Spookiness Rating: 5

The Roads Through Hell

It was late one night at MIT. I was looking for my two friends. The three of us were together just a minute before, but suddenly they were gone. I set off in search of the others. I didn't know where to begin; they seemed to have vanished into thin air. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find them. I decided not to follow the coyote through the tunnel. I heard myself facing chemistry. I was standing under a sail, facing a bulding that was the same color as my shirt. Walking away, I went through a door on my right with a square window. Over my right shoulder, in the distance, I spied a squat concrete wall behind a bush. I walked to the nearest emergency phone to call the campus police, but the line was dead. I took my first right, and then went out another door with a square window. Jumping over a small cement bench to get there, I then leapt over the bush and wall in a single bound.

Beginning to worry, I walked towards some wooden stairs, turned left, and walked straight under Dreyfus. I took my first left and slid down magenta, straight into the place where it all began. Passing through a set of doors and climbing a few stairs, I found myself at an intersection. In the distance, I saw what may have been one of my friends jump over a large bush and wall, and I ran to catch up. This was the designated meeting place, but I don't think my friends had been here at all. Looking in every direction, I saw no signs of my friends. Jumping the same hurdle, I ran inside and came to an intersection, but found no sign of anyone. From here I set off down the longest corridor I could see. Liking no choice in front of me, I went up, passing something new under the sun. I set off in the direction of a sign naming the color of my shirt. I realized it would take forever to search this hallway, so I went down the first set of stairs I came to. I continued up until the stairs narrowed. Following George's nose, I reached the Dean of Science, but still saw no sign of my friends. Halfway down, I noticed that the wall was the same color as my shirt. I took a right towards a square building.

Thinking this must be the wrong way, I turned right to go downstairs, passed through some yellow doors and turned left. I stopped to make some copies, then turned left as I exited. Once inside, I followed a dotted black line to an exit. Realizing that I was on the wrong track, I started running, passing through some more yellow doors. I realized this corridor was just as long as the previous, so I went up the next stairs, and up and up and up and up and up and up and up. I went down to image, and followed another black dotted line. I glimpsed a sign pronouncing YPOCSORTCEPS as I ran past. I stopped to warm my hands while pondering where my friends might be, and then walked down the hallway to my right. Spying a great dome through a tall narrow window, I turned left, and reached an understanding of computer storage media. I wondered what that meant.

I reached a pair of elevator doors, and I entered the second one, pushing the button to the left of the ``1.'' OK, enough fooling around, I needed to find my friends. I went under a yellow arch, and headed down a corridor, passing the foundry. Upon exiting, there was no sign of anyone. From here, I continued in the only accessible path I had not yet travelled. Able to see down the next hallway before I got there, I saw no one, and decided to go up two flights, and then walked off to the right. I realized that I was closer than ever before to the end of the long hallway. I went from principles to properties. I should have known that my friends wouldn't be here, planning gifts for me or the 'Tute. This time I walked the rest of the way there. I went down an orange staircase until I saw Bill. After passing the sound of music on my right, I went down some stairs. At the end, I decided to go ever deeper, and headed towards the street of a college. After listening to the soothing sounds of campus radio, I turned to my left and walked down the hallway. I thought I heard someone swallow to my left; I turned, but saw no one. I followed three red signs, but not the fourth. I passed a mathematician, a physicist, and a general.

To infinity, and beyond!

Then, passing a set of stairs, I entered another elevator and pressed the top right button. But I didn't pass a single one of my friends. Not looking for a career, I went the other way, and took the orange door on the right. I discovered a sign for "Main Campus." I turned away from the Sheraton, walked through some ornate doors, and down a crooked hallway. I exited the building, followed the sidewalk to the right, and after walking over a manhole, I continued for 14 more paces. My friends must surely be there, so I went in that direction. I went through a white door halfway down some stairs. I turned left, crossed the street, and went through a pair of black metal doors that were on my left. I turned right after the sand trap, and stopped for a refreshing drink of water. I walked up as far as I could without turning, then turned around. I descended into the depths, followed the narrow path between some cages, and after a short walk, I came to a fork in the path and went straight. Just after passing a corrosion laboratory, I went up some stairs, greeting Einstein halfway. I walked up as far as I could without turning, then turned around. I was sure my friends wouldn't be caught dead down here, so as soon as I saw some stairs to my right, I climbed up, and went through a door.

Walking away from signs of fruit mutilation, I was amazed to discover that MIT had allied with a foreign country. I walked up as far as I could without turning. I went up again, and out a door that was the same color as my shirt. I was sure my friends had nothing to do with either. Then I exited through an off-white door. I made two quick lefts, and went down a hallway with green to my left and blue to my right. I took the stairs at the end of the hallway to the bottom. Turning towards the wall that was the color of my shirt, I passed through a pair of doors, and down a short flight of stairs. I turned again in the same direction, and followed a wall as it changed colors: first green, then blue, then green again. There I saw a sign for a pair of even buildings. I went through a pair of wooden doors. Before it turned back to blue, I turned right, passed through some doors and went down a slight slope. Interested in neither, I continued straight. I hiked up a purple mountain, and down the other side. I followed a path past some neon lights, and found myself surrounded by strange images, passing a bullet, an owl, some milk, a golf ball and football, and a banana. I passed a corrosion lab of lower altitude and higher temperature. Going through an exit, I came to a passage with a low curved ceiling, and walked down it. Not sure if I should be here, I went down until I felt more welcome. Turning away from the best coffee (my friends drink tea), I descended and turned right. Waving to the Chancellor, I turned right and came to a window.

You can call me Al. I passed the A-Zone. Out the window, I saw a tree not unlike the one under which Newton pondered gravity, and so I ascended for a better look. I turned away from William's labs, then away from an optical link, and went down a hallway. Thrice. I then continued to the left, passing Peggy's exclusive room. I stopped in a lounge, thinking my friends might be inside, but was kicked out for discriminatory reasons. Eventually I took the first left into the cold night. I went up the next stairs, and then made a machine nervous. After saying hi to Emma, I turned right and took the right elevator, pushing the fourth button below 8. Could my friends possibly be here? Turning right, I walked until I found an even better view of the tree. I got out of the elevator with high hopes of finding one of my friends, but, alas, found no one, so I started searching once more. I went up a few stairs, followed a path, and then down a set of stairs. Satisfied, I turned around and descended one level. Admiring the skyline to my right, I walked forward and took the 1st stairs on the right, as far as they went. Returning to the warmth, I was surprised to learn that this courtyard could not be split into smaller parts.

Onwards to find my friends! Exhausted, I bought some ice cream, then looking for a place to sit, I consulted the nearest map, and found a bench behind my coach's office. I went through yellow doors, turned right, and came to some yellow stairs. Again, I took the path that I had not yet travelled. Eventually, a door opened in front of me, and inside, I pushed the button to the right of the "1". All this yellow was a sure sign of my friends. Turning my back on Ms. Rogers, I took the right elevator up one floor. I entered a lobby, again went in the direction George's nose was pointing, passed a large candle, and came to some doric columns in front of one center. I ascended into a jungle, where I spied an elephant, then turned in my tracks and ran the other way between two strange square white trees. Passing -475, I went down before I reached a well-lit alley. Here I decended, and came to another, and saw my friends' footprints on the floor heading to the right. I stopped to read up on Tartaglia's contributions to mathematics. I went down 57 steps and followed an engraved arrow. Hot on the trail, I followed the footsteps up some stairs, after passing through a Tinky Winky arch, and ascended until I came to a doorless window. Enlightened, I continued until I saw Ellen, and then exited through her lobby. I passed some fine fellows, came to the first of two brown sliding doors, and went to the star floor. Walking away from some ionic columns, I then took my first left, passed 10 fluid mechanics laboratories, and took the first stairs down.

I zipped up my jacket and walked down some steps. I exited some glass doors, saw some people in front of me, and wondered if they could be my friends. I went through the nearest exit, though some double doors, and out into the cold to finally meet my friends! At last, I saw both of my friends walking towards me! I saw them converging in front of me, and I ran to join them. We were relieved to all be together again. We discussed where we had been when we were looking for each other. We couldn't believe we hadn't run into each other. Pondering where we had been, we stopped to admire the view.