I’m posting this message now because I have no other option. My only hope is to warn other people about this place so that if they end up here, maybe they won’t end up like me.
I know you probably won’t believe me, but I’m trapped inside some sort of pocket dimension. I went to sit in my backyard for a quick cigarette and now I can’t escape. I’ve tried climbing the fence but it’s like some force slows me down infinitely the closer my hand gets to the top. I can’t pry open or break any of the windows, and I can’t open the fence gate.
I’ve screamed for help but nobody comes. I’ve smashed my fists on the living room windows so many times my hands are bruised, but it doesn’t seem like anybody is home. I can’t see or hear any cars on the road, and when I jump to see over the fence, I don’t see any people. Believe me, I’ve tried everything.
I’ve called the fire department, the police, multiple ambulances, and have reported myself missing at least a dozen times. I’ve told them where I am, and that I can’t get out, but they can never find me. They never come. Yet, as I’m told, back in the real world they’ve been to and searched my backyard. They didn’t find me there, so they sent search parties into the small woods behind our house and the fields surrounding my city. I was in constant communication with the police for days, telling them I was trapped in my backyard.
After a while, the told me that emergency services are for serious inquires only, and they told me it’s not funny anymore. I told them that I wasn’t joking. I told them l might even be insane, and that I might only think I’m in my backyard but I’m not. But they didn’t believe me. I don’t know what to do. It’s very hard to have a stable Wi-Fi connection, to see the world revolve and move on without you, but to be unable to do anything to save yourself.
I’m in regular contact with my family and friends, but I’ve lost a lot of them because they think this is some sick joke. My mom begs me to come home, to stop calling the police to my house, to just tell them where I really am, to come home. She begs me to let her come and get me. I tell her I want her to, but she won’t listen anymore. She’s tired. I can’t blame her. Everyone thinks I’m lying.
People I used to know are spreading rumours about me, harassing me online, telling me to kill myself for embarrassing the locals. People are doxxing me, and my family is in danger. My school expelled me for lack of attendance, and I’m on some sort of wanted list now. News articles about the guy sending the police on a wild goose-chase “for fun” are starting to spread around my neighbourhood. Civilians from my town are looking everywhere for me, but not to save me. They’re angry.
My reputation is ruined, and I don’t harbour any hope I’ll ever escape this place. I will die here. By now, I know that.
Then my phone died for the first time. Weirdly enough, the battery lasted much longer than should’ve been possible, considering I hadn’t been sleeping and I was using it for the entire time I was awake. After that, I fell into despair. I had no means of charging my phone, and I had no way to leave this place. My only option was to starve to death in my own backyard.
I sat there staring at my dead phone for what felt like hours. That’s when I realized that the sun wasn’t moving anymore. I felt myself slipping into psychosis. Surly, I thought, this isn’t real. I kept pressing the power button on my phone hoping it would somehow turn itself back on. Then, for the first time since I ended up in this forsaken realm, I drifted off to sleep while grieving what my life could’ve been, before I was known by the whole town as a psychotic freak.
While I slept, I didn’t dream. It was like one of those nights when you try to sleep, blink, and suddenly it’s morning. This morning. Today. The clock I can see through the living room window stopped working sometime after I realized I was trapped here, so I don’t know how many hours I slept last night.
Instinctively, the first thing I did when I woke up earlier was reach for my phone. It turned on at my touch, surprising me. I remember being so confused. I remember thinking that maybe I dreamt the events of the past few days, but my thin and shaky hopes were shattered when I checked and saw all the outgoing calls to emergency services and the dozens, if not hundreds, of missed calls and text messages from my friends and family. I quickly checked my battery percentage, noticing it to be fully charged somehow. Simultaneously, I glanced over my notification center. My heart sank even more.
Mom: “I miss you so much. Please tell us where you are. I promise we don’t have to talk about it. Just come home to me, please. I can’t handle this anymore.”
Dad: “You keep saying that. NOBODY is in that damn back yard. Our family doesn’t lie, especially to the fucking police! Do you even realize how fucking serious this is? If the police find you, they’re going to take you to JAIL. I’m so disappointed in you. Get your ass back home NOW.”
My sister: “This isn’t funny, Rubin. I’m in the backyard right now, and nobody is back here but me. Why are you doing this??? Just come home!!! Mom is off her meds again because of this shit, and Dad’s never home anymore. He started drinking again. Stop messing with us and just come back.”
None of them will listen. What can I even do in this situation? I’m on the verge on losing every important relationship I have. I’ve already lost my dignity, reputation, hopes, desires, my entire fucking life… everything is gone. I don’t even know what to think. How is this even possible?
Maybe I’ll come on here again sometime soon to update you guys on what’s going on, but I don’t know for sure. Maybe it’s best if I just throw my phone over the fence and resign to my new life.