Bit of context,
I’m sure you’ve heard of the new trend of going around “sensory deprivation tanks, “ basically you pay a stupid amount of money to get naked and shoved into a bathtub full of salt in pitch-black darkness to cure whatever ails you. I thought why the hell not, it was my day off and I’ve been under stress at work?
Bad. Idea.
Everything started off pretty smoothly, I arrived for my appointment and got led into this room and given an iPad with a bunch of instructions. Shower first, remove all clothing, hop on in and feel your worries “float away”…
So I did just that. The first 10mins were me trying to find my balance and bumping into the walls of the tub, but I eventually settled down and started to relax. I chose the option to have all the lights off and no music so it was just me alone with my thoughts (brilliant idea).
I started to see what I can only describe as flashing coloured lights as I started to feel my entire body tingle then go completely numb. I felt as if I couldn’t move as the flashing lights slowly faded back to black. That when I began to feel my body sinking. I tried to rationalise that I was literally in a bathtub a few inches deep filled with more salt than the Dead Sea but I just continued to sink.
All of a sudden it was like I flipped and I was staring at myself in the dark, lying in the water metionless. I felt as if I was stuck, I couldn’t make it back down to my body. It was like trying to go underwater in the salt pool, every time I tried I just kept floating back to where I was.
I felt something grab my shoulder and I near jumped out of my skin, I turned around and saw nothing. I looked back down at myself, still asleep in the water, turned around again, then everything went dark. I could no longer see myself and it was all black.
“Hello.”
It was a child’s voice that sounded eerily similar to mine. I kept trying to find whatever it was in the dark but came up empty handed.
“Hello?”
I started to move forward in the dark in search of the source of the voice. Until I started to make out a human shape in front of me. I grabbed it’s shoulder and it felt as if I was grabbing my own. I jolted around to look behind me to see, well, me?
Now this “me” was very different. She was young, probably around 9 or 10. She even had the blonde hair I had when I was little, wearing a little pair of jean overalls and a white t-shirt. I didn’t feel afraid, I was strangely calm because this was “me”.
I crouched down to her level. “Where am I?” I asked, somehow thinking that a 10 year old me would have some clue to what was going on.
“You’re finally back!” She said
“What do you mean back?”
“Do you wanna see something cool?” Young me asked.
“Sure” Cause why the hell not right? Not like I was going to sit in this dark place for the rest of time
Little me grabs my hand and leads me further into the darkness.
I suddenly arrive into another dark place with all I can describe as an eye in the centre. It was almost as if it was emitting a dull light. Sort of like how a TV illuminates a living room at night. It was just staring forward into the darkness, blinking every once in a while.
“What is this?” I asked
“It’s The Eye.”
I stared blankly at my younger self waiting for her to continue.
“What’s The Eye?”
“It sees everything, but it also takes everything” Younger me replied while staring admiringly at the eye
“Takes everything? What do you mean?”
“It takes the energy back at the end. You can’t keep the energy you were given, that was a gift from The Eye”
“Wait the energy I was given?” I asked more confused
“We were all gifted energy from the eye, when we were sent down there. To the plane.” She said, finally looking at me.
“Wait the plane? Do you mean Earth?”
“Yes! The plane. Oh watch this!” She whispered excitedly
All I can describe it as steam with shining lights within it slowly making its way from the floor into The Eye. They Eye shut it’s well eye, as it almost inhaled this glowing steam.
“What was that?”
“The Eye just took back energy”
Just as I was about to ask another question, The Eye suddenly turned to look at me, staring right at me.
“You have to leave! I’m not allowed to be showing you this! Go!” Little me said hurriedly
I started to feel faint, and weak. Almost drained. Thats when I noticed it. The same steam I saw the eye “taking”, was flowing out of me. Slowly drifting towards The Eye that was still staring at me. I almost felt the anger flowing out of it aimed directly at me.
I started trying to move but it felt as if I was almost stuck in a thick sludge, every step, every movement was harder than the last. I started feeling lightheaded like I was about to pass out. I tried harder to move but fell forward and I was back in the water.
I thrashed around in the water trying to get to the side of pool all the while inhaling the salty water and gagging uncontrollably feeling still feeling as if I was about to pass out
“Thank you for floating with us! We hope to see you again soon!” The mechanical voice of the speaker kept repeating.
I hurried out of the pool, and went straight back to my car, the entire drive home I was in tears freaking out. I still feel nausea even as I write this. I have no clue what that “eye” was or what it meant.
So please, for the love of god. Don’t go into a sensory deprivation tank.