I enter a darkened room in which a single comfy chair placed in the centre. I sit in it and look forwards. A few feet above me is a mirror so that I can see myself. Just as I wonder what is going to happen next I hear a quiet thumping begin. And a voice.
"Make yourself comfortable. Feel your knees, your back, your shoulders, against the softness of the chair you're sitting in. Take note of your breathing and then look forwards at your reflection in the dark glass ahead. Are you a person familiar with how they appear? Who do you most resemble physically, your mother or your father? Think of them. Think of your family. Let your breathing slow gradually, each breath longer than the last so that it fills your lungs, pushing your chest out and close your eyes. Think of yourself as a child. The house you grew up in, where you put the christmas tree, the view from your bedroom window. Think about your friends, still keeping your breathing controlled and slow, steady now. The people you know well and those that you don't. Maybe you met them at school or at work? These people like you. They value you and accept you. Think about who you love.
Now I'd like you to think of your home. The room where you sleep, the things that decorate it, the colours. You wake up one morning and start your routine, cleaning your body, putting on clothes, eating breakfast. It is a sunny day outside and you can hear birds. It's a little earlier than the time that you'd usually wake at. It looks so nice outside you decide to go for a walk. You put on your shoes and once you've found your keys you leave. It is quiet outside. Nobody is around. Off in the distance you can hear a car, though you're unsure if it's coming towards you or going away from you. The sun feels warm on your face and you begin to walk, your breathing nice and relaxed as you make your way down the road. But all of a sudden there is a wave of pain in your chest, like a warm caress coming up from inside. It doesn't hurt so much, but you stop and look down as if you could see the cause of this internal feeling. This time it hits you like a blow, directly in the centre of your body. The pain takes you by surprise and you make a noise, clutching at your chest, though you notice that you have pins and needles in your fingers. You try to take a breath inward but find that just increases the pain, it roars inside of you like a furnace. Staggering forward a step, you decide it best to try and sit down instead though before you're sure of what's happening your head is on the ground. You're not used to seeing the surface of the road from this angle. A thought flicks through your mind. 'Am I dying?' you wonder. Of course you're not, you can't die. Not like this. Somebody will come along and save you. There must be another explanation. Your vision begins to blur slightly. You realise that your body feels quiet. Your blood is still. But there was so much you haven't yet done. You didn't even get to say goodbye to anyone. That is, if you're dying at all. You try to think of alternatives as to what's happening, but find you can't. Your brain is shutting down, but not all at once. What is it people think about as they die? You picture in your head those that you love. But their faces are muddled. And you can't remember their names. Or anything else about them. They fade into other thoughts although these to begin to lose detail. You are just aware of your awareness and all that you have lost. Floating in the void, knowing that you once lived before returning to the nothingness before you were born. It is the end. You are dead."
The speech finishes. I open my eyes and look back at the mirror. It is my reflection floating above me. After a moment or so I become aware of my own breathing again and sit up, looking around at the darkness. Suddenly a black cat leaps out at me and I yell.
"Who let a cat in here?"
