je serai poète et toi poésie

It was white.

I squinted, bringing a hand up to my eyes. I'd never seen such White before. There was nothing tangible to be seen for what looked like miles around; there was nothing but white.

I'd found myself suddenly standing in the vast empty expanse, my head spinning and heart racing for reasons unknown. I struggled to breathe; the air felt heavy. Turning slowly, I tried to figure out where I'd landed, where I'd been. There was nothing but white.

Someone was calling me; I could hear my name from far off, whispered in the distance. "Who's there?" My own voice sounded small and frightened; I could barely hear it.

I took one tentative step forward, then another; nothing changed. The White continued in all directions, and the voice whispering for me never ceased, nor grew louder. I continued, stumbling, my heart pounding in my ears as I struggled. Where was I?

The last thing I remembered was...my name. Someone had screamed my name, in a world of darkness and pain, and I hadn't been able to answer. Why hadn't I answered? Everything was a blur.

Now it continued calling me, the mysterious voice, and I tried to find its source, my steps quickening as desperation mounted. Would I ever discover an end to the White? Would I ever find who was calling to me? Fear coursed through me, feeling somehow both close and distant, a part of me locked away behind invisible glass. Was I even moving at all? Or was I trapped, walking on nothing, wandering in place, jailed in a box of white?

Suddenly I could see something. The door loomed in the distance, having appeared as if from nowhere, bathed in a faded green light, a welcome change in color from all the white. I rushed towards it, hoping for salvation, some explanation of what was going on. It seemed to grow closer, larger in my vision, and yet I couldn't reach it, couldn't seem to close the gap. It mocked me.

I let out a growl of frustration, stopped in place and rubbed my temples, tears prickling my eyes. Why did everything feel so far away? Why couldn't I remember how I'd ended up in this place?

Turning around, a second door revealed itself, this one even further away, and lit in glowing crimson. A red door and a green one. I couldn't make any sense of it.

The fear and confusion overwhelmed me, releasing themselves in a burst of a scream. I gasped at my own outburst, and looked down at my hands, which were red and trembling. Why were my hands red?

"In Between," the voice whispered, the same one which had been calling to me. "You're In Between."

I whirled around, but there was no one there. I looked up, then down, then from one door to the other. Nothing but White surrounded me. "Who are you?" I demanded. "What's happening?"

"Can't get Somewhere when aiming for Nowhere," the voice said, and I imagined it laughing at me, mocking me. "You chose to be here."

"No," I cried, throat raw, eyes burning, heart pounding. "No, I can't be here. I don't know where I am!"

"But you know what you've done," the voice responded, growing louder. "You know why you've come."

The last thing I remembered. The voice screaming my name. The feeling of cold tile flooring pressing into my cheek. The pain, and the panic. The regret.

I hadn't wanted to be there. I hadn't wanted to be anywhere. And now I was Nowhere. Stuck In Between.

I curled up on the floor of White and let the tears flow, let the voice and its doors mock me, laughing and gleaming, hovering just out of reach.