He continued to push against the door. In that room, surrounded on all four sides by walls, there was no guarantee that it was even a door just because a section of the wall looked different. There was no keyhole, nor any sign of a doorknob or anything like it. It wouldn’t budge when pushed, and with no way to get a grip, he couldn’t pull it toward him or slide it to the side.
He had been confined there before he knew it. There were no windows, and only a dim light glowed from high up on the ceiling. Meals seemed to be delivered while he slept. Whenever he woke up, food was always prepared on the table. He had tried to feign sleep in hopes of escaping when the server arrived, but it was in vain. In the end, he would succumb to sleep, only to find the meal waiting for him as usual.
With the sole desire to escape, he did nothing but push against the door. Even a tiny droplet of water, if it keeps falling, will eventually bore a hole through a rock. It was with that spirit that he kept pushing.
A thought suddenly occurred to him. Is this really a door? Because there was a clear gap, like a boundary line, it certainly appeared to be separated from the rest of the wall. But what if this gap was merely superficial, and deeper inside, it was connected to the wall? Calming himself, he surveyed the walls once more.
Meals were being served. Therefore, somewhere in the wall must open. For something to open, it must be separate from the rest of the wall. And if it is separate, there must be a gap. Or perhaps from the ceiling? But the ceiling was a uniform brown, with no visible gaps anywhere. The floor was the same.
Only the walls had an unnatural brick pattern. At first, he thought it was just a design. But what if this pattern was meant to hide a gap? He began to inspect the wall meticulously.
Just as he suspected, he found another gap near the bottom corner of the wall. The section of the wall enclosed by that gap was large enough for an adult to crawl through if it opened. He slowly pushed against that section.
At that instant, the surroundings suddenly became blindingly bright. As he reflexively closed his eyes, he was exposed to a momentary, searing heat. After that, there was nothing left for him to feel or think.
