Inhale

Exhale

I chanted in my head as I squeezed my eyes shut. All I could hear outside of the dark coat closet in my home was yelling. So. Much. Yelling.

I wish I could say that this doesn’t happen very often but sadly it happens a lot, which basically means at least 4 times a week. It started a couple years ago after my mum died from a illness, after which my dad just became depressed and like most people drowned himself in alcohol.

Months passed like that with my dad becoming more and more oblivious to the outside world, he stopped working, stopped talking to anyone even me, his daughter that was going through the same thing.

I expected it to come sooner, the call I mean. I knew it was coming ever since my dad had quit his job, I wasn’t dumb I knew my mom’s life insurance and my parent's savings from before would only get us so far. My dad in his oblivious state wasn’t expecting it though.

So, when the call came telling him he was well broke, well maybe you can imagine the reaction he had. I wish I could say it was a happy one.

I remember that frightful day, he came up to my room, beer on his breath and demanded I go get a job. He told me that it was my turn to take care of him.

Even with the vaguely threatening tone I did go get a job without complaint because it was my dad, and even though I wasn’t stupid I still thought he would come back and be the man he once was before mum died.

Oh how naive I was back then.

My dad started to become more and more threatening towards me, demanding that I buy him this and that, cook him meals and be his maid too.

And when he got calls from the banks, he had started taking loans from after my fast-food job couldn’t pay for everything, he would get even angrier.

With me and with the world, but because he couldn’t take it out on the world, he took it out at me.

That’s when I started hiding, first it was in my room, then my closet, then the bathroom and at one point I even hid in the pantry. Sadly, those spots were all compromised after a couple months each with my dad's foggy mind putting the pieces together on where I would hide.

So that’s why I’m here now. Hiding in a coat closet praying that he doesn’t decide to look in here, praying that he doesn’t somehow hear me. Then finally the shouting stops, and my heart plummets. I know what that means, it means he’s angry again, that means he’s going to be looking for me.

I focus on my breathing again after I notice it had started speeding up. Inhale, Exhale I repeat again and again in my head. You can do this Ky I say to myself trying to calm my erratic heart down even a little.

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Seconds feel like minutes and minutes feel like hours as I sit in the cramped coat closet. I can smell the faint scent of beer from one or two of the coats, but I ignore it, I’m used to it by now.

I sit there staring blankly at the wall before I hear a click and the tv down the hall turns on signaling to me that the immediate danger has gone. All I need to do is creep up the stairs a couple feet across from this closet and get into my room without being heard or seen.

Gathering up all the courage I can muster I slowly crack open the door and stick my head out a tiny bit making sure that my dad isn’t looking. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw he wasn't since the last time one of my spots was caught was when I was a little careless and didn’t check to see if my dad was looking.

After I do that, I tip toe up the old stairs making sure to not step on any of the squeaky spots before finally quietly walking to my room and gently closing the door before locking it.

A let out a small sigh of relief that my dad hadn’t caught me and that the tv is still blaring in the tiny living room downstairs. Now all I have to do is stay quiet until he leaves the house like he always does after a screaming match between him and his phone to go to a bar.

With that in the back of my mind I grabbed my laptop, one of the only things I was slowly able to buy with my own money and opened the news.

You see for the past couple of weeks there have been a couple of weird things going on, like how some geese didn’t fly their migratory patterns and how flowers that normally only bloom in the spring are in full bloom right now in the fall.

There’s lots of conspiracies about these things some say it’s China and their planning to attack us. Meanwhile others think it’s global warming, although you can’t forget the few that say it’s aliens.

Ya right.

Honestly, I don’t really live the news, sure I get that sometimes it helps struggling people’s stories get out but other times I just feel like it’s nothing but a joke. But you know I’m bored out of my mind because I can’t do much in this barren room of mine.

Hey that kinda Rhymed!

I chuckle quietly at that before I freeze, the tv’s gone quite but… the front door hasn’t opened. Oh shit, this is bad. He’s only done this once before and that traumatized me for months afterward.

Frantically I stash my laptop back in my desk and I look around my desolate room trying to find a place to hide, but I have no luck which is to be expected. Even so as I hear the familiar sound of my father stomping slowly up the stairs I drop to the floor and try to get under my bed to no avail.

I’m terrified now, my heart is racing, and terror is coursing through every single vein in my body. He's right outside now, and even though the door is locked I’m not safe.

I know he’ll stay up here banging on that door until it crashes in, and I know I’m trapped. At this point my hands are shaking and I can feel tears building up in the back of my eyes. There’s no way out now.

I really wish I had a window in my room now but in the small two-story house we’re able to still barely afford there isn’t one. I watch as my dad gets closer and closer to breaking down the door, and suddenly it starts to fall down.

I say start because all of a sudden, the world just freezes. The door stops falling and my dad is frozen too. And when I try to move I can’t either! What the hell is happening?! Am I hallucinating? Were the conspiracy theorists that said something about aliens right??

I don’t know what to do. I just stand there, thoughts racing in my head until suddenly I hear a high pitched slightly musical beep echo throughout my head and then a box enters my vision that makes my eyes go wide.

Hello Citizen of Earth. You are getting this system automated message because your planet out of dozens of un-initialized plants has been randomly selected to be initialized into the system. Congratulations!

You will now be randomly sorted into a tutorial…

Congratulations Citizen of Earth you have been selected to participate in the Battle Royale tutorial! (Please be aware user that there are multiple of the same tutorial).

Please now get ready for transport to select your starting skills and materials, have fun and good luck!

I frown as I read the message, I just received that’s still floating in front of my eyes before I hear another little beep and I get another message.

Transport initializing….

Portal opening…

My eyes go wide as I read the last word and the last thing I see is a swirly purple portal appear below my feet as I fall in.

I smile as I slowly lose consciousness, I think I’m going to like this system. It did just save me after all.