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It's really a bit silly to be freaking out so much, when you think about it.

Once I did this experiment at university where we hooked someone up to a machine that made them re-breathe their own air, and we all had a go. Ordinarily, your system can feel that there's too much carbon dioxide in the air after a while; you start breathing really heavily. But if you put lime in the system, and you don't need much, then that starts to absorb all the carbon dioxide. Your body literally can't tell it's low on oxygen. When I had my go I didn't notice anything was wrong. When one of my group turned off the machine and I pulled my mask away, my vision suddenly widened- it was tight and close and I hadn't realised- and my brain started firing and I started gasping in these great big lungfuls of air. It was pretty calm, while I was on the machine. Not sure why this is so different. The local soil's lime-heavy, so it's got to be absorbing a lot of what I'm breathing out, right?

Ugh. I want to move my legs. How stupid is that? I've sat at a desk, practically immobile, for nearly half a day before moving, just twitching my fingers across a keyboard. Now I know I can't stretch it's all I want to do and it's making me panicky. I wonder if I'll lose it completely before I pass out. In films whenever this happens the hero always finds fingernails embedded on the inside of the lid and everyone in the audience grimaces at how awful it must be to go screamingly insane in a tiny little seven-by-two-by-one box.

The physical bit is bad, no lie, but it's not like this doesn't come with a big set of mental itches. I mean, this is not the sort of thing someone does just to kill someone. (I'm being killed, here. Huh. So stupid!) It's a big fuck you, burying someone alive, and the thing that's bothering me is I literally have no idea who hates me this much. I must have made one hell of an enemy and I don't know how. Hell, I don't even have a little list of friends and family in my head who seem a bit... off. You know. The type where you just know as a kid they pulled the wings and legs off flies, and they stopped doing it because they learnt they shouldn't but they've never understood why. I've only met two people like that, both way back in school, and it seems pretty unlikely they'd go to this much trouble for me after all that time.

Hah, I should really be trying harder to get out of this, shouldn't I? Let's see, if I can get my- my arms braced against the- the lid there, then if I push hard enough- come on- Jesus, I must be far down. I'm no bodybuilder but I'm not exactly a little guy here, I should be able to- come ON- damn it.

Damn.

Fingernails thing starting to make more sense now, hah ha haaa.

Shouldn't have pushed at the lid. I'm gasping now and there's nothing left in the air to take.

I tell you, the worst thing now is how stupid this is.

You didn't make your point, psycho guy! I don't even know who the fuck you are! Lesson completely not learnt, bucko!

I want out.

I want

come ON

I