Fiction
Suspension
I was tired.
Too tired.
I pressed the red button on the instrument panel and the machine’s cockpit opened. It was a strange machine that somewhat resembled a tanning bed but much, much, more useful. There was a slight whirring noise as the machine anticipated my arrival. I set the machine for one hour and climbed into the machine. Once inside, I grabbed the mask and tried to strap it over my face. Mine never seemed to fit quite right.
After a minute the blinking yellow light above my head turned green. This was the worst part, a noxious, foul hydrogen sulfide gas poured into the mask. I don’t get why they can’t come up with something better.
Soon, the gas effect, like someone was pulling the plug. Things got slower. I felt an icy tingle, as it got colder. With each breath, the world slowed down a little more. My thoughts foggy, my hands and legs no longer working, I was slowly freezing to death. My body was shutting down. On the tiny monitor next to my head, it held all my info. My respiratory rate dropped, I went from 20 breaths a minute to 2.
The scary part is the temperature. Watching yourself drop from 36 degrees Celsius to just 2 is pretty disheartening. I was now cold-blooded, essentially a reptile, a lizard. This new predicament clouded my mind just as I felt the dark circles at the edge of my vision. I felt myself…
