The Skaft Sprunga Hotel

My name’s Jimmy Stark, and I like to work. Except today.

I was working at Skaft Sprunga Hotel, and usually I was checking guests in to their rooms and telling the bellhop where to bring their luggage. but instead of packaging goods like the others, I was hanging out with someone. It was a girl who I thought was cool, someone special. She had Asperger's, just like me, and we were both working at the hotel together.

Emily was always a little flirty with me, but shy around other guys. She’d tell me I was a cool guy and rub her hand on my back, she would wink at me in passing, and I had this feeling that she liked me. I would always get excited about spending more time with her, and would eventually work up the courage to ask her out.

“Hey Emily,” I said. Maybe today was the day I’d ask.

“Hey Jimmy. Need any help today?” Emily asked.

“Sure, why not. You can help me ring up some customers,” I said.

She sat in a chair that had wheels on the bottom and started spinning. When no costumers came, she invited me to sit next to her on the lobby couch. She put her head on my shoulder and played some music on her phone.

“I like your songs,” I said.

“I knew you would! You’re awesome, Jimmy,” Emily replied and patted me on the back.

The day dredged on, and a couple hours before our shift ended when I was working at the register, I noticed Emily sneaking off. She looked at me and nodded, and I thought she wanted me to follow her. I looked around to make sure my supervisor wasn’t watching, and snuck off to follow.

When Emily saw me following her though, she started running faster and faster. When I kept up with her, she stopped, turned her head and started hissing at me, then told me to stop following her.

“What did I do!” I asked.

“Nothing. Just go away. I don’t want to be followed,” she hissed.

I was confused and hurt. Why had she spent all that time flirting with me? Why had she nodded at me, leaving me the impression she wanted me to follow? I was starting to care about her and felt my heart sink into my chest.

I took several deep breaths and finally looked around to see where I was. I was in an unfamiliar place. Great, not only did Emily turn into a hissing snake before telling me to go away, but now I’m lost.

I’m not going to get fired, too. Not because of Emily, the flirtatious snake. It’s bad enough I’m not liked, I’m not going to be unemployed on top of things.

I started to retrace my steps, even asking people for directions. I hated asked for directions. I got weird looks asking directions to a hotel who’s uniform I was wearing, but I didn’t care. I just needed to find my way back. I’ve always been bad with directions, and I only knew how to get back to the hotel on routes I’ve take before.

I wandered through the streets for hours. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I found my way back to Skaft Sprunga Hotel. Fearing that my absence would be noticed by my jerk manager, I decided to sneak in through a back window.

I climbed all the way through and was about to make a perfectly unnoticed entrance, then I tripped over a pot left on the floor and fell into what I thought was a meat freezer based on the steaks and chicken that were frozen in here with me. There were words written backwards on the window, I slowly read them. “C-cry-cryogenic chamber… What the hell?” I said.

The hotel must have bought this because of that insane chef.

“The longer the meat can stay frozen, the better it will taste,” he’d always say. But he’d always cook up the meat in a few days of being delivered so to get him a cryogenic freezer seemed ridiculous. Absurd. There was a buzzing sound and the freezer kept getting colder and colder. I pounded on the window until my fists hurt, and the last thing I remember was being almost frozen, then falling backwards and some frozen steaks landing on me.

Everything was black until I regained consciousness. I felt like I’d been asleep for a thousand years. I stretched and walked out of the freezer, and a strangely dressed man was sitting on a chair in front of me, reading a book. He briefly looked up at me, shrugged, then went back to reading his book.

“Can I ask the time?” I said to the man.

“You have a strange accent, sir,” the man said in a gurgled voice.

“Um, ok. But the time? What’s the time?” I asked again. The man gave me a strange look, got up and left.

I sat down in the chair where the man was sitting, took a deep breath and attempted to figure out what was going on. If I was, by some miracle, still in the hotel, the man could have been a tourist. But I’ve seen and dealt with a lot of tourists in my time working at the hotel, and not once have I been told my accent is strange. And I’ve never once offended a guest, and wasn’t sure why the man gave me the look he did and left.

I looked around at the room I was in. I saw people in strange uniforms walk in and out, all of them eating or drinking or doing something to pass the time, which lead me to believe this room was now a break room. This means a lot of time must have passed, because this was a kitchen before I was frozen.

I was hungry and started to look around. There was a working freezer in this room, thank god, because the one I came out of was broken and rusty. I’m assuming that’s why I was unfrozen, the cryogenic chamber broke down. And all the meat that was in the freezer had withered away. There were still tiny, shrunken tidbits of steak left over.

I opened the fridge. Inside, I found unusual food. It looked like sushi, but it was stuffed with what seemed to be beef and chicken.

I was scared and decided it best to blend in for now until I could figure out what was going on. I decided to stay in the break room, pretended to be an employee.

Someone walked in and sat next to me. He had on what seemed like a uniform, and I figured nobody would talk to me without one. I’m normally a pacifist, but given my unusual circumstances, I was compelled to knock him out and steal his uniform so I could get information. So I did. I punched him in the face as hard as I could, and when that didn’t work I grabbed a nearby frying pans and smashed him in the face again. He fell over and I dragged his body back into the chamber I came from, took off his clothes, took off mine, and did a swap.

I looked around and saw Emily in the chamber, sleeping. I shook her and woke her up. She screamed and I put my hand over her mouth.

“What’s… urmph.. going on…” she mumbled.

I took my hand off her mouth when she calmed down.

“That’s what’d I’d like to know. I fell into this freezer and woke up here,” I said.

“Jimmy,” Emily said inquisitively after rubbing her eyes.

“Yah, it’s me,” I said with attitude in my voice, making my resentment clear.

“Well, I’ll tell you what I remember. I got a text from my ex, who had been stalking me for months. Somehow he figured out where I worked, so I had to leave work quickly. I remember hissing at you not to follow because I didn’t want him to hurt you, Jimmy, because I like you. When I got home I felt bad, because I realized you didn’t know the situation and probably thought I was crazy or mean or something. So I had a friend discreetly drive me back to the hotel so I could apologize to you. She drove me around back so I could sneak in through the kitchen window. After I snuck in, I saw you frozen in the freezer, so I opened the door to thaw you out. Then I felt two hands push me inside, and I turned around and it was my ex boyfriend. He laughed and locked me inside. I screamed at him to let us out, but that only made him laugh more. I guess I froze too, just like you. How long have we been here,” Emily asked.

“No idea,” I said. I felt a little better knowing her side of the story.

“How long have you been up?” Emily asked.

“About twenty minutes, now. I’ve been up long enough to figure out they have strange accents, eat weird beef and chicken stuffed sushi, and wear these uniforms,” I said.

“What do we do?” Emily asked.

“I’ll ask around, figure out what’s going on and how long we’ve been frozen for,” I said.

Someone opened the door to the break room.

“Quick, help me cover this body,” I said.

“What?” Emily asked.

“He’s not dead, just out cold. I’ll explain later, no time now. Just help me cover him,” I said.

We dragged some old rusty fridge parts and some dried meat over him and he couldn’t be seen.

It was all for not, though, as the person that walked in was just sitting in the chair and eating. My stomach growled. I tried to mimic the other man’s accent, and asked “do you have the time?”

“Yes, it’s one oh four,” the man said

“And I seemed to have bumped my head and forgotten the year. Could you remind me?” I asked. I got a strange look and the man smiled.

“You must be the famous man from the cryogenic chamber. We were wondering when you were going to wake up. It’s three thousand twenty five, sir. If you don’t mind me asking, nobody knows how old you are and I was wondering what year you’re from?” The man asked.

“I’m from.. um, wait what? Did you say three thousand twenty five?” I asked.

“I sure did,” the man said.

“We’ve been frozen for over a thousand years. I’m from two thousand twenty four,” I said.

“I knew you must have been over a thousand. I win the bet. Wait… Did you say we?” The man asked.

“Yes, me and my friend Emily,” I said. Emily came out of the fridge.

“Holy crap. That’s amazing,” the man said. His gurgling accent became higher pitched.

“We’re not sure where to go or what to do,” I said.

“Well, I’d recommend exploring. I’d leave the hotel and take a look around the city, see what’s changed from your time. When you get back, I’ll see if I can get you a job at the hotel. Everyone already knows who you are around here, you’re kind of famous. You’re the Ice Box Man. That’s what everyone calls you. There’s been a few documentaries about you. So don’t worry about explaining yourself,” the man said.

“What about me?” Emily asked.

“We didn’t know there was a second person inside. But don’t worry, when word gets out you’ll be just as famous,” the man said.

“Wait, this place is still a hotel?” I asked.

“Yes, sir. The Skaft Sprunga. Second oldest hotel in the city,” the man said. My jaw dropped, I couldn’t believe they were still in business a thousand years later. And there was an older hotel? I’d eventually have to visit that one.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“John. What’s yours?”

“Well, hey John. Nice to meet you. I’m Jimmy,” I said.

“Frozen Jimmy,” John said and laughed.

“Just Jimmy is fine,” I said and smiled.

“I should warn you, things are a little more polluted outside then you might remember,” John said.

“Thanks,” I said and smiled.

“Go explore,” John said and practically shoved us out the door.

I nodded and Emily and I left to go explore the city.

The first thing I noticed was a building that looked like an abandoned train station, but when Emily and I walked in, there was a grocery store inside. I searched my clothes and found a wallet inside. I opened it up and inside was some clear see through bills with numbers written on them, which I’m assumed was currency, and some strange looking purple and black covered neon cards which I assumed were credit. Great, hopefully there was enough credit and cash in here to get by until Emily and I could both gain employment.

I didn’t want to use what was in the wallet if I didn’t have to though, because I didn’t want them realizing the credit card and cash were stolen.

“Pretend we’re poor and have no cash,” I said.

“We are poor and have no cash,” Emily reminded me.

Not wanting Emily to think I was a thief for stealing the wallet, I said, “good point.”

I saw someone walk into the store and I immediately feigned poverty. I picked up three items and pretended I could only afford one by talking out loud and saying, “damn all three items are too expensive. If only someone could help me pay.”

The customer ignored me and the cashier was now watching us, which was making me feel uncomfortable.

“I have a credit card I found,” I said to Emily.

“What do you mean found? Where did you get it?” She asked.

“I found it in this coat. It was… an extra coat the hotel had,” I said and smiled. Emily rolled her eyes.

“So you stole it?” She asked.

“Ssshhh. Not so loud. And no, no. Borrowed. I borrowed it. Might as well use it until we get our own money,” I said and smiled, hoping she wasn’t judging me.

“Look, I’m as hungry, tired and scared as you are. I’m just glad you have a way to pay for this crap,” Emily said.

I looked at the the three boxes I was holding, and they said, “Electric Bites. Tastes just like electricity, but without the shock. Enjoy a bolt of lightning and energy in every bite.” I read it out loud so Emily would know what we were getting.

“That sounds weird. Ugh, I don’t like the future. I miss my family ,” Emily said and started to cry.

“Me too. But at least we have each other,” I said and tried to smile.

Now that I was thinking about my family and friends and thinking that they must all be dead, a tear dripped down my eye. Then I started to cry too. Emily hugged me.

“We have to stick together. We’re all we have left,” she said and held me tight.

“It’ll be ok,” I said.

“One of my cousins is… was a famous actor. I wish I could have introduced you to Jason Korga,” Emily said.

“No way. You’re cousins with Jason Korga? I have no idea who that is, but that’s really cool,” I said. Emily chuckled.

After a solid two minute hug, I walked up to the cashier with the three boxes of Electric Bites cereal, took out the strange man’s credit card and paid five dollars for everything. We got a strange look from the cashier who seemed to be analyzing us, and we rushed out the store.

I looked around and finally noticed all the smog outside.

The cashier came outside with us.

“Sorry, did we do something wrong?” I asked, praying she didn’t know the card was stolen.

“No, not at all. I was just wondering why you weren’t wearing smog masks. Doesn’t the air burn your lungs?” She asked.

“Yes, a little. They have masks for that!” I asked.

“Yes, of course. You are a strange man. Have you been living under a rock?” The lady asked and handed us masks with air filters on them. We put them on and they actually worked, making it easier to breathe.

I decided to tell her the truth.

“I’m a man from the past. I’ve been frozen for a thousand years. And so has my friend, here,” I said and pointed to Emily.

“What? Wait, are you the frozen man from the hotel? You’re awake, finally. And there’s two of you? My husband bet me you wouldn’t wake in our lifetime. I win. I have to go tell him,” she said.

After running inside and calling her husband, loudly explaining that the famous frozen man was not only awake but shopping at her store, she came back out and explained the grim reality of the future.

“Just so you guys know, only physicists and other scientists are allowed to live because of the polluted air. People were dying because there were to many of us and not enough natural resources in the world, and the resources we were using caused what you see now. So to prevent further overpopulation, pollution and deforestation, anybody who doesn’t become a scientist so they can help solve the pollution crisis is executed. The world has resorted to eliminating all but the most intelligent to both solve the overpopulation problem and eventually tackle the pollution crisis,” she said.

“Well, that sounds horrible. Thank god Emily and I are both scientists,” I said. I lied.

But I knew enough about science to possibly pass as one for a little while. Hopefully no one would figure out the truth, and I’d share what I knew with Emily and we could both pretend to be scientists for as long as we could.

“So do all of the people working at The Skaft Sprunga Hotel have science degrees?” Emily asked.

“Good question,” I whispered.

“Yes. But we all share responsibilities, because if everyone worked as a full time scientist, nobody would do anything else like grow food. Or sell it. So now the world is filled with part time scientists,” the cashier said.

“Do you also have a degree?” I asked, hoping I didn’t come off as rude.

“I do. I work part time here and part time in a laboratory working on machines that will hopefully one day help clean the air,” she said.

I smiled. We said goodbye to the cashier and headed back to the hotel.

As we were walking back to the hotel, I said “Wow. This is a shame. There’s not a spec of blue left in the sky.”

“I know, right. This thick, black smog is disgusting,” Emily said.

“We should see if we can take some science courses. Even if we don’t get a degree, we can use what we learn to pretend we were scientists back in the day. Then maybe they’ll let us live and help solve the problem and work at the hotel part time,” I said.

“Great idea,” Emily said and put her arm around me.

We walked back and saw John hanging out in the lobby.

“Good news. The manager found a position for you,” John said.

“Can I ask you something, John,” I said.

“Sure, anything,” John said.

“We’ve been told that without science degrees, we’d be executed,” I said.

“Well, it’s a possibility. But they haven’t done an execution in years. First they usually try and force you to learn science in prison. Then if you still don’t, they usually just let you sit in your cell until you change your mind. So I wouldn’t worry to much about it,” John said.

“How come you didn’t tell us earlier? I don’t even want to go to prison, and I’m pretty sure Emily doesn’t want to get locked up either,” I asked.

“Well we’d only just met and I can’t think of everything. And relax, you got time. You’re famous, remember. Everyone knows you’ve been frozen for a while. They’ll give you guys time to take some science courses,” John said and smiled.

“That’s good,” I said and sighed a sigh of relief.

“In the meantime, let me get Emily a new uniform and we’ll start training you guys for your new job. Once you’re fully trained, I’ll help you guys sign up for a crash course in science. Oh, by the way, Jimmy, where’d you get your uniform?” John asked.

“I was scared and I might have… knocked someone out and stole their clothes,” I said.

“I was wondering what happened to Tim,” John said and smiled.

“I’m sorry, please don’t fire me,” I begged.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Tim will understand,” John said and smiled.

When Tim woke up, I apologized and we became friends. We even shared a room for a little while before the hotel gave Emily and I a room of our own.

Every day John trained us until we were ready.

We were now signed up for science classes.

The day before our first science class started, however, I took Emily to the fanciest restaurant in the city, and in the middle of dinner, I got down on one knee and proposed. She said yes.

“You’ve made me the happiest woman in the world,” Emily shrieked.

While taking science classes, we also signed up for a couple history classes to learn about all the events we missed over the last thousand years, and to learn how the world became this bad in the first place. We ended up double majoring in science and history.

Emily and I continued to work at the hotel part time, and eventually we helped to build a machine that could filter the air and helped mass manufacture them and ship them around the world. Everyday after that, the sky cleared up a little.

We had three kids together, continued to work at the The Skaft Sprunga Hotel and lived happily ever after.

At least until I turned on the news that night.

“Dad, I’m scared,” my oldest kid said to me.

“Don’t worry, sweetie, everything will be fine. Mommy and Daddy are scientists and will figure this out too, just like we figured out the pollution problem,” I said and gulped, sounding unsure of myself as the reporter continued to explain what happened.

The air filters had started malfunctioning and leaking radiation, turning half the population into zombies.