The Greatest Nightclub of All Time

I have waited for this moment my whole life.
Waited for my number to be picked.
And my number was picked.
I am finally a winner.
And now I wait in the winner’s line.
A line leading to the greatest nightclub of all time.

I don’t have a clue what hides behind its walls.
Neither do the people on the street.
People hoping to be picked.
As they watch us file inside.

The doors consume us one by one.
I am swallowed into the unknown.
And I am giddy.

I enter a room with an echoing voice.

Speak a number aloud.
Select the next winner.
Or don’t.
The choice is yours.
Then proceed through the door.

I laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Pondering the choice.
To pay it forward?
Or not?

“Forty-two thousand six hundred and three!”

Smugly I waltz through the door feeling like a god.

I find myself surrounded by an uncountable crowd.
Gathered together in a grand chamber.
The noise is deafening.
Balloons all around.
People bop them back up as they fall.
One floats past and pops as it hits the ground.

I realize I am holding a balloon of my own.
I look around at the chaos.
Then I blow it up.
Ok then.
A stranger suggests I decorate it.
He says memorable balloons stay afloat longer.

I approach a table covered with craft supplies.
People frantically scribble and glue.
Sometimes they bop balloons up.
Sometimes they don’t.
I snatch the closest marker.
I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing.

I doodle a man riding some sort of dino.
Then add a pink pom pom to the tail.
A bouncer grabs my arm.

“Time to go.”

“But I just got here!”

“Everyone just got here buddy.”

I hug my creation as I’m dragged across the floor.
My heels cutting through shredded rubber.

“What the fuck is happening here?”

“No idea pal.”

We’re almost at the exit.
I desperately whack my balloon into the air.
I watch it sail up and join the fray.
Slowly it begins to descend.
My heart races.
Boop.
It’s saved from the floor.
Then I am violently thrust out the door.
I stumble into a room with a flickering neon sign.

We sincerely thank you for partying with us tonight.
Your balloon stayed afloat for 11 SECONDS.
The high score is 467 DAYS.

Confused, I find myself struggling to breathe.