I’m typing this from a bed in Gimli Hospital. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I’m being treated here for psychosis. At least that’s what the doctors say. I believe in a world beyond the hospital, and they think that’s crazy.
Yes, there are doors here, but not all doors must open, they’ll say.
Then they’re not doors but walls, I’ll say.
Walls don’t have knobs.
Not all knobs are functional. Some are just decorative.
So why do they turn? Tell me–why!
It’s part of the decoration. Now calm down. Don’t get overexcited. Perhaps you’d like a pill?
And so on.
I wish I remembered when I first came to Gimli Hospital. That might help me understand. As it is, I remember only how it happened.
I came across it online.
Yes, that’s it.
I came across it online and started reading about it.
I found a description somewhere, a forum perhaps or reddit. Someone had written about their family member being a patient. It may have been in the past. Maybe they were even a patient themselves. I don’t remember. It doesn’t matter.
After reading about it I started dreaming about it.
I dreamt I was a patient.
It was such an interesting place. I even found a few photos of it: the exterior, the interior. They were sepia-toned and quite old. I imagine they were from the 1920s or even earlier.
That’s when I started daydreaming about Gimli Hospital. I would be at work or maybe having coffee with a friend, and my focus would shift, my mind would wander, and there–I was in the hospital–then out again, in a flash like that.
I miss having friends.
If you want, I could probably send you a link to those first posts about the hospital. I might be able to find the photos too.
I could tell you where to find the historical articles I tracked down, and which library’s archives to search. There was a floorplan as well. I looked at it so many times I must have memorised it. It wasn’t complicated. I’m sure you could do it too.
Even if you read the first few posts and it doesn’t interest you, you should stick with it and keep reading. It gets more interesting the more you learn about it.
Learning opens doors.
In the beginning it feels barely real.
It was hard for me to imagine that such a place as Gimli Hospital ever existed.
Can you believe that?
I hope you’re not like the doctors. Please don’t think I’m crazy.
Google it.
Try Google Scholar too. That’s: “Gimli Hospital”
If you don’t have access to an article, you can get it through Sci-Hub.
YouTube might have something.
What? No, I don’t want a pill. I don’t need a pill. I’m fine. I’m not talking to anyone.
Thankfully the Wi-Fi works here. Otherwise I’d be completely lonely. So, what do you say? Will you look for it?
DM me.
Share this with a friend.