I don’t know how long I’ve been in the hotel.
Every day is the same.
I get up, eat some bland cereal and drink instant coffee. Sometimes, I turn on the TV. There is always an unremarkable, angry man behind a desk, complaining and lying. It quickly gives me a headache and I have to turn it off.
I become restless and dress myself in the suit that is ready in my cupboard and leave the unit.
If I pass someone on the way to the lobby, I never recognise them. When I say hello, they never talk or even meet my eyes.
When I leave the front door, I don’t know what happens, but I find myself walking back into my unit. My clothes are crumpled and I am so very tired. Often, I fall onto my neatly made bed fully clothed and into a dreamless sleep, until I wake again.
Every day is the same.
Until one day. I go to leave and there is a package outside my door. It’s not addressed, but I take it anyway.
I don’t leave the hotel that day. I spend all day looking at the box. Finally, I open it.
There is a key inside.
None of the doors in the hotel have a lock. The key goes in my pocket.
Every day I search the floors of the hotel before I leave, looking for a keyhole.
I feel like I’m doing something wrong. I become stressed and sick. I can’t get enough sleep.
Finally, I give up. Before I go to bed, I put the key back in it’s box and I leave it outside of someone else’s door.
The next day it is gone.
I don’t know how long I’ve been in the hotel.
Every day is the same.
