This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/RubinOkami on 2024-11-04 15:50:14+00:00.

So, for those of you who don’t know, four days ago I went into my backyard to have a cigarette and found myself unable to escape. Some sort of force stops me every time I try. Just for example, the first time I tried to get a running start and jump over the fence, I was repelled and ate dirt. My tongue literally touched the soil. It would’ve been extremely embarrassing, but given the circumstances… anyway. Something prevents me from climbing the fence, the gate won’t open, and I can’t break the windows of my house. I’ve attempted scaling the walls, but the brick isn’t deep enough to support me, and I’m not strong enough to get a grip.

Furthermore, the cops can’t find me, my family and friends don’t believe me, and the locals are mad. Even if I escaped this place, I’d probably go straight to jail. They all think I’m faking this. At first, I denied it, but… then I thought maybe I was going insane. I mean, if someone called you over a hundred times claiming to be lost in their own backyard, would you consider them mentally stable? I wouldn’t. But now I’m in that exact situation, except it’s real.

That’s when I originally turned to Reddit. I know, I know. Posting this here isn’t going to help me, or get people to believe me, but it will get my story heard in a community where people will actually listen, even if it’s just to laugh or roll their eyes. Even if none of you believe any of this, at least someone will know what happened to me if I… never make it out.

Here’s a link to what happened when I got trapped here in the first place:

I’m stuck inside a pocket dimension and nobody can help me.

For those of you who didn’t know, or don’t remember, I live in a townhouse. It’s a small unit at the back and we have a fenced backyard. It’s small, but it’s big enough for my dog to run around a bit, as well as for small get-togethers. I used to quite like sitting back here to smoke or bird-watch, and I’d do it often… but not anymore, as that’s how I got trapped here. If I ever escape this place, I’ll never leave my room again.

Behind my house, there’s a small forest. It’s not tiny, but it isn’t huge. If I had to guess, it’s maybe an acre or two. And in the fence that squares in my backyard—at the very back corner facing the forest—sits a hole.

Last year, a bolt of lightning or some strong winds or something broke a dead tree back there, and a large branch fell on the fence. Both the corner of the fence and the branch that fell got obliterated into a tangled mess when it hit the ground, but we never had the time or money to get it fixed. Since our dog couldn’t fit through the rubble to escape, we never dealt with it.

When I first got here and realized I couldn’t escape through climbing the fence or going through the gate, that hole was the first area I tried to get out through. Of course, nothing could’ve been that easy, and I couldn’t get a single piece of wood to move even with all my strength. This place was preventing me from escaping at all costs.

I pretty much gave up after that and went back to the only area of shade I had back there; the bench under the living room window. As I’ve stated before, the sun doesn’t move from high noon anymore, and it’s pretty much the height of summer. It’s hot as hell (and somewhat humid), but the shade keeps me just cool enough to survive.

But something worries me more than my own survival, and it’s the supposed time dilation between my posts. When I realized that, I had a severe panic attack. I really hope that it’s just a delay or some sort of queue, but Reddit is saying that my first post from a few days ago is actually from ONE YEAR ago. I can only imagine how many years in the future this post will go through, but I’m hoping it’s less than one. For me, the current year is August 2nd, 2023. Oddly enough, I was able to reply to the lovely people in my comment section in real-time. It’s as if every day here is 3 months back home. This whole thing is breaking my brain.

Eventually, I realized that if I didn’t occupy myself as much as possible, I’d go insane from both the lack of stimuli and the panicked thoughts of the world leaving me behind. I’d go crazy before I even got close to dying. I find myself dissociating often, staring off into the heatwaves that rise off the barbecue. The other day I thought I heard talking on the other side of the fence, and when I investigated I found nothing. I started hallucinating noises and conversations almost constantly after that. I could barely get any sleep without hearing whispering in my ears. I kept seeing people poking their heads over the fence—like a person hopping up and down before disappearing—but never could I catch it in action. Then, yesterday, I blinked and found myself standing up halfway across the yard with no memory of how I’d gotten there.

That’s when I really started panicking. Realizing that my entire life in this place would consist of heat-dazed hallucinations, gaps in memory, and paranoia… it almost made me pass out. It did, however, instill me with a newfound fervour to escape this fucking place as soon as possible.

I tried everything again. I took a running leap to clear the top of the fence but an invisible something threw me to the ground. I took a running leap at the window to break into my own house, but it didn’t budge, nor did it make a sound. I gathered stones and bricks from my patio and launched them at the neighbour’s front door, but nobody ever came. I tried climbing the walls until my fingernails broke. I screamed until my voice went hoarse. I slammed my fists on the fence gate. I cried and screamed until I threw up.

I closed my eyes in a last-ditch attempt and tried barreling through the tangled mess of sticks and branches blocking the hole in the fence, but I found myself hitting the ground once more. I couldn’t bear the thought of opening my eyes to see the fucking green grass and the dumb blue sky with the stupid bright sun straight over the top of me. It mocked me. It all mocked me. I remember screaming and grabbing myself by the throat almost instinctually as if trying to strangle myself to death, but when I opened my eyes to find a rock to bash my own brains out, I stopped in my tracks.

I wasn’t in my backyard anymore. I was sitting on the forest floor. I hadn’t noticed when it happened, but I… made it through. I looked behind me to see that the sticks and branches blocking the way through the fence weren’t there anymore. Not a single flake of wood, and the hole was a perfect rectangle. Like that section of the fence and the mass of rubble were just cut out somehow.

Without pause, I passed my hand through the perfectly rectangular hole in the fence and felt no repulsive force. I even jumped back in and out of the hole to test it, and nothing prevented me from entering or leaving my backyard.

Thing is… there are still no people. No animals, passersby, city sounds… nothing. I was gonna make a run for it straight into town, just in case, but my Wi-Fi signal doesn’t extend past the backyard. I’m not out yet, and I don’t know if I’m close to a breakthrough, or maybe I’m just being let out without a catch, or maybe this is all some sort of trick… but I need time to think about this.

I’ll post again in the coming days, but I can’t do that without a Wi-Fi connection, so I’ll have to think of something in the meantime to make sure that if I leave my backyard and can’t make it back inside, I still have a way to update you guys. For now, this is goodbye.