Clouds filled the dreary sky of New York city, the air as suffocating as it always was and the buildings as imposing as ever, always standing erect as grand monuments to large companies.

Henry stood in front of one of these companies, he was in a usual suit and tie; the typical attire for this industry. His face as dreary as it was everyday he went in for work, all Henry did was move numbers from different columns and then write them down. He never understood why they paid him money for this but he never questioned it.

Henry had no desire to move up in this company nor leave and do something on his own, all he ever wanted was to just continue what he was doing.

As Henry got to his floor he heard some people talking in the break room.

“Did you hear about the tsunami recently? It really couldn't have come at a worse time.”

“I know what you mean, the recent earthquakes have been hard on many countries”

“But who really cares, our company only gets bigger here; the more data to push the more we can make.”

In Henries company this type of talk had become commonplace, in actuality he heard people saying these things wherever he went. Henry was able to tell this type of thing was wrong but he also never really cared, what could he as a single person do about, not like he had any real power.

As he sat down in his cubicle the air felt extremely stale, but Henry wasn't opposed; this was the calm he desired, for easy money and no struggle.

As he finished his hour shift, he walked out of the building nothing had changed outside, but Henry could tell something about the air had changed it almost felt as if people had become more restless.

While he was walking home he went into his local coffee shop, something that he considered part of his normal routine, as he was reaching for the coffee barista serving him and suddenly crushed the coffee in her hand.

Henry was visibly hurt, confused and slightly angry. This girl ruined what had been a normal and pleasant part of his day.

“I- I’m so sorry I really didn't mean to do that, it just felt like I had to, one second let me get you a new cup.” As the girl walked over to get a new cup a slight grin grew on her face. She really didn't want to do what she did, but it almost felt like something inside her compelled her to do it… Her desire.

As Henry walked out of the coffee shop his mood had been slightly soured but he knew there was nothing he could do about, therefore he decided that leaving it was his best bet.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

As he got home went into his living room and turned on the TV he heard the news outlets playing the usual stories; always something about corruption, scandals or some other story that portrayed the negatives of society.

With his background noise setup Henry stripped to his underwear and began to cook his dinner. Henry was a pretty tall man with a surprisingly decent built body considering his lack of exercise. But, combined with his deep auburn eyes and unkempt hair he looked like what many would call a hot mess. Making the scene in his kitchen an all to normal one.

As the night went on he heard some gasps from the tv along with breaking news alarms, but those always came on during large events such as earthquakes and other natural disasters leaving Henry indifferent to the sound of them.

With his meal finished he took it to his dinner table to sit down and eat as he looked outside he saw…

“Thats a big fucking meteor,” Henry screamed. For the first time in a very long time Henry felt his emotions surge to the extreme

The specific emotion: fear.

Henry dashed back to the tv just to see the enormous meteor he had just seen, apparently it could be seen from all over the world, it was the exact same size no matter who saw it. Many called it a work of god, whilst many said this was the doomsday but the general consensus was that this was the end and it was only 20 minutes till it all came.

Henry feeling extreme fear went outside, the dark red sky was filled with an extreme light from the meteor giving it a very ominous feeling. He expected to see fear and panic but what he came to see was starkly different. The view was almost as if straight from the purge. Henry could see thousands of people committing heinous and sinister acts such murder and rape he also saw people taking every kind of drug imaginable. The world had entered pandamonium with 20 minutes to spare and it returned to a world of carnal desires.

With such a short time Henry really couldn't think of anything to do, so he sat down still holding onto his knife, and as he looked into the distance he suddenly didn't feel the fear he felt earlier, nor did he feel the carnal desires take over his being, he felt anger. Anger that it was all getting taken away, anger that such a random variable was in control of his life. But, as Henry was getting angrier he suddenly felt a wave of calm go over him, he knew he knew he couldn't do anything, and so he lied down and looked up at the terrifyingly red sky. With only a couple minutes to spare the sky went from blazing red that imposed fear to a red that gave Henry a feeling of melancholy and as he closed his eyes laying on the streets in his underwear he expected never to open them again.

…

Henrie's eyes flashed open, he expected never to open them again waiting for whatever would come next. But a white room with a single red button was not what he had in mind.

Henry began with walking around the room, he felt it was odd the room commanded no emotion, something strange as many would describe white rooms to induce anxiety Henry thought.

But the room didn't have white walls nor white floors. It didn't seem to be made of anything, it was just white. As Henry got closer to the red button to further examine it he suddenly felt a tug, where the rest of the room made one feel emotionless. This button made one feel their deepest emotion.

The button had one word written on it

‘Desire’

Henry suddenly felt the urge to grab this button, this room was empty no one was here Henry thought. Therefore clearly this is my button his heart told him.

As he reached for the button he decided there was no point in not pressing it and just went for it.

A flash of golden light hit Henry as soon as he pressed the button, followed up a set of bright golden letters that spelt out

Welcome to the Second Plane

Only those with desire can thrive here

Henry, shocked by the text's divine radiance that caught him off guard. Began to think about what it meant, but before he could think clearly another screen appeared in front of him, similarly carrying a very divine golden luster keeping in theme with the room.

7.2/7.5

The screen had two numbers on it but Henry quickly realized that it was counting the number of people in it, and he guessed it was counting those that had hit the button of desire.

As he looked back it, it read

7.5/7.5

Henry was surprised by how quickly it filled up but just as it filled a few seconds later his vision turned blank again.

…

As he opened his eyes he saw a vast and breathtaking plain before him.