The next time I awoke it was 7:30. Bloody hell! No time to wait in line at the metro this morning; I'd have to walk. Or run.
I shoved my glasses hastily onto my face, threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and ran a toothbrush around my mouth before grabbing my purse and bolting out of the flat.
It was rush-hour for pedestrians, and I sincerely regretted not catching the metro as I impatiently tapped my foot while waiting for it to be safe to cross the street. Everyone tried to stay out of everyone else's personal space but failed miserably; I was constantly being jabbed in the side and having my toes stepped on. I had just made it over the crosswalk when a sneezy feeling began in my nose, like I had breathed in a cloud of dust. I reached up to rub the annoyance away, still intent on making it to the lab in time, but as I did so it seemed as if all my thoughts just leaked out of my ears. There was suddenly nothing. What was wrong with me? I wondered in some deep recess of my mind. It was as if I couldn't keep anything inside my head for long enough to act upon it.
I must have looked like an idiot, standing stock still in the middle of a busy London sidewalk, staring into space. It felt like I stood there for hours before something closed tightly around my wrist. Thoughts of resisting slipped away as quickly as I could think them up, and I allowed myself to be led to wherever I was going.
Eventually, something seemed to slip in from the outside world. Knock on the door, knock on the door, knock on the door the thought said, and I, having nothing better to be doing, obeyed, rapping three times upon the slab that had mysteriously appeared in front of me.