Sleep as a Hobby

I am in a basement school of laboratory. The subterranean labs are not as gloomy, dark, terrifying like as in a horror fiction, but had an atmosphere of my old high school. Light brown tiles with bright white fluorescents light. Scientists and doctors are like teachers. Well… let’s face it; they are ‘teachers.’

Children subjected to experiments act like normal school students (It is true that those who are talented in science and math are groomed to be one of the ‘teachers’; experimenting other children.) and respect those who treat them like a lab rat.
My talent in every report card are marked somewhere in middle. But the repulsiveness I feel as I pass the classroom full of red, blood-shot-eyes students cannot help it. I guess my dream self is damned at science as in real life, so I’d position myself below the average.

Inferior or ‘bad’ students living and studying under this massive lab are punished. It is not that painful or agonizing punishment to be honest. Students are kept captive from doing any farther misbehavior by putting some kind of weird cords all over the body and meekly held upside down in a green, fluid filled glass like a frog pickled with formalin. I do not have a memory of letting myself to such chopping board, so I think I was one of the obedient kids.

Every student is born from the lab. Some of them are ‘Bad Seeds’ (as ‘teacher’ stated) from their time of birth. They are characterized with aggressive personalities. No one knows if it were from the genetic misplacement or from the accidental experiments, which happens quiet often. But ‘Bad Seeds’ cause a lot of trouble. It is said, they would explode their selfish stress out by howling and destructing materials like a beast, threatening a poor book warms shivering like scared herbivores, disrespectful to ‘teachers,’ and the list is endless.

It was out by a coincident. I was absent mindedly cautiously carrying my pretty fish placed in a tank, when two scientists passing a hallway, arguing (or croaking) loudly about expelling a ‘Bad Seed.’ They are sending (disposing) an 8-years-old troublesome kid (who has no need for them). The boy has spent his entire life as a subject, so he’s just an innocent baby not knowing about a dark world. Are they sending him to dangerous outside? Not caring of his safety?

Unfortunately they were not concerned about the human rights, but croaking about the danger ‘teachers’ would get from sending a ‘Bad Seed’ to a civil society. That ‘Seed’ is exceptionally smart and viciously evil compare to other civilians. Instead of freeing a beast among deer, we should silently ki….l…

As a brown haired scientist with glasses reveals his dark treachery, I was casually passing them, he gave me a quick look and tried to resume, which was blocked by an old (probably his superior) ‘teacher.’
I take Curiosity? Probably useless sympathy … anyway an interest towards the kid. Underage, little kid is about to be disposed to the ‘outside’ world. I stared at my red scaled fish. It has a character of its master; not swimming, but gently floating like a primed lady, acting like a stuffed animal……. Is it dead?

I tapped lightly of a cylinder that has nothing but transparent clear water. The fish lazily swayed its tail in such a slow motion, I yawned.


Tut… … Pretty, but a flabby fish.


I walked towards a suspension (laboratory) room for the little kid. Probably for the pea-sized guilt they had… experimenting underage children… the room was placed at the far end corner of a hallway inside a room. Just before I went for the door, there were white lockers with locks placed beside it. There were four (read) stylish (but say wicked) girls abruptly end their conversation and stare at me. Are they my friends?

They are nervously fidgeting around a stair (structured like one you could see in a subway station), looking for a chance to get ‘outside,’ breaking rules. They had a warning look on their face, scared of me who has a chance to tattle to ‘teachers.’
Don’t know why they would roam around, looking for danger ‘outside’ in a first place.

I do not mind their business; I solemnly open a door with no interest. They started chatting in relief.

The door was connected to another hallway. To the right there is a class with a glass door. They are having a PowerPoint lecture in a dark room, blue lights reflect the passionate students; future maniacs, frantically scribbling their notes. I passed in disgust. I went to the end of the cornered hallway, and slide through the translucence glass door for my final destination.

The suspension room, or rather the experimental room had hundreds of adult size glass cylinder with green fluid. Inside little children or students about to be born are lifelessly floating upside down; only their even breath shows they are living.

Air bubbles from their masks disturb their hair, swaying them like seaweed. It was an eerie and a startling sight to see breathing ‘dolls,’ faintly lit by a green light, but also makes me wonder about their dream from their calm… soothing face.


“Here for the punishment? Wait here; I just have one for you.”


I’m not really here for the punishment, but I did not stop ‘teachers,’ automatically working like robots. For I did not had any excuse for being here, and I did want to have a punishment I have never experienced. Floating upside down… disregarding laws of physics… looks fun. As I was surveying around, I encountered the boy who poked my curiosity.


Our eyes met for a moment.


Are we fighting or what? As we are studying each other, the kid gave ‘I have a temper,’ frown and give a shift turn on his neck to side.
I win ^^

He had impressive black ink like hair and eyes. He had wrinkled skin showing that he had just got out from that cylinder, wet like a new born baby. Assistant were drying him with a white towel. I secretly worried about his future; his cute chubby cheeks will trouble him someday. ‘Tut, tut… that cuteness will thin out in your near future.’ As he lazily supporting himself by assistance; narrowly balancing, I could not identify any signs of ‘Bad Seed,’


The 'suspension' room has similar atmosphere as this picture