“87 Degrees” – Waking for the first time

He woke slowly, as if he was swimming upwards towards the light. His head hurt and his mouth had an unpleasant taste. His vision was slightly blurred and somehow the room seemed unsteady. Did he have a hangover?

Slowly he wriggled free of the sleeping bag. He was dressed in underpants and a plain white tee-shirt. He swung his legs off the bed and onto the ground. It was then he noticed that the bed he had been sleeping on was unusually narrow and the floor seemed to be sloping away from him. Gingerly, he leant forward and stumbled towards the other side of the narrow room. Catching hold of the cabinet he staggered sideways he opened to door of a wardrobe and flung himself down on the tiny lavatory bowl he found inside. Lifting himself to pull his underwear down to his ankles, he relieved his bladder and paused to wonder how he had known there was a lavatory in this cupboard? Feeling suddenly nauseous he turned and spat into the bowl. His mouth tasted rancid. He brushed his hair backwards with his hand and felt a large bump on his forehead above his right eye and felt the crust of dried blood. Pulling up his pants he crawled back to the bed, leaving the lavatory door to slam shut.

As he sat on the side of the bunk, he noticed that on the opposite wall there was a small whiteboard where some writing had obviously been erased, leaving only a multi-coloured smear and the number “87”. He did not know what that could mean and did not care. He pulled his legs up onto the bunk, drew the sleeping bag over himself and went fell into a dreamless sleep.

 (16th December 2016 – 291 words)