Believe

As a kid, I was a believer. But as a grown-up, demons and unicorns were the farthest things from my mind. My work has been atrocious for as long as I can remember. But today, I had decided to take a break. My co-workers and I met up, and we decided to behave like a couple of teenagers again. So with bottles of cheap beers and rolls of cigarettes in our hands, we headed downtown. As we drove around aimlessly, loud music blaring in our car, we saw an abandoned building. This was actually a very famous building in our town. But it was the same old stories, "haunted" "no one came back" "no one lived to tell the tale" kind of stories. I asked myself, "what would my sixteen-year-old self do?" As I abruptly came to a stop, my friends got angry. We were planning to go to a bar, but I decided to change our plans. "As a pretend-teenager, I believe we should play truth and dare near an abandoned building surrounded by ghost stories" I pointed at the building. After a while of chit-chat, and a few whiny arguments, we settled on my decision. 

I sat and sipped my beer throughout the game, occasionally chiming in to the "Do it" chants. I missed the old days, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I wanted to see my family, but with barely any money to keep my home, there was no way I could afford a flight back to my hometown. And as my depression came back to grip my mind, my turn came. 

"Dare, I choose dare," I said, sharply. A few ooh's and aah's chimed across the room. One of my friends finally decided to say, "Since it was your idea to come to this building, how about you go to the top floor and scream whatever's on your mind on the top of your lungs?" It wasn't a bad dare. But it was a forty-five story building, and climbing twenty stories was hefty for me. I decided that for what it's worth, I'll get in some exercise. I got up, my phone in hand, and walked towards the building.  

Keep climbing

The building was as good as an untouched building from the inside. Dust here and there, bugs, but nothing else. I started to climb. It was dark, but I had light. It was cold but I felt heat in my body as I started to climb. Forty-five flights of stairs is a long-distance, but one at a time, and I will get through. My thoughts kept me engaged in the first few flights, but soon, I felt fatigue wash over me. It was tiring. I sat down on one of the steps. A board in front of me read "23" Dear lord, I had twenty-two more flights of stairs to climb. I got up and started to climb further. "Keep climbing," I said to myself out loud, as I began to thoughtlessly climb.

I sat down again as fatigue washed over me once more. My breathing was irregular, and my legs felt numb. As I waited for my body to get comfortable once again, I felt excitement. This was going to be an achievement after a really long time. A win I desperately needed. I got up started climbing, saying the number on the board as I reached it. "Forty-one" my legs felt like lead. "Forty-two" my breathing became irregular. "Forty-three" adrenaline rushed through me. "Forty-four" a smile came over me "Forty-four" wait, what? I must have read it wrong. But as I went closer, it still read forty-four. I must have miscounted. That's all right, just one last flight. So I climbed, but the board again read forty-four. My adrenaline rush soon turned to fear. I went three flights down. But it still read forty-four. What the hell? I went five more flights down, "forty-four", ten flights down, "forty-four", no matter how many times, it remained "forty-four".

Insane

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.
Insanity is when sobbing turns to laughter.

I didn't know where the strength was coming from. But the number on the board never changed. It remained "forty-four". I think I climbed fifty stories down, but the damn board only said "forty-four". There was no escape. So I laughed as the tears flowed down my eyes. I laughed, knowing that getting my job was the last achievement of my life. I laughed at myself because I couldn't even climb a building.

I laughed, as I knew, I was going to die in here.