Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
One autumn when I was a teenager, I worked at a Gamestop at the mall. I remember when I was on the closing schedule, I had to empty all the trash cans and take them out before I could go home. I would usually end up dragging about two full clear plastic bags of garbage out through this hallway you could get to through the food court. Lots of shrink-wrap and random leafs of paper and stickers. Lots of stickers for some reason.
One night the air was a crisp chill and the mall had emptied out earlier than usual. Most nights you'd still hear the odd dad or college student trying to order a limp slice of pepperoni pizza from the Sbarros right next to the doorway, but this one it was dead quiet. So quiet you could hear the frantic hum of the overhead lights, struggling to stay powered the same way you'd struggle to move a weak muscle after a dozen reps. Groaning through existence just waiting for the clock to run out so you could just set everything down for good. I remember as the door clicked shut behind me.
Real quiet has a way of stretching time. It's so intoxicating you can see it with your eyes. It's loud enough to drown out the buzz of fluorescent lights. It makes the tiled walls of a long hallway multiply right in front of you. It makes every shadow longer and deeper. Suddenly a bag of paper and stickers is holding rocks and dirt. I remember feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I quickened my pace to the dumpsters. Nobody was coming, and that was the worst part.
Download: doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/ldoom
One autumn when I was a teenager, I worked at a Gamestop at the mall. I remember when I was on the closing schedule, I had to empty all the trash cans and take them out before I could go home. I would usually end up dragging about two full clear plastic bags of garbage out through this hallway you could get to through the food court. Lots of shrink-wrap and random leafs of paper and stickers. Lots of stickers for some reason.
One night the air was a crisp chill and the mall had emptied out earlier than usual. Most nights you'd still hear the odd dad or college student trying to order a limp slice of pepperoni pizza from the Sbarros right next to the doorway, but this one it was dead quiet. So quiet you could hear the frantic hum of the overhead lights, struggling to stay powered the same way you'd struggle to move a weak muscle after a dozen reps. Groaning through existence just waiting for the clock to run out so you could just set everything down for good. I remember as the door clicked shut behind me.
Real quiet has a way of stretching time. It's so intoxicating you can see it with your eyes. It's loud enough to drown out the buzz of fluorescent lights. It makes the tiled walls of a long hallway multiply right in front of you. It makes every shadow longer and deeper. Suddenly a bag of paper and stickers is holding rocks and dirt. I remember feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I quickened my pace to the dumpsters. Nobody was coming, and that was the worst part.
Download: doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/ldoom
