Ice Cream Machine.

I found myself standing beside someone I don't know. He's handsome, but not familiar in the slightest. Tall, built nicely with a friendly smile.

"We need to go," he said looking to me for a response. I wasn't sure what to do or where I was. Go where? I thought. I nodded without saying a word and unintentionally reached for his hand to guide me. He pulled me through a crowd of people, again all unfamiliar. There was young and old people crowding to get past one another.

"We need to pick one," he said nudging my glance ahead.

I looked forward, just as we broke through the crowd there was a set of elevators ahead, about seven. They were opening and closing as people pushed on. The layout was set in a U formation. I had no idea which one to choose. My body quivered as anxiety built up. This was too much. I was thinking of just running back into the crowd. That was now the most familiar thing I had. I looked to him with worry splayed on my face.

"It's okay. Take a minute, but make it quick. We need to keep moving," he said looking behind us, keeping my hand tight.

I took a deep breath and noticed an older woman with white hair waiting for the third elevator from the right. She seemed innocent enough. I lifted my my unlinked hand and pointed to that elevator.

"Okay," I said, "that one."

He smiled and quickly pulled me to the line in front of my chosen elevator. We were four people behind the woman with white hair. That should put us on the elevator with her at the same time. I felt relieved, but I didn't know why. I held on tightly to the hand of this man I didn't know, nervously taking in my surroundings as the line slowly moved. The other elevators continued to open, fill, close and build lines. No one was talking. All I could hear was heavy breaths and whispers.

Our elevator arrived, but there was too many ahead of us to enter this round. We shuffled forward. I looked to the man and he smiled with reassurance. I was growing more confident with my choice. It was a good idea to follow this woman. Our elevator arrived again. It was now our time to file in. A young man went in first. He was short with chocolate brown hair and chubby red cheeks. He entered with no hesitation. Next, was the woman with white hair, she looked around first before entering cautiously. A woman with a young child went in after her. As we got closer, I could see there were men at the entrances of the elevator directing passengers one by one. No one was being stopped from entering. Finally, two young women ahead of us entered and it was our turn. The man at the entrance had on olive green jump suit. He nodded acknowledging our entry.

Once we were in, the doors closed abruptly. There was a total of eight of us on the elevator. Just moments later the elevator doors disappeared. I was assuming they had turned into some type of glass. I jutted forward as the elevator move backwards. The man I was with stabilized me and smiled again, reassuring me that this was supposed to happen. He and I were against the left wall, snuggled in. The women with white hair was in the front, close to the glass, nonexistent doors. The eight of us had room in the elevator. We weren't jammed, we were comfortable. As the elevator continued to move, we began to see things forming below us. I leaned forward slightly for a closer look, but the man shook his head no. Unsure of what the consequences would be, I stopped. Staying put, I tried to see what I could. The ground looked far away from us. It was filled with tiny open suitcases. I was taken back. The suitcases looked to be filled with some type of gel substances that was thick and oozing out from the sides. I squinted, focusing on the substance inside and it looked like it was filled with people frozen among the goo. I sucked in a breath. Where were we? My body stiffened as I was beginning to feel uncomfortable again.

I looked around the elevator. The other passenger's expressions were blank and uninviting. The man stood strong beside me, looking ready for anything. One of the young women that was standing against the back began inching forward. I didn't think anything of it. I had assumed she wanted a better visual like me.

I gasped as I watched her push the old woman with white hair out of the front of the elevator. She plummeted down, falling into the goo of one of the suitcases. I began fidgeting. I didn't know what to do. My eyes began to tear. I needed to get out of here. The man squeezed my hand and shook his hand no. No one responded to the loss of the woman with white hair but me. Moments later the elevator docked causing us all to sway. The doors suddenly reappeared and opened. It looks like we have arrived to the floor below where the suitcases lie.

Everyone filed off of the elevator, pushing past us without hesitation. The man pulled me along into the room. It was huge, like the size of small country. There was no end in sight. How could this be? The man allowed me to stand there for a moment. I watched as small bodies tumbled from above, dropping into the goo of the open suitcases. The fall was light, like a feather falling to the ground. Once a body hit the goo it was frozen in there, time stood still.

"What is this?" I said looking to man for any input. He smiled softly.

"Meet me at the ice cream machine, okay?" He said letting go of my hand.

"What?" I said frantically.

"The ice cream machine," he said again, "in fifteen minutes."

I just stared at him, with my mouth hanging open. I didn't understand.

"You can do this," he said putting his hands on my shoulders, "ice cream machine," he said again, "fifteen minutes."

His hands dropped from my shoulders and he smiled at me once more, before turning and disappearing into the crowd ahead of us.

That's when I woke up.