TRAPPED

“Here ya go, sugar. Y’all take care now!” Said the waitress, as she put the check face up on the table and quickly waddling her way back into the kitchen.

“Thank you.” Lora replied, shaking her head. Ten dollars for a grilled cheese and tomato soup—what was this world coming to?

As she grabbed her purse and slid out from the booth, the strap from her bag knocked the check off the table. It flipped and turned in the air before landing somewhere underneath the table.

“Dammit!” Lora said, noticing the writing on the back as it twirled. There was more than just Thank y’all for coming!, accompanied by a smiley face. She certainly hoped good ole Flo wasn’t coming on to her.

Lora dropped her purse back on the seat and got underneath the table. “Where the frack did it go?” There was no time for this; she was already late for the meeting at Space Saver Technologies. If this meeting went well, they would draw up the plans for her next chain of hotels.

She groped around the dirty floor and winced as she pulled her hair out of the gum stuck underneath the table. “Where the—?” She said, cutting herself short when she saw the small door underneath the table where the wall should have been. “Huh?”

She backed out from under the table and slid up to the window on the other bench seat. Smudging the glass with her forehead, she peered down to where the door should exit. It was only the building and pavement. That’s peculiar, she thought to herself looking around the diner.

“Hello?” She shouted. Where did everyone go?

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but the last time she checked, she was no feline and with no one to notice, she slipped back underneath the table. She put her hand on the doors’ handle and gave it yank. She expected to find a fuse box or water main valve but to her surprise, it was neither of those.

“Amazing!” How was it possible? There was a whole other room that existed out of thin air.

She was so intrigued by the anomaly that she scurried on hand and knee through the small door. Once inside, she stood up and looked around the room. This was amazing she thought. “I have to show this to someone!” She said, turning around to go back through the door and it was gone.

The waitress came back out from the kitchen. “Dang Northerners! Always skippin’ out on the bill! Ha—she forgot her bag! She’ll be back!” She said, picking up the purse. Underneath was the check, face down. The back read: We’ve staged a little demo of our latest technology. Look under the table. We think you’ll be impressed. Take a peek inside, but don’t go in. It’s still in our final testing phase! See you at the meeting! It was signed by the CEO of Space Saver Technologies.