I juts like this one a lot:
What is the underground?
For all intents and purposes, it is hell. You can feel the heat immediately as you begin to descend into its dark and slimy depths. The stairs are covered in soot, dust and other long-forgotten waste. Once below the surface, it becomes clear how much the temperature has increased. Beginning to sweat and looking around, you take in the dark and dismal nature of this place. Fluorescent lights provide dim lighting overhead. There is an eerie lack of natural lighting. The tile has been stained from its original white to a depressing gray.
Perhaps a little confused, you stumble over to one of the numerous cold, metal machines lining the walls. Each person that goes down into the underground must receive a special pass granting him or her access beyond its gates. By following a series of simple instructions on the screen, you are issued your ticket.
Continuing to sweat, you join the masses of other people and approach the gates. Looking around, it is easy to see that there are a variety of people in the crowd. Some are parents toting along small children who grip their hands tightly, afraid to let go and be lost in the chaos. Many are old, several of them dressed in formal attire and carrying their briefcases. Others are teenagers who look around with the same disaffected stare that all teenagers carry.
When you approach the gate, you are prompted to swipe your card and enter. Now, you have entered the chaos. Signs and stairwells indicate a variety of locations. Colors and numbers indicate the different paths that you might take in order to reach your destination. Some are more convenient than others. Most won’t get you where you want to go at all. After much thought, consideration, instinct and just a tad of luck, you descend one of the stairwells and wait on the platform with the other passengers.
The platforms are even dirtier than upstairs. On every surface, a thin layer of soot and grit sits patiently to be washed away. It is even more poorly lit and a line indicates the point in which you should use caution, lest you want to be swept away when one of the vessels approaches. Below the platform, mysterious creatures creep and crawl in the shadows of the overwhelming darkness. Almost a foot long, they appear to be a mysterious mixture of two rodent species, bordering on being some type of mythical creature. You turn away, appalled by the sight of one as it steps into the light
Looking around, the other passengers avoid contact with you. They all carry the same dismal, disinterested expression upon their faces. In the distance, you can hear a slight rumbling, a tremor. It becomes louder and louder as the ground beneath you begins to shake more and more. In a flash, a silver vessel appears in front of you. Headlights on the front help it find its way through the darkness. As the cars pass by, you peer through the windows at the inside. More people with the same disinterested expressions.
Eventually, the vessel slows to a complete stop and with some hesitation, the doors open. The vessels are silver, but are layered in the same fine layer of dust and soot as everything else.
As you step inside, you are shocked at the sudden change of temperature. You feel the icy sting of death as you peer around for an empty seat. In the corner, one seems to be waiting for you. Like all the others, it is a faded orange. The lights are brighter now, and you finally rest. The doors close. The ground begins to shake again and in an instant, you are traveling off into the unknown. You are in the underground.
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