The Weathered Door Spoke To Me

 It was dark.

It wasn't the type of ‘dark’ one might imagine. It was this hue of vague darkness—a dim light shining upon a singular matter, that made it stand out within this space of oblivion.

Yet, there was no light.

It was a door, I think… yes, it must have been a door. That is what I remember.

It looked like one of those weathered, entrailed with age-old green vines doors that would lead you to a world of fantasy. Fairies, elves, otherworldly nature or the like.

It was a weird feeling… I was standing before this door for a good while now. While I didn’t have any form of concept of time, it felt like I was standing there for a good amount of minutes… as if I was contemplating something.

Do you ever feel like taking a dangerous step? Or, doing something you have never done in your life? Like choosing between two things, not being able to select whichever poison you think will do the least amount of damage… yes, it was something like that.

This door seemed to have a voice. It felt as if it was calling out to me. It kept on whispering “Cien… Cien… Cien…” for the entire time I was standing in front of it. Anyone would think I would have lost my mind if I spoke to them a tarradiddle tale of a mystical, fantastical wooden door calling out to me, yet that was what literally happened. I wasn’t imagining it…

It must have been real, because I felt it.

I remained silent for a little while, as if the door’s voice put me into a mindless trance, making my hollowed, lifeless eyes gaze forward with no aim or purpose in sight. It seemed as if the door’s voice became a current of wind, continuously seeping into my ears in the hopes of making me react in any possible sort of way, yet I wasn’t. I stood there like a statue, purposeless, mindless, lifeless.

Yet, the voice continued, and I proceeded to stare into its wooden facade as if we were having a contest of endurance, and it actually seemed as if the voice was gaining the upper hand.

“Cien… Oh… Cien…”

It continued to call out my name, and it now felt as if it managed to permeate the atmosphere of my soul. It was an endless pit of darkness, but now, I could see a white, glowing butterfly slowly flapping its wings as it brought itself to the surface of this pit, as if the darkness spat it out, acknowledging that this butterfly was something not compatible to its nature, and right before I knew it…

“Y…yes…?”

I finally answered to this voice.

And it seemed elated to have finally heard my voice as it retorted,

“Open me…”

“...Open you? How do I do it?”

It was a stupid question. How does someone open a door? You do so by either pulling it, or pushing it open. It was a mere simple task a toddler would probably be able to accomplish, yet I stood there, perplexed, not knowing what the voice meant. But luckily…

...This butterfly escaped the endless pit, and landed on my right hand.

“Hm…?”

“I will help you,” the voice said, and right afterwards, as I discerned the white, glowing butterfly on the back of my hand, it moved on its own…

It felt as if my hand was tied with invisible strings, and a puppeteer lifted it up and guided it to the knob of the door. It was a golden knob, although evidently having been eroded with time. It seemed rough, seemingly having experienced decades of usage.

...But none of it seemed to faze me, or, better said, the butterfly.

I formed my palm around the knob and gave it a twist. The sound of the door unlocking echoing throughout the entire place.

“Push… push…,” the voice said to me once more.

“...How do I push…?”

Again, this was a stupid query. An even more dumb one, you could say. How does someone “push” a door? Let alone “push” anything? I needed help. I couldn’t do it by myself…

Was it weakness? Incompetence? I don’t know, but I surely felt like I needed help to do literally anything. Maybe that was why I stood sentry before the door, not knowing what to do.

...At any rate, the voice seemed to have heard my worries, and it responded to me.

“I will aid you…”

And right after it spoke these words, I subconsciously pushed the door open as it let out a loud creaking sound… what happened afterwards could only be described as what one would imagine the disparity of heaven and the abyss would seem…

A strong wind current blasted through my entire body. I wasn’t wearing any clothes, at least not that I know of. My long, dark brown hair, however, fluttered uncontrollably aggressively in the wind, as my light green eyes widened in absolute terror…

...Terror?

Again, this… difference was so strong, that it made me feel frightened. It was that palpable. It felt as if I, a creature of the darkness, was finally forgiven, and accepted into heaven, but I would have been so used to residing within this oblivious realm, that this sudden revelation would scare me to the bone…

After the wind seeped in, the white, glowing butterfly suddenly vanished, and a blinding beam of sunlight exploded from the other side of the door, yet…

...None of that light was visible in the side I stood. It was as if a magical barrier prevented the sun's rays from reaching the end I was standing in. Like a portal that would—

“Step inside.”

…Wha—?

“I said step inside.”

Wait… can… can you hear me?

“Indeed I can. I have been forced to listen to your mind ever since you found yourself here. If I’m being honest, I’m getting tired of it. But nothing I can do about it.”

Ho… how…

“Just listen to me, okay, Cien? Step inside that door, and I will explain everything.”

Wha… that’s…

“Step inside the door. Now.”

I… I…! What is this?!

“CIEN!”

WHAT?!

“STEP INSIDE!!”

N… no… I won’t… I won’t step inside!

“I… I’M…! Okay… I’m sorry for shouting at you. Just, step into that door, please!”

What… the hell…

I need to get out of here…

“What…? You can’t do that! No, Cien! Stay here!”

“Cien…! Cieeeeeeen!!!”

I turned away from the opened door, and ran away as fast as I could, back into the consuming darkness, where no light seemed to exist.

What was happening? What was this voice? How did it manage to read my mind?

Calling it strange would be an understatement. It all felt… surreal to me.

Yet, nonetheless, I paid no heed to what was happening to me, and I began to run as fast as I could. I guess you could call it human instinct…? I was alone, by myself, with no one left to be saved. I only needed to save myself…!

I ran, and ran. I didn’t know where I was going, I didn’t know what was happening…

“CIEN, COME BACK HERE!”

But I was frightened. I was never as scared as I am now. That voice seemed to hear every single word I had said and thought of up to this point, and it might even listen to me right now, as it screams at me… but, for what…?

“Ah… Cien…”

“...I guess… you have made up your mind, haven’t you?”

Pant… pant…

Gasp… gasp…

Step step step step step…

Pant…

“I will wait again for you, you cannot escape me, Cien! I will be here! I will never disappear!! Because… because I have always been a part of you!!”

I did not pay any attention to what the door was telling me. All I needed was to get out of this place.

And, as if a sudden magical, or godly voice responded to my longings, I opened my eyes…

...And I found myself… somewhere else…

I was laying on a surface. Judging from what I saw in front of me, I must have been in a forest.

I could hear birds chirping in the background, the rustling sounds of tree leaves dancing in the wind.

I saw a large tree, with a long trench sticking out. As if that tree created a bridge for birds to walk upon.

It was raining slightly, moistening the soil I rested my head on, my long hair besmirched by it. The rain tapped gently on my countenance, gradually dawning realization within my mind, prompting me to turn my head to the right slowly, and that is when I saw a loosened rope laying beside me.

The voice of the door vanished as I slowly awakened, lost in my memories…

I gasped uncontrollably, as I realized that…

...I was still alive.