I woke up this morning in quite a strange place. Not strange as in somewhere

that seems odd, but as in somewhere I don't recall having a reason for being. This mysterious place that I don’t remember going to happens to be a small hotel room. "Where am I? Why am I here?" I thought to myself as I walked to the window to peer out. What I saw when I looked out was a beautiful sunny day over the downtown of some seemingly small town. There was what you'd expect: a town hall, police station, offices, a few stores, a diner. But something was missing. "What could it be..." I wondered, "That's it!" The town was completely quiet! There wasn't the sound of people walking, car engines running, or even birds chirping.

            I decided I needed to get to the bottom of this, so I walked down the quiet hallway, down a flight of stairs, and into the empty lobby of the hotel. I approached the front desk "Hello?" No answer. "Hey!" I called to the back as I rang the bell on the front desk. This went on for about five minutes before I decided to give up. "Maybe they're caught up with something important." I figured I'd go get some breakfast and try again later.

            I made my way down the sidewalk of this seemingly empty city to the diner on the corner. I made my way in and at least this time I was greeted by something other than silence. There was a jukebox in the corner playing, but the rest of the room was empty with chairs, tables, and barstools perfectly set up. "Hey! You've got a customer here!" I yelled to the kitchen leaning over the bar. "Hey! There's a hungry customer up here!" Still no answer, so I made my way behind the bar and walked over to the coffee maker. "I guess I'll just have to fix myself a cup." I thought- but wait. This is a freshly made pot of coffee, that someone had to make. I ran into the kitchen, "Hey! Who's here?! I know there's got to be someone here! There's a freshly made cup of coffee and-" I looked down now seeing the freshly prepared food.

            There must be someone here. It just doesn't make sense. There's food and coffee made, the diners been set up, and there's even a jukebox playing. I walked out of the kitchen more perplexed than before only having gained the strange feeling of being watched.

             I walked out of the diner, onto the sidewalk and glared around the middle of this strange town, trying to come up with answers- "BRINGGGG!!" My thought was interrupted by the sound of a pay phone that I quickly ran to and picked up. "Hello? Hello?" I was answered with silence. I put the phone back and quickly fumbled for a quarter to put in and at least try to speak with an operator. " Hello? Operator I-" " This is a recording. To-" I slammed the phone back onto the holder. There was a phone book on the shelf of the phone booth, and I began to look through it desperately trying to find someone to talk to. There were lists full of names but no numbers, no addresses, nothing. I threw the book on the ground of the booth and turned to leave. "Wait, I don’t remember shutting the door..." I tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. "This town has a great sense of humor," I sarcastically said while I tried to pry the door open. I managed to get it just open enough to fit through.

             I ran to the police station, now frantic, feeling not only like I'm being watched, but almost terrorized. When I ran into the police station I was met with a familiar but hated sight- emptiness. I walked behind the front desk and to the police radio. "Calling all cars, calling all cars, there's got to be someone out there." That's when I noticed something that shook me to the core- a cigar in the ashtray, still smoking. I picked it up looking around trying to think of where the user would be. I then heard the sound of trickling water. I followed it to the jail cells in the other room, and then to the cell in the back. I opened the cell door and walked to the sink, which had a razor and a brush, both covered in shaving cream. "This doesn't make any sense, the door of the phone booth closing, the half-smoked cigar, the evidence of someone shaving, and everything at the diner earlier-" "creeeeek!" I turned around to find the sound of a closing cell door had interrupted my thought. I managed to stop it right before it shut, and quickly made my way out of the cell room.

             I grabbed a key to the police cruiser outside and ran to it. I drove to the only road that looked like it left the city. Upon leaving I was farewelled by a sign which said, "Now leaving Oakwood." I was left without any answers of why I was there, why the whole city was empty, or better yet, any memory of who I was. I drove for a while until I saw a sign approaching that said, "Welcome to Oakwood." How can it be? I never turned around and the road was almost completely straight the whole time. I drove back into the same desolate little town I started in. I kept trying to drive out but each time I left the road looked a little different, but still took me back to Oakwood. I guess I'm stuck here, alone in Oakwood.