She stared at the blinking green cursor on the black monitor.
‘C’
It was hypnotizing. Somewhere in there, she could see her blurred reflection, but she forced herself to focus on the green pixels.
‘H’
The air in the small space was cold. She knew it was way warmer than the void outside, but the emptiness crept into her thoughts. She felt the old monitor glowing. It was the only apparent source of heat around.
‘O’
The room was perfectly white. The only things that broke the infinite whiteness were the monitor, a solid black cube, and a small window through which she couldn’t see much.
‘C’
The black cube behind her started to hum as if it knew it was time to warm up and get into action. For days she’s been staring at this box, trying to figure out if it can be of any use. She wondered if it would work.
‘O’
She thought she might be dreaming, but it seemed so real. The strange sound became stronger. Or maybe it was only her who couldn’t ignore it anymore. It sounded like something was spinning inside the cube.
‘L’
The emptiness she felt was replaced with faint hope. Could it be? She allowed herself to smile, if only for a second. Could it be that simple? Could it be so surreal?
‘A’
For a second, she thought about home. It seemed like a million lightyears away. Is it? If she closed her eyes, would she be there when she woke up?
‘T’
She could have typed faster, but she enjoyed the space between keystrokes. If she is about to get disappointed, rushing things makes no sense.
‘E’
The humming cube changed its pitch. She couldn’t stand it. Now she just wished it would stop when she pressed
‘ENTER’
Without any warning, the room became quiet again. Then, without any sound, a previously invisible hatch on the side of the cube opened. She approached it slowly. The inside of the cube was bright white, like the room itself, but somehow it appeared larger than possible.
She stepped inside effortlessly.
It was everything she hoped for.