Monotony

It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. Once again she awoke to find herself in a cold sweat. SSDD. She had the same dream again. But there was something different this time, she was sure of it. There was one detail that she still could not place, what exactly it said. She remembered only a small part of it and that frightened her.

“Lost in time, lost in space
Loss of hope, loss of face
Over and over and over again
This is a tale that has no end.”

She had no clue towards the meaning of the verse, but the mere fact that it was proving itself right through her dreams was frightening enough. She felt a sudden, uncomfortable pang of recognition as she realized that the room was changing.
The colors faded, the light dissipated, it sinisterly appeared as an 1950’s sitcom…or perhaps a horror movie. She stood up and walked toward the door thinking that this must be a dream. She closed her eyes hoping that the room around her was just a hallucination, no such luck.
When she arrived at the door, she realized something else was different: she could feel the door. The cold brass of the handle startled her as she realized this must be real. She turned the knob and entered the dark corridor beyond.
The hallway was not so much dark as it was “dirty” feeling. It just had the feel of someplace you did not want to be. She glanced into the mirror opposite the doorway she was standing in. She was taken aback by her reflection: She had dark circles around her eyes, which had changed from their usual serene blue to the dark gray of fear. Her hair appeared to be statically charged. She turned quickly from the mirror and walked further down the hall. She opened each door that she passed.
The first was empty walled in an odd maroon print wallpaper, which was peeling badly. The second contained little more. A lone chair and a small desk stood silently in the middle of the floor. She smiled, in her dream this room was empty. The third was the one that made her heart stop. When she opened the door she heard the familiar music box tone of “Row, row, row, your boat,” she held back the urge to turn tail and go back to bed.
The same book was on the table, the red leather with the odd insignia. It looked like a very antiqued “M”. She stumbled forward out of disbelief. She sat in the chair and immediately switched off the music box. She then opened the book to the page that had the verse in its entire length.


“Lost in time, lost in space
Loss of hope, loss of face
Over and over and over again
This is a tale that has no end.

What you feel and what you know
Will never let you go
Your curse is plain to see
Name it now, monotony.”


It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. Once again she awoke to find herself in a cold sweat. SSDD. She had the same dream again. But there was something different this time, she was sure of it. There was one detail that she still could not place, what exactly it said. She remembered only a small part of it and that frightened her.

“Lost in time, lost in space
Loss of hope, loss of face
Over and over and over again
This is a tale that has no end.”