I open my eyes to a world I’ve never seen before. All I can see is ivy, upon ivy, upon ivy. There’s a walkway going in every direction and it seems as though I have to decide which path to follow. Where am I? What is happening to me? Am I dreaming? What is this place? I decide to take the path on my right and I hear a voice. It sounds like it’s coming from above me, from speakers maybe. The terrifying yet subtle voice echoes like a scream in a locked basement. “No, this isn’t a dream. The first one to make it through the exit wins and returns to their life as normal. The person left in the maze dies. Your time starts now.” There’s another person in here? I’m not alone? What if I don’t make it out alive? My mind is racing at a million miles a minute and I can slowly feel my body sinking into itself. I need to win. I can’t die now. I’m only 16, I have my whole life to live. I don’t know where to start. Wearily, I take two steps forward through the path on my right and I see a sign dangling from the ivy. “You have one hour. Don’t touch the walls.” Only one hour. How am I supposed to save myself in such little time? What if the other person is already ahead of me? What if I can’t get out of this maze? I need to find my way out of here. I decide to follow along the path I’m on and see where I end up. The miles of ivy around me feel perpetual. Every direction I look, I’m surrounded by green vines creating a labyrinth of different paths to take. There are four different paths to take all right in front of me. Which one is faster? Are there dead ends? Is the other person near me? Should I be afraid? What if I get trapped in here? I should just follow the path on my right. Right is always the right way to go. Is it really? What about the straightforward path? Or the one behind me? Or the one to my left? If I go this way, I’ll never know if any of the other directions was the fastest way out of here.

I can’t do this. Too many decisions. I look to my right and see a flickering light. I didn’t think much of it, but then I realized it could be a hint. Maybe it was sent from whoever trapped me in this place. I followed the path on my right. There were plenty of opportunities to change directions, but I was determined to find the flickering light. It has to be around here. Wasn’t it by the vine with the singular yellow flower? It’s not here. Was it even real? Am I going crazy? Why am I wasting time? I need to get out of here. I look up and down searching for the single light bulb, when all of a sudden every source of light in the entire premise went dark. Now, I could see absolutely nothing. Darkness encompassed everything at that moment. It took over the vines, the paths, the ceiling, the ground, but it also took over me. “You have thirty minutes remaining. Don’t forget, you CAN’T touch the walls.” I jolted, freaked out by the loudspeaker. I can’t see anything, how am I supposed to find my way out? I wonder what happens if I touch the wall. Maybe I should do it. NO, I definitely shouldn’t do it. How am I supposed to walk or find my way without touching the walls? Maybe crawling on all fours would work. I continue straight, determined to find a way out of here. The hard ground mixed with fallen leaves from the vines, cut my knees and hands as I try to manuever my way around. I pause for a second to wipe the leaves and short pieces of stick that are stuck to my knees off and I hear a faint sound in the distance. I stop and listen. It’s footsteps. They’re getting faster and faster, but also quieter and quieter with each step. That must be the other person, but they sound so far away. What if the way out is way over there? What if they’re way ahead of me? What if they make it out and I don’t? Where are they? Where am I? How do I get out? What do I do? I bolt up from my hands and knees and decide to make a run of it. I don’t know where I’m going and I can’t see anything at all, but I need to find my way out. As I’m running I trip over a stick, my body slams against the cold, hard floor but the lights turned back on. I could finally see again. I have no clue how long the lights were out for or how much time we have left, but I know I need to get moving fast. I’m laying there and my whole body aches. It felt as though I shattered my leg or my arm bracing myself from the fall, but it doesn’t matter. What if there’s only like ten or five minutes left and they just don’t want to give me a clue? What if I really broke a bone or hurt myself? What if I can’t carry on? What if I die? What if I never make it back home? I can feel a tear slip gently out of the corner of my eye and roll down my cheek. I wipe it off and dry my hand on my pants. There’s no time for that nonsense right now. My life is on the line. I push myself off the ground and take off once again. The faster I run, the more ground I cover. The more ground I cover, the more of this area I explore. The more I explore, the more likely I am to find my way out and that’s exactly what I need. 

My feet are moving faster than they ever have before and my lungs are struggling to take in any air, but I don’t care. I’m determined to make my way out of here. I’m covering ground at a speed I didn’t think was even possible when I hear a creaking sound coming from the opposite side of the building. It sounded almost like a garage being opened. What if that’s the way out? Why is it all the way over there? How am I supposed to make it there in such little time? I see a large door slowly being opened upwards, showing the outside. That has to be the way out. The only problem is that it is incredibly far away from me. I can see the opening over the vines, but it has to be about a mile out from where I am. I hear the footsteps again, but this time they’re a little bit closer to me. But they’re also closer to the opening. What if that’s my opponent? That has to be them. What if they’re closer to the opening? What if they make it out before me? What if they’re faster than me? What if I can’t catch up? I turn myself around and start making my way towards the opening and the footsteps. With each step I take, the other footsteps are getting louder and louder. I must be catching up to them. The sound of each footstep, quickly replaced by the next coming from both me and the other person are loud and in unison. We’re running at the same pace, but from two different directions. I wonder where they are. I’m getting closer and closer to the opening with each stride forward, but so are they. I can feel the sweat falling off of my body, but I can’t give up now. I’m so close. I made it to the last turn. I’m running with the vines on my left side and a wall on my right. The opening is in the wall on my right side, but it’s still a good two thousand feet away from me. The end is near, I can see it and feel it. The adrenaline is kicking in now and I’m running even faster then before, when suddenly I see the other person. They’re approaching the opening from the other side. They’re running with the vines on their right and the wall on their left from about the same distance as I am. The other person in here is a boy. He’s sweaty, but he also looks strong and athletic. What if he’s faster than me? What if he’s closer than me? What if he makes it out? What if he gets to live and I don’t? What if he worked harder for this? My intrusive thoughts kicked in again, but I drowned them out. I don’t care how hard I have to push myself, I will get out of here. We’re both sprinting at a steady pace and it seems as though we might make it to the opening at the same time. I kept my eyes on the opening at all times and then I noticed it was slowly starting to close. Time must be expiring soon, I need to get there now. I’m moving as fast as my short legs can take me and the door is already almost halfway closed. I’m getting closer and closer, but so is he. He doesn’t really even seem tired, I’m struggling to even take a single breath. We both look to be within twenty feet of the opening, but it’s about three fourths of the way closed. The light from outside is slowly disappearing and darkness is taking over the room again. We’re neck and neck with each other and the opening is five feet from both of us. There’s no way I’m making it under the opening standing. I impulsively decided to throw myself to the ground and slide under the opening when I felt my foot touch something. And that’s when I realized. My foot must have touched the wall. The opening slams shut and I’m stuck inside. The vines grow taller than they were before and they all begin to combine into one. They start creeping up towards me, until I’m cornered and I have nowhere to go. I hear yelling coming from outside, “Thank God. I’m alive!!!” My heart sinks to my stomach and tears filter out of my eyes. I hear the speaker rattle and then spit out the words, “Game Over.” The vines were surrounding me from every direction and I could feel them strangling me, until everything just went black.