My Other Home

 I enter the building, and a strenuous feeling overwhelms me. The natural light beams down from the high ceiling windows, leaving a feeling of warmth across my face. To my side, an arrangement of red-velvet benches and black wooden chairs are found lying vacant. Beside them, a small table no more than a foot in diameter holds an assortment of magazines across all topics. In front of me is a shimmering white marble counter, leaving hints of the outside reflection across its side. The marbles gray cracks stream down the side, in the nature of entangled wires. Resembling a nervous system, their intricate and disorderly arrays intersect one other. Dim lights emerge from the edges of the marble, leaving a faint gloss on the side. Behind this large countertop is a towering wall, extending from the ground all the way to the ceiling. The wall is composed of grey blocks, held together with beige caulk filling the cracks. On the side of the blocks lies more marble, with light filaments attached to their sides. In the center, a marble square stands alone, with a neon logo with peaks of a mountain. As I look down from the wall, an attendant greets me. My gaze meets theirs, and a quick smile emerges from their once blank expression. The smile fades as they turn away, returning to their repetitive task. Behind the counter, they fold towels into neat and orderly rows, and place them on top of a gray rolling cart. I reach into my pocket and feel a disarranged set of metal and plastic. I bring out a flimsy plastic card, and place it in front of the countertops device. It scanned my personal code, and a sharp beep was heard from the countertops system. The system recognizes me, and the employee sends me a farewell.

As I venture further into the building, the space opens up into a broad landscape. On the ceiling, large industrial fans with razor-like blades spin across the ceiling. Their slow rotations blow gusts of air across the vast expanse, bringing a faint trace of air against my skin. The ceiling is composed of a black grid with slivers of silver lining. In some squares of the grid, broad light fixtures pack their space. They shine in competition with the natural light penetrating from the opposite side of the building. Below the ceiling, large screens display a variety of information. Some display the weather, while others run programs on current events. The majority of these screens remain overlooked, as everyone within the building is occupied with another task. Beneath these screens lie walls of an array of colors, composed of grey and white. Parts of the walls have murals of persons. They are portrayed doing a variety of activities, and have small inspirational messaging beside them in a small black print. Bordering the murals lay a chain of mirrors, which reflect both the natural and artificial light . The mirrors hold great importance to those in the building. They are reminded of how far they come, or how much they still need to go.

 I move farther from the entrance, and the floor beneath me transitions from a white tile to a grey surface. Within the grey are black and white speckles, giving a sense of conformity to the surrounding walls. It has the texture of rubber, giving grip to my feet beneath me. Set on top of the floor are numerous machines that pervade the space. Some lay empty, but most are occupied by other individuals. They extend parts of their body to perform a variety of actions, using the machine as their guide. Nearly every machine is different, but most target a broad area of the body. Attached to the machines lie a variety of resistance. Most are heavy slabs of metal, but others have long elastic cords. Each of these machines have a variety of difficulties, with only a specific few able to operate them to their full potential. These people are usually oblivious to their surroundings, and are only focused on completing their next movement. Some are incognizant to the surrounding sound, as they have other drowning sounds playing into their ears.

As I progress across the floor of the building, I reach a new section lined with more mirrors. Beneath these mirrors lie black racks made of steel, lined with objects with cylindrical handles and pancake ends. The tips of these have the red insignia of the building, and have corresponding numbers to match their size. I pick up a pair of two of these matching objects, and turn around towards one of the benches. These benches had rubber grips at the base, and were made of a red-velvet cushion matching the red insignia of the building. I performed different movements with the objects, and I gazed at myself through the reflection. As I did, I kept noticing more meticulous details of the gym around me.