Hanging Reflection

WRITER'S NOTE: It's crazy to think that I'll be writing this 114th short story as my all time favorite team, the Milwaukee Brewers, get their 114 win for the entire series and franchise history!? I am dedicating this short story to the team! I've always believed! Go Brew Crew!

“Rory, please! Rory, wake up!” said a voice.

I woke up after that voice called out to me for some apparent reason. It sounded familiar but I couldn't pinpoint what or who it was. All I know is that it sounded feminine, like a girl pleading.

Who's Rory? I'm assuming that's my name considering that voice woke me up in the first place.

What the? Soon, I found myself feeling lightheaded because I was hanging upside down by some sort of net! How particular.

How did I even get here? There's simply no way I got up here on my own accord. That's practically impossible.

Who put me up in this? Once I find out who did this, there'll be hell to pay! This has to be some kind of sick joke.

Where am I? Everything is bizarre and dark at the moment. I'm still half asleep.

What am I? Surely I feel human but I feel a bit different; I don't know how else to describe it.

And getter yet…

Who am I? Rory, I believe… I'm not entirely sure on that front.

I can't remember a gosh dang thing, except for one. Baseball…

I don't know if it's because I'm a big fanatic or a player but as soon as I saw that same object right in front of me, I was automatically drawn to it. It was like second nature.

I tried to reach for it, just to get a feel of it but I unfortunately came short and was thrown back. I need to get out of this net somehow. This isn't ideal to catch a human in.

My next question is how did I even end up upside down? That's what puzzles me more than anything, next to my identity.

And won't you know it, I was in a baseball safety net out of all things, which was all hooked by the ceiling!? Even more bizarre than I can comprehend.

I twist and turn but couldn't for the life of me get loose from my random, sudden entanglement. The more I moved, the more I became even more stuck. I was quite in a pickle. My head was getting even more lightheaded.

Trying not to pass out, I then look around my surroundings looking for something. Anything to get out of this prison. Judging from what I saw, I'm in some sort of abandoned storage closet. I can see cobwebs and dust everywhere my eyes could see. There were different items of baseball equipment that I could mention but I needed to focus on the task at hand.

Frustrated, I shouted: “Hello? Anyone out there? Help!”

But there came no answer whatsoever, not even that noise which woke me up came to greet me. Nor any critter for that matter. I was completely and utterly alone. Somebody ought to be pulling some kind of nasty prank on me! What did I do to deserve this? I needed answers and I needed them now!

I looked around my surroundings again. Dang it all being so dark. There was little to no light in this storage closet but eventually, I can see something shine as I continue my struggle. A few feet away, near the foot of a desk filled with drawers and an unorganized mess of papers, laid a pocket knife!

Now, time for the pros and cons.

The pro is that this netting can stretch, so I can be able to go as long as I want to. Meanwhile, the con is that no matter the outcome, I will always be pulled back, which means I will be back in square one and have a bit of whiplash.

I stretched out myself as far I could possibly reach. The closest I had reaching for that knife had to be a few inches. Just a little more and I would have got it.

I quickly checked my pockets to see if I could find anything whatsoever. Now checking your pockets while hanging upside down isn't ideal but what other choice do I have?

With my uncomfortable search, I have found some hand sanitizer, a napkin, a mini composition notebook (that might be useful later), and a pen. Eureka!

I next reached out for the knife with the extension of my newly founded pocket pen. Thankfully the safety net is very flexible or else this won’t be an easy task. I was still struggling there as anytime I would touch the knife with my handy pen, it would scoot further away.

Okay, okay, let's try this at a different angle then.

Instead of having my wrist horizontally straight, I bend it slightly so I can get leverage. After a few attempts of my perseverance, I finally got the pocket knife within my grasp! About dang time!

The next thing I did was cut through the baseball safety net. It took a bit but after a few moments, I was able to get out of my cocoon of a prison. I dropped like water evaporating out of an icicle, and my head plus upper body was a bit sore upon the impact.

After a few massages on my person, I gathered myself and the first instant thing I did was pick up the baseball I saw earlier. Just the feel of the ball and its stitches made me feel grounded. Like this was the only treasure in the world. And that smell. That classic baseball smell.

After having a moment with my old familiar friend of an object, I looked around the room and noticed the variety of baseball team photos. Across the wall, I could see a vast number of different gentlemen all posed for a group photo. I wondered if I was any of these fine looking gentlemen.

Not too far from my right, hang a mirror amongst the wall. I wanted to see what I look like considering I'm still recovering some kind of amnesia.

Once I looked upon the wall mirror, I was in it for a surprise. For there amongst the glass surface was no one there. It was at this moment I knew that I was a vampire all thanks to that mirror there. Without question.