I have all the time in the world, yet that clock keeps ticking. I close my eyes in an attempt to disregard it, but I can’t seem to block out the sound, that omnipresent tick. I open them once again to find that my whole world has stopped moving. I’m the only one not frozen, yet I don’t have it in me to move. Only my head is mobile, turning from side to side. But somehow, I don’t know what’s left from right, my mind failing to make sense of any direction. Somehow, I get one of my feet to step forward, the other one following slowly. I walk until identical doors suddenly appear in front of me. They have glass windows, however, all giving me previews of different trails. I stare blankly at them all, taking my time to decide which knob to turn.

But I hear the ticking again and I look up to see another clock. It seems to be floating in midair, pressuring me to pick a path. Overwhelmed by all my options, the same foot that stepped forward earlier now takes a step back. I find myself once again searching for something, when I finally find it: a simple, black button with the word “Success” in white, bold letters. It’s floating, too, and when I try to reach up to press it, it moves away. The button passes through the window of one of the doors. And in a hasty attempt to follow it, I open the same door and run through it, keeping my eye on that elusive button. Once I go through the doorway, however, the door in its entirety disappears. I look around my new environment and realize that the button chose for me. Did the button actually exist? I push the question into the back of my mind as I take it all in. Maybe I’ll learn to like it here.