Surreralism

There is a passage in the book Hardboiled Wonderland and The End of the World by Haruki Murakami where the main character rides an elevator down for a very long time. It's the start of a very surreal journey. When I first read the book, which is one of my favorite books, I thought that you could never get such a surreal feeling in real life.

Today I was proved wrong.

I went out on a short walk in the sun and to buy a few necessities. I was at the store when I got a call asking me if I could bring my little girl in, preferably today. I didn't know where the place was that I was going to but figured I'd be able to find it.
I walked past the place where I delivered a little less than 5 months ago and forward to a building which looked ominous and was marked with the word "psychiatrics" (I was there for reasons that have nothing to do with that word). I found the entrance I was supposed to use and went inside.

I walked into a small hallway where I was met with a note obviously printed in an old version of Microsoft Word telling me all about the three floors and what could be found there. The note was printed in green. And the place I was going to was on the third floor.
I used the elevator pushing #3 on and it started moving, slowly but surely. And there I was, suddenly in a badly lit hallway with no windows and very few doors most of which were unmarked and closed. I managed to find my way down the hall, following notes, similar to the previous one, telling me what was to be found behind the different doors. By then I was feeling out of place and strangely surreal.

Then suddenly I met a group of small children, all less than 5 years old and without adult escort. I tried to get their attention but it was as if I wasn?t there and they all rushed by me. I walked on and into a second hallway where I met a nice woman with Down syndrome who was kind enough to tell me that there was another elevator down the hall and that I could go to the second floor and get information about the place I was supposed to visit.

I took the elevator and found my way to the information desk where I was told to go and find the entrance that I had just entered. When I tried the same route again I found a completely different hallway when I pushed the #3 in the elevator, this was a bright hallway filled with windows and I manage to find the people I was supposed to find.

When we came outside again it was raining. We walked homeward, drenched, through a neighborhood that reminded me more of some strange part of Paris than the little city I live in.

The feeling of absurd surrealism still lingers.

---
The photo is taken of the place where I delivered. I didn't think of taking any photos while I was walking the path of absurdity. Wish I had.