A swirly cloud of something that looked like fog filled the room, and then faded into the night. A man lay sleeping in a bed, covers pulled up to his chin. The clock next to him showed "6:59", then quietly flipped to "7:00" and began to beep.

Jim was asleep, and right in the middle of a very exciting dream, when the loud beeping of the alarm woke him up. He blinked his eyes a few times, rolled over and turned off the alarm. He lay there in bed for a moment, remembering what he was supposed to do today. Whatever it was, it had to be better than yesterday, he thought - today is a brand new day!

After laying there quietly for a moment, Jim:

Sharon's birthday!

Jim hopped out of bed, his eyes wide as he realized he hadn't gotten her a present yet. He jumped into and out of the shower, brushed his teeth, and ran a worn-out comb through his hair, and then

Jim picked up his phone and dialed Shanon's number. He waited for the phone to be picked up twelve rings. No answer. Odd. She is always home, especially for her own birthday. Maybe something happened to her...

Once again, Jim dialed the number, and once again there was no answer. Then he realized: he was dialing Shannon's number, not Sharon's! He must still be a bit fuzzy headed from his dream. He had accidentally read the wrong entry from his little black book! Jim kicked himself mentally, and:

When Jim awoke, he wished he hadn't. The pain in his head was so great, he almost blacked out again. "What happened?" he wondered through the fog in his brain. He must have layed there for at least ten minutes, trying to clear his head. During that time, he noticed that he was in a dark space, with wooden beam ceilings. It looked as if it was more than a century old. Dim light filtered in through grimy windows at one end of the room.

Finally, he was able to struggle to his feet. He was inside a strange room that looked like: