Conquer Claustrophobia

Rounding the corner, they proceeded down a long, narrow, dimly lit corridor. The farther they walked, the narrower and darker it became.

Concerned, Lilly slowed her pace. She knew there were good reasons for rules. And even better reasons to follow them. “Maybe we should head back and go the long way around.”

“It’s okay, we’re almost there.” Zymura pressed forward and encouraged Lilly to follow.

Even with the shortcut, Lilly knew they couldn’t possibly be close to the library. Not yet, anyway. “Almost where?”

“To the first classroom we have to cut through to get to the library.”

As they continued to travel along the darkened hallway, claustrophobia closed in. The narrow corridor was starting to feel more like a mine shaft than a hallway. “Oh,” was all Lilly managed to say.

A windowed door revealed a series of darkened classrooms.

Compared to the nearly black corridor, at this point, Lilly decided she’d pick a restricted classroom over this passageway.

But instead of going through the windowed door, Zymura continued moving forward, pressing deeper into the shadows.

“We’re not going through these rooms?” Lilly whispered, not really sure why she was keeping her voice down.

“We don’t have to. We’re almost there. It’s just a little bit farther.”

Zymura stopped suddenly.

Lilly bumped into Zymura’s back.

“See. We’re here.”

The darkness was complete. “You can see?” In the pitch-black, Lilly couldn’t have identified her own hand in front of her face if she tried.

“Of course, I can see. Can’t you?”

“No! I can’t see a thing.” Lilly heard what sounded like a knob being rattled. “Zymura,” she said nervously, “is that you making that noise?”

“Of course, it’s me. Who else would it be?”