Homesick for Another World

The unnamed narrator of “The Locked Room” is a young girl who attends a music school with her boyfriend, Takashi. Takashi dresses eccentrically, trims his eyelashes, draws on mustaches, vomits in public, and has poor personal hygiene. However, the narrator is drawn to him for his fearless rejection of others’ opinions. One spring day, the narrator and Takashi are exploring their music school when they accidentally get trapped in a fifth-floor rehearsal room. The two yell and bang on the locked door but no one can hear them. The room has one window and is filled with chairs, costumes from student productions, and a couch.

Takashi suggests that they stay in the room forever, but the narrator is determined to escape. She makes a long rope by tying together costumes, then ties one end of the rope to a radiator and lowers the other out the window, noting that it doesn’t quite reach the ground. The narrator notices a man who is unhoused walking through the alley and shouts for him, but Takashi pulls her back, telling her to be quiet. She tries to tell him that if they believe they can escape the room, they can do it.