Pop.

It all began rather innocently. It was a dreary, rainy Sunday afternoon, and I was sitting on my old, worn couch, middle-aged and alone. I was suddenly gripped by an intense desire to be anywhere else but where I was. I could see it in my mind's eye.  Palm trees swaying in the balmy, tropical breeze, golden sand rushing up to meet an emerald ocean, the salty tang of sea air across my lips, and then - pop.

It wasn’t long before I was popping in and out of all the places that had long been on my bucket list. Paris for a walk along the Seine, Giza to see the Great Pyramids up close and personal. Soon I was walking the corridors of the inner sanctum of the Pentagon, my curiosity driving my thirst for experiences previously limited to the few.

Where else could I go that no human had gone before me? Another planet, another living world out there in the great expanse of space. What would it be like? Their flora, their fauna, their culture, technology, lives? I built a world with my mind, from their houses to their museums to this prison that I now sit in. They have me sealed in this room, fear marking their every action. They don’t know, of course, that no room has ever been built to keep me in. Before I go though, I think I’ll take a little souvenir. These laser handcuffs will do just fine.

Pop.