Someone Else's Ceiling

by Russell Ruffino

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I wake up and instantly notice the ceiling above me, it’s not my ceiling. I’ve woken up under a ceiling and it’s not the ceiling that I pay good money for, what’s that all about?

I’ve got a pounding headache, and I start thinking about getting painkillers out of my bedside table when I realise that that’s probably not here either, that’s an unknown distance away, under my ceiling.

That beeping isn’t helping, that bloody endless beeping. Maybe if I find the source of that damned noise I could make it stop. I look to my left, oh it’s a heart monitor, I probably don’t want that noise to stop then.

Why am I this close to a heart monitor? I mean, that’s not good news is it? I guess I’m in a hospital, but why? I press the call button for answers, no one comes. I do feel a lot better about the situation though, so I press it a few more times.

“Mr Lane, please stop pressing the morphine button.”

“Mr. Lane was my father.” I slur at the pretty nurse. “You may call me…whenever you like. Where’s my ceiling?”

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Comments

Average Reader Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5

  1. Someone Else's Ceiling

    Ana Cristina's Buddy Icon Ana Cristina

    Posted 2 months ago

    Perhaps it was irreverent of me, but I laughed out loud reading this part:
    I do feel a lot better about the situation though, so I press it a few more times.

    “Mr Lane, please stop pressing the morphine button.”

    Despite the humorous undertone of this, I still get a sense of “Mr. Lane’s” horror at waking up somewhere else, in a hospital, no less.

  2. Someone Else's Ceiling

    invisibility_disability's Buddy Icon invisibility_disability

    Posted 2 months ago

    hahahahaha, i agree exactly with ana christina.

  3. Someone Else's Ceiling

    BARomero's Buddy Icon BARomero

    Posted 2 months ago

    For some reason this makes me think of the old H2G2 text computer game…

  4. Someone Else's Ceiling

    thebetweenspace's Buddy Icon thebetweenspace

    Posted 2 months ago

    The same portion that Ana Cristina mentioned made me laugh as well. Simultaneously hilarious and jarringly displaced. I also love the disjointed, morphine-induced final line.

  5. Someone Else's Ceiling

    RainDance's Buddy Icon RainDance

    Posted about 1 month ago

    I’m with thebetweenspace, I love the last line and the whole thing.

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