Eternal Lounge

I, a middle-aged man in his 40s, was having a mid-life crisis. My life was going nowhere, for far too long, and I had long since felt as if my existence was meaningless. I had no lover, no friends, no family. No one ever checked in on me, with genuine interest or concern. Going through life alone, my future felt as if it were foggy and forlorn.

For some reason, I found myself on a college campus, shrouded in fog and mist, an ominous energy enveloping my existence as I searched for the right building that I belonged in. Ironically, I couldn't remember why I was even here.

The college campus was devoid of life, not a soul did I see. The dorms were derelict, and the gym was a jumbled mess. It was now twilight, and clarity was quickly fading.

As I wandered aimlessly, I pondered my past. In another life, I had attended college in my early twenties. At first, it had been for architecture, but I had found that wouldn't be my path. Over the years, I took a variety of courses for a variety of fields, but I never earned a degree, or even a certificate. Ultimately, I had become a web developer, having learned some of my skills through online courses.

Having felt like a failure and that my career had long since become stagnant, I wanted to return to college to earn a degree of some kind, so I could feel like I had accomplished something. Perhaps I could find my path here. Wanting to feel like I had in my twenties, I dressed like a college student. For the fun of it, I was wearing a navy blue t-shirt with white comic sans lettering that read, "i is a kollege stoodint".

Much of the campus was how I had remembered it from when I had attended it and spent much of my time on campus. There were now multiple new classroom buildings that hadn't been there before, and some of the older ones had been expanded onto. Things had certainly changed, but where was everyone? The campus was now a ghost town.

The campus brought back many memories I once had, from happier time in my life. My father had gone to school here, and he had most of his classes in the engineering building. I had spent time making friends through a student organization called Campus Ministry. Having been brought up in a religious environment, I had once known community through both the church I had gone to since birth, as well as the on-campus ministry. It has been well over a decade since I had truly felt any sort of community and acceptance. Now, it was all a distant memory, lost to the pitfalls of time.

Speaking of student organizations... it was time to explore the Walb Student Union building. It was the campus community building, primarily used for events and socializing. I found that it had been expanded onto, and there was now a new student lounge area with some student organization office spaces.

In the far back corner of the extended Walb Union, I found a peculiar passageway with a sign that read "Eternal Lounge" over it.

This shouldn't exist, and it didn't seem to belong here.

In shock, I stood staring into the strange hallway that was lined with cosmic and space imagery. I went in, bamboozled by the bizarre realm that I walked into. I was now in a large lounge room with arched windows that seemed to look out into a cosmic void. The ceilings were tall, as if stretching into an eternal cosmos, and there were colorful glowing neon lights shaped like puzzle pieces. I took a picture of the scene with my phone.

It seemed as if my dream had manifested here, and memories flooded back. I sat in a plush chair and pondered the past. I remembered how I had attempted to start a student organization for autism awareness, called "Eternal Lounge." My dream had been to provide a safe space for the autism community where they could be heard and seen in their own unique ways, via artistic expression and podcast episodes.

Although I myself had never been diagnosed, it had been believed that I may have had Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. In short, I was an outlier, a weirdo, always misunderstood by both family and friends.

It was due to this lack of support that my dream of Eternal Lounge had never taken off. I had tried promoting my student organization, but there simply wasn't anyone interested and enough support to make it happen... so I abandoned it.

~~~~~~~~

Nearly in tears, lounging lazily alone with no one to converse with, I stopped staring into "space" and refocused on where I was. I looked to the right, and there was another passage that led into another strange lounge area. This one had colorful puzzle pieces suspended from the ceiling, and there were orange booths with tables. I took another photo.

There was no one here, and it occurred to me that this was a mirror of my own social life. There was simply no one there... no support system, no like-minded weird communities to be a part of... just me and my eternally eccentric thoughts.

"How are you?" I asked myself. "Good. Just dandy."

I stopped the conversation cold, since I hated small talk, even with myself.

In the left corner, I saw another doorway that led to yet another lounge. Then another. And then another. How big was this area, and how long did it go on?

Deep down, I knew the answer. But I kept exploring, going deeper and deeper into the lounge.

The further in I went, I found myself increasingly obsessed with the strange aesthetics, so I continually wanted to see more, my primal architectural instincts and curiosity getting the better of me.

Losing track of time, I knew I was now lost. Lounge after lounge, I found that the rooms were becoming increasingly less colorful, and more beige and boring. Every room had puzzle pieces combined into the design in some way.

Unsure of how long I had been lost, I grew weary, realizing I needed food. Every so often, I would encounter a lounge with a kitchenette. The next time I found one, I would look for nourishment.

I finally did find another kitchenette, which had a small refrigerator, microwave, sink, and some cabinets, all of which were beige in color. On the counter next to the fridge was a note that read, "Ass Burgers in fridge. Made from donkey meat. Heat in microwave for 3 minutes and 33 seconds. Ice cold almond water in freezer compartment."

I looked in the fridge, and sure enough, there were several ready-to-heat "Ass Burgers".

Ass burgers. Just like Asperger's. How cute. It felt like this place was now mocking me. Perhaps I was being paranoid in this purgatory.

I heated a donkey burger in the microwave, and it was surprisingly good. The almond water was refreshing. Assuming all kitchenettes were like this one, I wouldn't need to worry about food and hydration in this place.

Although now physically rejuvenated, I was still very much alone, and my mental health continued to deteriorate as I continued wandering, without clear direction.

~~~~~~~~

Time became a blur, and I had no idea long I had been lost in the Eternal Lounge. I had created this purgatory myself, it seemed, and now I had no clue how to exit and escape. The misery of my melancholic mind was my only company... and it was beginning to crack and crumble.

By now, the lounges had become increasingly warped and fragmented, and I was finding cracks in the floors and walls in nearly every room. The place had become broken.

In tears, I lay silent on a sofa, staring at the beige ceiling, as broken as the room itself. No one knew I was here, and I knew I would never escape. I hadn't seen a single exit sign, so there was no hope left.

Then, as I was about to drift off to sleep, I heard a hum seemingly coming from another room. I got up to investigate the strange sound. I entered a broken beige lounge room that had a giant chrome podcast microphone in the center. This seemed to be the source of the sound.

I went up to it and spoke, just to see what would happen.

"Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?" The room echoed and amplified my voice, but it made my voice sound high-pitched, like I had inhaled helium and sounded like a dancing hamster.

Seriously?

In retrospect, it hadn't made sense to me why I had wanted to do podcasting while in college. I was an introvert, after all, and I was terrible at verbally articulating my thoughts. I was reminded of why it was best that I always remained soft-spoken or silent. It was both strategic and safe.

The source of the reverberation caught my attention, and for the first time in a while, I saw what seemed like an exit of some kind. It was a small arched passage in the back corner behind me. The dimly lit passage had a green and blue neon sign above it that read "Dancequest". Coming from the passageway, I could faintly hear electronic music playing. It sounded vaguely familiar, as if from a distant dream.

Leaving the broken and puzzling lounge behind, I crawled into the small, strange passage, disappearing into the darkness.