wasn't Larry as well. But he couldn't remember his original name. If he had one.
The earliest memory he could remember was waking up in this room. It was small with white walls, had a cot to sleep in and a chair to sit on. A door seemed to be the only way in or out but he could never open it. The door had a small slit at the bottom from where a plate with food used to slide in. At least he thought the plate slid in through the slit - he never actually saw it happen. The plate always had a piece of bread and a glass of water. Yet, he never felt hungry or thirsty.
This was his home for as long as he could remember.
The voice was persistent. "Larry, answer me."
"Shut up!" Larry had wanted to shout, but the words wouldn't come out.
He heard more similar voices, but couldn't understand what they were saying.
" I have a gift for you, Larry. "
"Let me out of here! " The words still wouldn't come for Larry.
"It's in the corner of the room behind you."
Larry turned around. There in the corner of the room, was a treadmill. Larry was puzzled. How did that get inside? He glanced back and forth between the door and the treadmill. I'm sure it wasn't there when I woke up and the door never opened at all. Then where did it come from?
"Try it, Larry."
He hesitated, then walked up to the treadmill. There were different speed settings on it - Low, medium and high. He switched on Low. It started moving. He got on and started walking up it.
"Do you like it, Larry?"
"What do you want from me?", Larry screamed as he got off the treadmill. No response.
The voice didn't speak for a long time. Larry didn't know what to do. He walked on the treadmill until he was tired, then sat on the chair facing the door like he did everyday. Thinking the same thoughts he did everyday.
I don't know who you are, but one day I'm gonna escape. And you're gonna pay.


"Is that one of those virtual human games?"
"Yup, I've named mine Larry."
"Larry, what kind of a name is that?"
" I've heard on their planet they keep birds in big cages and give them stupid names like Polly and Larry. I thought well.."
The two young avians looked at their virtual simulation of Larry the human. The first one - the one who owned the game - was feeling rather proud of himself. He had just purchased an exercise machine for Larry, in case he felt bored. Larry had finished a run and was now sitting in his chair.
The avian asked ," Do you sometimes wonder if he was..you know..a real human? Like having thoughts and feelings of his own ? What would someone think if he was locked up in a room like that?"
They looked at each other contemplating the question . Then they laughed. "Yeah, right."