Like everyone else, I had heard a lot about heaven, hell, life after death, and other bullshit. But this place was nothing like it. No paradise of splashing fountains, no sinners writhing on the frying pan – just an ordinary white room with no windows or doors, completely empty.

I sat on the cold stone floor with my hands around my knees, repeating to myself like a child in kindergarten whose mother hasn’t come to pick him up: “They’re coming for me, they’re coming.” I did not know who was coming or why, but I kept repeating: “now, now. Come…” I will not stay in this room forever!

“You will if you don’t accept our terms,” a mocking voice said behind me. I turned around. An ethereal creature, whose silhouette was vaguely human, looked down at me. I stared at her in amazement, unable to utter a word, as if I suddenly saw a shadow speaking. “So, you mean...” I started. “Yes, you are immortal now. You have an eternity to think about how and for what you lived.”

Brilliant! I wish I knew the answers to these questions! I lived like everyone else, what’s there to think about? Especially when life is over? What is the point? “I agree with you,” The Shadow grinned. “We are not wrong about you, you’re the right man for us.” “‘For us?’ May I ask who you are?” “You don’t need to know.” “But if I refuse?” “You’ll stay in the White Room.”

It wasn’t I was afraid of being alone. Sometimes I even liked it. When I was a kid, I dreamed of settling on a desert island, like Robinson. I imagined swimming in the sea, eating coconuts, fishing for barracuda – isn’t this a heavenly life? “Remember,” The Shadow warned me. “There will be no ocean, no coconuts – nothing in the White Room, just you and your thoughts, which you can’t escape.”

“Oh, you’re not even going to give me a music player? Just leave me sit here in silence?” “Well, how can I tell you,” The Shadow coughed softly. “Silence is a relative term. It can be quiet here and it can be not. Strange things happen in this room. Sometimes loud music plays, there are rustles, knocks, shouts, voices. The light can go out, the air can get bad, it can get cold or hot. In short, everything is unpredictable.” “On what do these things depend?” “On your inner state, but it won’t be a good one, I promise.”

I sensed something fishy in the way The Shadow waited tensely for my decision. “Don’t press me!” I said angrily. “I need to think about it.” “Okay,” The Shadow said graciously. “I can lend you some energy so you don’t get bored.” “For what purpose?” “That’s up to you. But everyone usually uses it for waking dreams.” “Waking dreams?” I got up in anticipation. “Can I fly in these dreams?” “It’s easy. Just don’t expect to fly away. That’s impossible.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of escaping. Where to, and more importantly – why? Flying – what could be better? As a child, I loved to fly in my dreams. I would climb into the clouds and soar high above the ground, feeling like a free bird. But as I grew older, it happened less and less. How could I resist the chance to experience that familiar happiness again, especially when alternative was an indefinite prison cell? “Well done!” The Shadow clapped her hands.

Then, of course, it turned out that I had been bait, which I had swallowed with a float, instead of contemplating my current situation in solitude. I thought I had a lot of time ahead of me (and when I didn’t think so…), what doubts could there be when you have an entire amusement park at your disposal. And without asking the price of the ticket, I immediately immersed myself in the world of fantasy – with the power of my mind I built fabulous cities and invented fantastic landscapes.

I visited the moon and dived to the bottom of the ocean. I breathed underwater, swam with dolphins, smoked a peace pipe with an Indian chief, looked at dinosaurs – there’s nothing easier, you just have to wish! It seemed like paradise. The fact that invented world always collapsed at dawn did not bother me; on the contrary, it fired my imagination. In ecstasy, I often asked myself: “What have I done to deserve such happiness?” And each time I answered myself: “This is compensation for my colorless life of the past few years – the triumph of justice!”

But one day I found myself lying on the floor of the White Room. I was so exhausted and weak that I couldn’t move a finger. Out of the corner of my eye I saw The Shadow nearby. “Do you agree?” she asked coldly. And I realized how ridiculous and hopelessness my situation was. I had been deceived! It takes a lot of energy to create, but where would a dead man get it from? I have none of my own, and I have used up all recourses The Shadow gave me on credit, and now I must repay them.

“You’re right, there will be no more gifts,” she confirmed. “The debts must be paid.” “Would you take my soul?” “Oh no, we won’t need it”, The Shadow laughed. “You’ll just work for us, unless you want to stay in the White Room forever.”

What would you do if you were me? You don’t even have anyone to talk to here! Suppose I spend a day, two days, a week reminiscing about my past. But, as The Shadow assures me, I have not a year, not two, but an eternity ahead of me. Immortality may seem like a gift while you’re alive, but what good would it do in an empty White Room? I imagined that The Shadow was about to leave, and I was so frightened that I screamed: “I agree! Let me out of here!”

To be continued