Chapter 4: Sanctuary

   I entered the closet through a crack that was so small you couldn’t get your nails between it at normal size, but to me it was a huge door like opening. I was confused, there was a sign and everything it seemed like a city inside, but how would she never think to look inside her own damn closet. I approached the man at the door who stood calmly and patiently as if we weren’t running for our lives out here. “Hey, welcome to Sanctuary friend.” He said greeting me and leading me in. “Well, I ain’t never seen you before so you are probably confused, head on up the left path and find a short red headed fellow named Mike. He’ll tell you everything you want to know” Still a little dazed by my current series of events, I looked at the massive colony of small, or rather regular sized people, or at least to me they were. There were roads of carpet a sort of sun from the light bulb above, houses made of all kinds of things from Shoe box mansions to homes made from nail polish boxes. It seemed like an honest to god city, but made of odds and ends, it didn’t make sense, how could she not have found this. I walked up a path of carpet past houses and other buildings until I came to what looked like a television set that was suspended 20 feet in the air, it was a small one with a VCR opening, which appeared to have a bunch of planks of cardboard extending from the VCR to the ground. It was like a palace. I called up, “HEY, IS MIKE HERE” suddenly I saw a man come out of the TV and walk down the cardboard. When he reached me he shook my hand without a word and pointed me up to what was probably his home. I walked up and saw that inside the TV was more cardboard which formed a floor and makeshift furniture. The man gestured for me to sit, so I did, and so did he.

    “Hello, my name is Mike, and this, this is Sanctuary” He announced. I just glared at him, confused and stunned. “I know you must have a lot of questions, your new here after all.” I gave him a look that meant that what he said was so obviously correct. “Yeah, I do, starting with how the hell you could set up a city in her damn closet without her knowing.” “oh she knows”. I was confused again. “Wait, what? How?”

   “okay listen up, about 3 years ago, we all started popping up here, in her house. No memory of our lives before. We eventually found this closet as a sort of safe spot, inside was most of what you see here, she built it. You see she enjoys hunting us, so she has given us someplace to sleep, and someplace to relax when we aren’t out there getting food or water, at risk of being stepped on or eaten. She know were here, but gives us this place as one sort of safe zone, but she also makes sure that food and water in her room is scarce, forcing us to leave frequently, and give her the chance to catch us. I am the leader of this place. Here more than 10,000 people live. But more than 90,000 more are out there, scattered around her house, in smaller areas, not safe like here. Outside of this place, she catches you, and then she does whatever she wants with you.”

     “well that’s all fine and dandy there Mike, but exactly how long do you plan on keeping this up?” He looked at me as if the answer was somehow obvious. “why forever of course.” I was again very shocked and still confused. “you have got to be kidding. You can’t do this forever,” “well there is no cure for our situation, so why bother going trying to escape when out there you’ll be killed almost instantly. I had to give him that, going outside would most like mean death in much more abundance. “fine, so what do you do here in the mean time?” I asked. “well you sleep you wake up, you get food, and you sleep, it’s a fairly simple life style, seeing as all luxuries are gargantuan sized to us.” I was to tired to argue anymore, and to confused to care. “where can I stay?” “actually” he started. “we have a new house since Joey died. So I suppose you can have his house, just go down the path you came, hang a left ,and three more lefts, it’s the house made from a Novel propped up on its back.” I left the apparent mayor Mike, and trotted off to my new “Home” although right now I was very reluctant to call this place that.