It made sense. The floors were all concrete linoleum and instead of stairs in the building there were two gurney ramps per floor, at 180 degree angles from each other that traversed you through the levels. It was not until one night, we were doing our clean up details (the military saves money on janitorial services by farming out its students to indentured servitude) that I got curious. I wanted to see what was on the top floor. From the outside it looked like there were three stories, not including the basement where our break room was located. So I, with my push broom in hand, climbed the ramps. I asked if anyone wanted to go with me. No one wanted to join me, so after resoundingly calling them all a pack of wises I ventured off solo.

　　I climbed seven floors. I counted. They all looked the same. I figured this was weird but was not too bothered by it. I stared up the next ramp into black abyss and decided that I should get back, for all I knew this could go on forever. I came back down to find my classmates staring at me. I looked at all six faces in puzzlement. Finally, my best friend, Lance, said, “Berk, why didn’t you answer us? Where did you go?” I answered that I just kept following the ramps but I could never find the top, which I found weird, why do you ask? They all chimed in that they had called me numerous times and even ventured up a couple ramps but couldn’t find me. I never heard them. No one believed me and just thought I was trying to be funny. I found it all a bit unsettling, but quickly became immersed in other things.

　　这是可以说得通的。校舍都是水泥地面，上面铺着油毡，里面没有楼梯，取而代之，每一层都有两个斜坡，便于轮床上下，两个斜坡互成180度的角。有一天我们在做大扫除时（军队都是通过让学员做苦工来节省请勤杂工人的费用），我开始觉得好奇。我想看看顶楼上有什么。从外面看，整个建筑共有三层，不包括我们的休息室所在的地下室。所以我手拿扫帚，爬上斜坡。我问其他人愿不原意和我一起去，可没人愿意。于是，成功地得到他们出的各种各样的点子后，我便独自去探险了。

　　我心数着，我一共爬了七层，每一层看起来都一模一样。我虽然觉得这有点怪，但也没太在意。我抬头看看下一个斜坡，只看见黑洞洞的一片，所以我就打算返回了，因为我知道这将永无止境。我回到楼下，同学们都盯着我看，我疑惑得看着他们六个人。最后，我最好的朋友兰斯问我：“伯克，你怎么不回答我们？你去哪了？”我告诉他们我一直沿着斜坡走，但却怎么也找不到顶楼，我觉得这有点诡异。我问他们为什么要问这个。他们插话说他们喊了我无数遍，甚至还上过几个斜坡，但没找到我。我根本没听到他们的喊声。没人相信我，他们都觉得我在开玩笑。我开始觉得有点不安，但很快就被其他事情转移了注意力。