Perry Verihard - Lustin And Teasin

Darlene Williams rolled over. The usual softness and clean smell of sheets on her bed wasn't there. She opened one eye and peeked through the tangle of her long, wavy hair. No wonder it didn't feel like her bed, it wasn't. The other eye opened quickly, so did her mouth.

White. All white. Like a blank piece of paper with nothing on it but her. Darlene rose to her hands and knees, shook her head, closed the blue eyes and opened them again. This time, as if she expected her first impressions to disappear, she reacted with shock. Yes, it was true. All white. A room with four walls, a ceiling, a firm but padded floor, all white.

Her hand came to her mouth as she gasped with confusion. The two blue eyes squinted with puzzlement. Again she shook her head to drive away the unfamiliar blankness and hope for a familiar sight to materialize. When she peeked out of her long-lashed eyelids it was all still there.

She touched the canvas-like floor with her hand, felt it, wondered where it came from-or, more important, what she was doing on it. Then slowly she crawled toward the flawless bleached wall and stretched a hand out to touch. It too was there. White, hard, uninterrupted by doors, windows, trim. Darlene's hand was shaking uncontrollably as she pulled it away. Why was she here?

Nothing made sense. She tried to remember entering the colorless room, tried to remember anything other than her name. When she crawled back to the center of the large room Darlene suddenly looked up. It was light, there had to be a light source somewhere. But there was no light bulb, no fixture which might have some brass, or even a plastic base which might be some color other than no color at all. Disappointment shadowed her face as she realized the whole ceiling was some kind of luminous light source… and white.

But Darlene's memory started to return, bits of information, facts fell haphazardly into place. Married, yes. To a man named… Ken, Ken Williams. A nice man. Two kids… a boy aged five and a sweet daughter aged three… Her hand came abruptly to her open mouth as she remembered Timmy and Leila. How were they? Where were they? Again Darlene screamed the-question in her mind, What am I doing here?

She crawled more frantically and this time didn't notice the white wall until her head banged solidly into it. Grabbing her aching brow she sat back on her haunches and grimaced. A slight curse came from the quivering lips.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, she kept a shoulder against the wall and crawled around the confines of the square cell. All the while more and more bits of history came back to her. Ken, an electrical engineer. Their home, a beautiful ranch-type, three bedroom house in a clean, safe neighborhood with good schools. Where was it now?

She almost missed the slight crack in the wall, it was so tight. But Darlene's darting eyes were searching for any relief from the all-white, and subtle shadowing inside the crack suddenly became heaven. Pressing her face close to the razor-sharp edges on each side she tried to peer through… it was impossible. But she followed the grey pencil line up, then across, then back down. A doorway. She must have come through it.

"But how?" she screamed out loud.

The sound of her own voice made Darlene shiver with fear. She spun around like a frantic rabbit to make sure she was still alone. She was very alone, totally alone. With her long fingernails she once again traced the crack outlining the entranceway. There were no hinges, no indications which way the door should open. It was as if a solid block of white had been shoved inside the rectangular opening.

She dug her fingernails into the crack on one side and scratched, tugged, scraped fiercely to budge something, anything. Nothing gave way but two fingernails with a ripping snap.

"Uh!" Darlene cried as she cupped the damaged fingers in her other hand. Slowly she opened her hand and inspected the painful remains. Two well-cared for chunks of healthy nail hung loosely from their former place. One had busted so close to the finger that a bright red drop of blood now leaked from the pink skin.

She sucked the wound and let the ruined remnants of her fingernails fall to the floor. Then withdrawing the fingers from her lips she watched as more blood trickled into sight. At least it was a color, something to relieve her blinded vision. Then Darlene scratched at the doorway again, tried digging her fingers deep and forcing something to give.

She struggled for some minutes before dropping back in defeat. Her hands ached with fatigue but she did accomplish something. The pure white of the room was now destroyed, smears of smudged, red blood now marred the perfection… at least she would have no trouble finding the hidden doorway again.

As a small drop of blood fell from her finger and landed on more white she realized what she was wearing. The blood soaked into the fabric of the long flowing robe covering the full curves and healthy vitality of her body. It was white linen. It had a hood and was tied with a bow around her neck. She used the hand which wasn't bloody to feel her body below the fabric. That's when Darlene realized she was nude underneath.

The robe wasn't hers, she couldn't even remember getting into it. It was as strange to her as the room. Then with a flurry of panic she grabbed at her hair and pulled it in front of her face. The fear that it too was now white was quickly dispelled when she saw the familiar golden brown, the color of warm breakfast toast soaked with butter.

But whatever relief the comfort of her hair provided didn't last long. Darlene crumbled into a moaning heap on the canvas floor, totally disoriented, lost, confused. Realizing the blank walls of white told her everything she knew about her presence there-nothing.

"What am I doing here?" she screamed.

No answer. A silence as empty as the room. "Where am I?" she screamed again.

The smears of blood from the tom finger were now trailed from the walls around the doorway across the floor, spots dotted the expensive linen of her gown. But Darlene paid no attention, she was trying to avert the panic which threatened to well up from her groin and envelop everything. She had to think, try to remember, put the pieces in place.

She moved to the wall and rested against it while searching for the recollection of the last thing that had happened. What was it? When was it? Like the flash of a camera cube the face of Chuck filled her mind. Yes… Chuck… I was with Chuck, she said to herself.

Now all the memories of Chuck flooded her. His youthful, athletic body, the well-tanned flesh and hard muscles. His light, sun-bleached hair and twinkling eyes. And, oh yes, the flawless, straight teeth of pure… Darlene swallowed and closed her eyes… white.

She had met Chuck six months ago in the supermarket. He was holding a part-time job as a cashier which lasted less than two weeks. But those two weeks were more than enough time for them to realize they were destined for greater deeds than casual greetings over the check-out counter.

She found herself inventing groceries she needed just as an excuse to go to the market and see him. At first she was convinced it was nothing more than a fascination with his carefree, happy attitude. He was only two years younger than she, so she kept telling herself she wasn't searching for lost youth… after all she was only twenty-seven.

Twenty-seven and married and mother of two children. And she made a point of letting him know. Instead of dimming his wide, friendly smile it only made it more appealing. He wasn't about to be put off by mentions of husband and family, no way; in fact it seemed to make him more determined.

Compared to her husband, Ken, Chuck was excitement, laughter, romance. Ken was stability, work, security… none of the things dreams are made of. It wasn't that she didn't love Ken, she knew she did, But the opportunity for an afternoon of escape and thrills with this charming, handsome man was what her dreams were all about.