Hours of Songs

Where am I? I wake up outdoors. It is pitch black. My body is lying motionless on the grassy ground. Morning dew fills the air. The smell of pine trees and the sound of crickets help me ascertain my current location. The cozy bedroom environment that I was in has disappeared. I see red and blue lights shining in the pitch-black sky. Watching the red and blue lights dart past one another, my eyes shut back to sleep. The sounds of trudging on grass probably awoke me. I must have dozed off. I must have been kidn*pped or something. Now, I have to get out of wherever I am. It was just hours ago when all I had to do was finish my thesis and obtain my degree in criminal justice. As a local university student, I am one of the best, but not the best. However, I do catch attention because of my tenacity at work. I put in the long hours as an aspiring employee of law enforcement. There is no need to be picky about work. If I do not get home, I cannot finish my thesis. My eyes can slowly feel the morning sunlight seep in. Still lying down, I peek to see boots belonging to a big man in his thirties trudging towards me. The red and blue lights have disappeared. His expression is zombie-like. There is a goal that should be met by him through his adamant movements. He finally walks past my head, more specifically, my left ear. Then, he continues on his journey past me. There is no way I can ask him to help me with our location and context. After his boots head off to a farther distance, I sit up. Sitting up, I scan the environment. We are indeed on a pasture at the mountain peak. The sky is clear and the mountain air is fresh. The breeze is overwhelming. There are strangers scattered on the ground around me. My focus is on those who are getting up and walking zombie-like. They are all heading in the same direction as the man who walked past me. I get up and follow them all down a slope. No one acknowledges my presence. The smell of alpine lake water grows stronger as I blend into a group of people and head down the slope. We walk on the trimmed grassy ground. We are the first few people by the shoreline of a lake. Upon arrival, everyone, but myself head in the same direction—towards a lake. The lake is as big as an Olympic-sized basketball court. It sparkles under the blue and cloudy sky's morning sunlight. A feeling of awe overwhelms me. However, it is undeniably weird that everyone heads to the lake in a zombie-like manner to drink from it. Depending on the person, they drink with their hands cupped, through a leaf, or by putting their mouth down to the lake. Within seconds, I am left alone just a distance from the end of the slope. No one here bothers that I am not heading towards the lake to drink water. There was a tent that we walked past to head down. I might need to decipher more from it. I learned about this in class– To find out the cause of crime, all areas of the crime scene need to be deciphered. I have checked the pasture, the slope, and the lake shoreline. Now for the tent. The tent looms in front of me now. There is no one in sight. However, entering the tent does not seem to be an option. Similar to the lake, I better back off and observe. This is in case there is a trap lurking nearby. No one is by the tent. Everyone seems to keep off from the tent. I need to cross-examine someone. No approachable human being in sight. There is no one my age. Only those who are thirty and older. No one cares about me. One by one, those who have finished drinking water from the lake head up the slope. Then, they head to their cliques. As I continue observing the area, a voice that sounds as though he is in puberty calls from behind me. “Hello." I turn to find a plumb boy staring at me. At once, I feel a sense of gratitude overwhelm me. It is time to interrogate the high schooler. “Hey," I greet with a wave. As his senior, I confidently walk towards him as he walks up. He just finished drinking the water from the lake and is mid-way climbing up the slope. I speed up to match his lethargic movements. He is trudging. “Who are you?" he asks. “Who are you?" I ask Junior. “Okay, you just got here," analyzes Junior. “Why is everyone here?" “Yeah," he rolls his eyes. “I know you are confused." “What is your name, young man?" I interrogate. He looks at me sheepishly. “I know you are only a few years older. To answer your future questions, I was also brought here, but a couple of weeks earlier than you. There should be more people arriving the same way as you did." “What do you mean by arrival? Moreover, where are we?" I ask. “We don't know either," Junior looks around. “All we know is that at random times someone would suddenly appear. There is no food or water. There is only the lake water. I am Lim by the way. My family is from the Tow family. We live in the same village. I saw you running around your neighborhood a few weeks ago. You are popular." My familiar tanned skin and brown eyes must have caused Lim to approach me. He just stood behind me staring at my black hair just on my hairline. No way am I sitting around here waiting for someone to pop up. There must be a way to verify his information. This is what we learned in the local university– Every piece of information must have evidence. “Is everyone here from Citiland? And how do I know what you said is true?" I ask Lim Tow. “Pierre," he calls me. “You appeared here. We do not know how to get out. It is also painless to live here. Nope, not everyone is from Citiland. We do not know how someone gets transported here. However, we have a theory. We have to accomplish something back home." “I want to get out." “There is no way that that is possible." “How many of us are here?" I question. “Probably seventy with you." These are people from different races and cultures. Lim and I are from the same hometown and hair color. His light skin is brightened under the sun. “Dude, you know who I am. I cannot be out of the home. I need to finish my university work," I tell Lim. “I know, Pierre," he shifts. This conversation is going nowhere. Moreover, no new data apart from random people popping up here is being provided by people here. “Lim, would you mind showing me around?" “Okay," Lim Tow agrees.