The man woke up in a room with several doors. The room was circular and rose into darkness undiminished or articulated by light.
In the room was a square table, which the man thought odd. On the table was a box and inside the box were numerous colored keys. Each key corresponded to one of the doors by color.
The man took the box of keys and approached the red door. He took the red key and inserted the key into the lock and turned the key but to no effect. Then he went to the blue door and tried the blue key but, again, the door did not open.
Above, the darkness appeared hungry and heavy, something of the denseness of webs to it or the skin around the eyes of angry people or sores in the process of healing after surgery.
He tried the yellow key, the orange key, the black key, each in its matching door. He knocked on one of the doors. He felt around the door for gaps, some space to look through, some thinness of illumination from outside, otherside, elsewhere.
He attempted different combinations. Red in white, white in yellow. He tried numerical patterns: red in red, white, and yellow. Blue in red, white, and orange.
Soon, he tired of keys and doors and patterns. Some combination of muscles in his neck twisted the top of his spine from looking up and studying the throbbing (or not throbbing) darkness high above. He put the box back onto the table. He went back to the center of the room and sat down. His respiration slowed. He took a pear out of a pocket in his jacket. He took a bite and let the juice of that fruit run down his knuckles.
