Cliffhanger - Downwards

I've put it off for too long.

My work clothes pile in the corner. The smell of sweat and dirt lingering in my apartment only worsens because I waited all week. My only option now is to go across town to the only laundromat open in the middle of the night.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNC74yQhi4J

I trudge myself out of the building towards my parked car, holding a black bag in either arm. Tossing them into the back seat and begrudgingly getting myself in. I start to make my way across town, to my run-down savior.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIppORI1S3l

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I'm the only one here.

Unsettling, to say the least, but who am I to complain. 242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTpmQ9psSf

After throwing my first load into a washer, i sit down at the closet chair I could find, closed my eyes, and just listened to the whirring and sputtering of the machine. The echoing noise drowning the silence of the night.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTavRvCFwl6

Thirty minutes pass, groggy and tierd. I load my clothes into the dryer, taking up my proclaimed seat. I continue my wait; at least I've taken care of one thing on my plate.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZhHjJc1s3

A couple of minutes pass as the heat of the dryer warms up the room, and I begin to fall asleep.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WRKF1NHnW

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A sound of clanking metal and an odd groaning shakes me awake.

A metal door I've not seen before stands swung open across from me. The cracked, unpainted walls and stone steps decend downward into a dark shadow.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3ZS8ryCB3

Cold air pours into the room, and precipitation forms from the heat rising from the dryer, not being able to contain my curiosity. I step closer to the open door, My nose stings from the strong aroma of wet stone.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolBnmEJxEh

"Just a peek." 242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xV2bq7XCc

My mind, incompassed by imagination. Glory, greed, or adventure, it mattered not.

I step downwards on the slight bend of uneven stone steps. My shoes echo with a thud as I decend.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJOJ1d9k9o

The alarming sound of banging metal shoots through my ears.The door slams shut.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7svjnPFmGY

I'm left with only one option. Downwards.

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