A world full of conspiracies, that’s what this place is. My solution to face this is to never set foot
out of the safety of my apartment. Even on a sunny day like today…No one can truly tell if it’s going to rain at any moment. Everything is a “lie”. Do you want to know what the reality is? I’m the only human left and this entire planet is a makeshift created by an evil organization called the A.S.W.O., the Acute Social Withdrawal Organization composed of extraterrestrial beings. It doesn’t stop there. They are using me as an experiment to see how humans once were. Yes! Yes! That’s what they’re up to. That’s why I’m in this trash filled room doing nothing day after day, week after week, month after month and eventually year after year. Four years to be exact. Luckily, I have my “substitute parents” who send me rent money, clothes and food; my only means for my bare sustenance is them.
Today, however, is going to be a new start for me. I, Maxime Lapierre, ruler of my dwelling, am going to face the world. No more incarceration. No more fear. Just actions. Like now, for instance, I’m walking toward the door , one small step at a time just in case they decide to burst it open and attack me. I’m just two inches away now. All I have to do is reach a little bit further. Just a little bit further…Something’s strange. It is as though the earth is shaking. No, I’m the one shaking. Why am I shaking? I’m not supposed to be shaking! I’m the God of this world. I’m the reincarnation of what used to be and the representation of what is. I have nothing to fear. All should fear me. Maybe if I force myself a bit more. Darn vision’s getting a bit wavy. And my knees…what’s going on with my knees? They’re like spaghetti. I can’t even walk without risking a fall. Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! It’s not supposed to be like this. They’re winning. They’re winning this battle. I can’t allow it. Not as long as I’m still breathing.
The room started wavering and scenes of his past started clouding his vision. Fragments of how it all began came into focus…
I was on my way to the mall at McGill. I trust that it was around three o’ clock since it was when I
received a phone call from my cousin, Saku Koivu.
“Did you manage to study for your chemistry assessment?” he asked.
“I did,” I lied.
“And how’s the gang doing?” he asked.
“They’re doing O.K, man. How often are you going to call me to ask stupid questions?” I reluctantly
asked.
“ I’m just worried about you, your studies…How’s your mom?” he asked.
“She’s fine. Anything else?”
“No. That’ll be it,” he said before he hung up.
I ran up to my friends, cell phone at hand, ready to conquer the world.
Three days later, examination day, I did the usual :bathed, brushed my teeth, got ready and headed out the
door. Midway, I started to choke. I couldn’t breath. My legs became weak and my head started to feel
heavy. At that instant, I heard voices:
“ The world is filled with conspiracies, Maxime Lapierre.”
That voice! I recognized that voice. It was Samantha, the class representative. And that was what she
once said when we were playing a game of cards. Poker actually.
“Humans are not important in this universe.” She said as she fetched a card from the batch.
“Imagine what Earth would be if we didn’t exist. I mean, it’s not like it needed a McDonalds or
whatever.”
As fast as lightening, another scene came into being.
He was in the astronomer’s wee club room with the person of his last vision: Samantha.
“Look at the sky. isn’t it beautiful?” He saw himself looking through the telescope, staring at the stars
and their constellations.
“ Do you know that a humans’ life is nothing? We die in only one ten thousandth of the time the light
from those balls of gas to reach this planet. Makes you wonder about the significance of it all, doesn’t it?”
“Class rep., what are you trying to say?” he questioned.
“ Nothing really.”
Vision after vision compiled themselves one on top of the other. Each of them added to his paranoia.
“Air is getting harder and harder to capture. I need to get to the exam hall but this…”
“ You’re an idiot.”
He didn’t recognize this voice. He looked up to find its owner but instead of finding him or her, he found
them. Everyone was looking down on him with smirks reaching from one end of their deformed, alien-like
faces to the other.
“Those conceited bastards…”
“ Hey mom, look at that pathetic man.” Laughed a blond-haired kid.
“ Look away son. No need to heed attention to such an individual,”
More and more voices joined in a chorus of laughter. He crouched, blocking his aching ears in hope that
It would all end but it just didn’t go as he had hoped.
“It’s the organization. It has to be. They’re after me” He thought.
The pressure was too much. It was then that he had an epiphany: he needed to leave that place, forget
school, the source of all conspiracies, forget friends, forget everything. They were all out to get him. He
was sure of it.
“ All of you aren’t real. You aren‘t real!” I spat. “You’re not going to have me.”
With all the fiber of my being, I got up and sprinted back home. Once there, I began my
exemption from the outside world.
Here I am, five years later, no job, no education and no girlfriend, having the same reaction as I have
had five years prior to this one from just trying to open my apartment door. If only can grasp it. After all,
it’s just a knob.
“Come on! This is getting ridiculous.” I muttered to myself for encouragement.
With that phrase in mind, I threw myself at the door and, surely enough, it opened. A gust of fresh air
entered the stifled room. Thank goodness, I finally made it! I was finally outside. I was free!
I can run and enjoy the sun. I ran and ran and let the wondrous air fill my lungs. I sang happy tunes
with the birds. I drank water from the fountain. I never felt more alive than I did today. Ever. I was
practically one with nature. I could even hear the animals talking to me.
“ Hahahaha, look at the douche” said a pigeon to another.
The other one gazed at me for what seemed to be an eternity. It finally opened its beak and uttered, “ Hey,
when are you going to wake up and smell the freakin’ coffee?”
“Huh?”
“ You heard me. Wake up.”
“wake up?”
“ WAKE UP”
Everything became moist or damp : the air, the plain surfaces, my skin and whatnot. The suddenly, I felt
as though I was drowning.
I soon realized that I was bathing in sweat when I woke up from what turned out to be a dream. My right
arm was still outstretched to the door while the other was flattened by my dead weight.
I stood up and grabbed the handle of the door. This time, for some unknown reason, I was not half as
scared as before. I turned the knob opened the door and took a great, long look at the world I hid myself
from. It was dark, cold and there was snow all around. This surprised me because, when I last looked at
the weather channel, it was a nice, hot day.
I closed the door, turned on the TV, only to find that two months had past since the beginning of my
attempt at freedom. This explained a lot: my hunger being one of them.
