The Dome

Date: 12/30/2023

I was with my dad, Polly, and Zephyr, and we were touring a new place to live (or something like that). The place was known as “The Dome” and was a massive collection of round buildings, some big and some small, all sorted into different sectors by purpose such as residence, food and drink, bars and casinos, libraries, and more. Most of the buildings were underground, and the few that were above ground were dark brown and wooded with horizontal paneling. The buildings looked short but seemingly for much taller as we approached in the dark of the night. The only lights in sight were a nearby streetlight and a dim, boxy, yellow light at the entrance to the building we were approaching in silence, and perhaps trepidation, in my case. Myself and likely the rest of my family felt a sense of relief when the bustling noise of a casino hit our ears. I could see the neon lights as the stranger dressed in dark clothing let us in. There were quite a few people in there, and we were to explore. We seemed to end our exploration early, returning above ground for the last time that I would see for a long while, going home to collect our personal belongings to move into The Dome. I thought about how dark and dreary the residential domes appeared to be. They seemed to only contain one or two dim, butter yellow lights per round room. There were a few oddly placed triangle windows, but they only connected to another hallway, it seemed. These living spaces looked eerily like unused bunkers. The dark interior matched the exterior and would only have flair if you brought furnishings to it. They seemed prohibited though, so I had a sort of sinking feeling when my family returned to claim our new living spaces. My dad and Polly claimed for Zephyr to live with them, and I went off slightly happier getting to live alone. Each living area was accessed through a series of dimly lit halls, and consisted of a common room for cooking and hanging out, a bathroom, and between one and three bedrooms. Each room, too, was round like the rest of the architecture. It was cool if you could get past the dark nature of the buildings. I felt somewhat nervous as I unpacked my belongings and only felt slightly better when my belongings made the space look more like my own. I wished I had brought some lamps or something. It seemed like it was somewhat late at night, so I decided to turn in after dinking on my phone for a bit. Everyone else was asleep, so there wasn’t really anyone to talk to. I climbed up the cold, metal ladder to my short loft bed and got as cozy as I could in the similarly cold, fresh sheets. I closed my eyes for a bit, hoping to fall asleep. I woke up some time later, unable to stay asleep, and glanced annoyingly out of the triangle window to the right of the bed (in my current position) only to be severely startled with something that looked like a face. I froze, looking at the vaguely face-shaped shadows it cast through my frosted window and slowly changed positions to be on my stomach for a better view. The person outside of the window pushed their face up against it to seemingly get a better look at me, and I realized who it was. I fumbled to open the window and exclaimed at Catelyn that she had startled me. We talked for a little bit, but I let her go when I remembered the hall outside the window is much higher than the window. She was basically crouching on the ground to talk to me. I told her we’d have to meet later, and that I’d be looking forward to it. Not sure what time it was anymore, I closed and re-latched the window, sliding back down comfortably into my bed. I decided to try and sleep again, because it was still some unknown time in the middle of the night, and I didn’t know what the next day held. I think I still woke up frequently for unknown reasons, but I was much more rested when I finally decided to get up. Pulling off the sheets and getting dressed, an idea came to mind. I quickly grabbed my stuff and went out the door, walking eagerly in any direction that made sense. I just had to find Lizzy. Apparently she was staying here too, much like a good chunk of my area of the world, and I needed some sort of connection down here. After all, once you move in, it seemed like there was no moving out. Once I had tracked down her house area, I knocked on her door to sigh in relief at the sight of her. She didn’t seem too happy though, and let me follow her to her bedroom, instantly climbing into bed. This was odd for her, so I followed her, sitting at the foot of her loft bed, observing her unhappy face as she avoided eye contact and sunk into the pillows. I didn’t know what was wrong, but didn’t want to pry.