“The Way Outside”

The human is not a solitary being, but for many people, the choice to be alone is a lonely path. To live in a world apart from others is to shut oneself away in a room of dimmed lights, white walls, and thoughts of what could be possible. We here at the Reality Check Corporation are here to help you find your life, for a good serving of reality is best served with a bit of fantasy …

James exited his car and walked along the dotted sidewalk toward the entrance to the brown colored bungalow. He entered through the side, turned right into double doors, and turned left into another door.

The door was labeled, “Reality Check,” a brown, plain one with nothing more than the name on its freshly varnished face. James pushed against the cold, wooden tablet and found himself in a waiting room that resembled a dentist’s office. Elevator music filled the small space and the receptionist was busy in front of a computer typing away at a novel that would probably never be published, popping her gum in her mouth as her neck grinded as she turned to face James who was still looking at the ivory white walls for some reason to him being here.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked between keystrokes and chewing cycles.

“Yes,” James asked shakily as he leaned on the table. “I’m looking for a life.”

“Well then,” she answered with a cheek full of gum. “You’ve come to the right place! We’re the number one source for that answer.”

She pulls out a clipboard that was holding a list of several types of plans.

“Your treatment is as follows,” says the receptionist as she points at each plan with a broken pencil. “This entire building in the source of your treatment.”

“What do you mean by ‘this entire building’?” James retorted in confusion.

“Here,” taking James by the hand. “You’re obligated to a free sample.”

“But I…”

“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt a bit.”

They exited the waiting room and passed through the same two twin doors that James had originally entered through.

“Here at Reality Check, we use rooms of television screens to show you what you have been missing in your life.”

“Missing in my life?”

“Yes. You came here to find out what reality is. We here at Reality Check are here to help you. Let me check what’s on the schedule today.”

She prods the clipboard that she took with her and examined the paper below the one she had shown James.

“It looks like the outdoor channel’s on in room 3135.”

She brought James into the room she had described, placing him in a chair and dimming the lights. Images popped up in front of him. James stared at the giant images of what appeared to be a place not too far away from there, a peaceful place.

“Can I walk around there?” James asked the receptionist.

“I’m afraid not. We haven’t developed that technology yet,” she replied coldly. “Here. Let me take you to another room.”

She looks at the clipboard again.

“Room 3148 sounds interesting.”

“What’s in there?”

The receptionist does not answer.

They entered 3148 and the receptionist once again placed James in a chair and turned on the giant screen. This time, the images were of friends gathered around a table, talking and laughing. Their speech was drowned in music, but James watched the scene with curiosity.

“Can I talk with them?”

“No. For the last time, we do not have the technology for that.”

“But isn’t it your job to help me find reality?”

“Yes it is. What do you think? Will you let us treat you?”

She shoves the clipboard in his face.

James leaped out of the seat, ran out the door, and down the empty hall filled with doors, doors with images of what he desired. His face, confused and scared, scanned in every direction for the exit as the image of the receptionist flashed before him.

“Come back. We will find your reality. Please come back. You haven’t seen everything. You will find your reality if you follow me.”

He shook his head and looked toward two additional doors.

“Yes, I have. And I do not need you to find it.”

James plows toward the two doors and found himself on the same walkway he had seen in the first room. He walked around the corner and encountered a set of benches. On a couple of the benches, there sat the same group of people that he had seen on the second screen.

Birds chirped. The wind blew across his worried face. But this time, there was no music to drown out their conversation. He could hear actual people.

James walked towards the group and sat down with them. The group greeted him happily.

Just then, the receptionist came out an alternate exit. Waving the clipboard in the air, she saw James.

“Thank you! Come again!”

And she went back inside.