Behind the Door

Once upon a time there was a door that was not connected to a doorframe. Hardly anyone ever dared or cared to open it. Behind the door was a candle that’s flame had been burning since the beginning of time.

The candle took his job seriously but he couldn’t help but think. Sometimes, his thoughts were warm and they looked like this…

But other days, his thoughts were a bit jumbled and squirmy and they looked more like this…

He dreamed of what it might be like to be at the beach.

Feeling the gentle breeze and watching the leafy palm fronds of a palm tree was probably out of this world.

Or, maybe it would be incredible to vacation in the mountains and watch the moon above the mountains…

His reality was none of these things. His reality was his job which was to keep on burning brightly. His reality was also that there was a strange moth in the corner.

This moth also had a habit of daydreaming too. At this very moment, the moth was daydreaming about a field of flowers.

On the other side of the flowers, there was a juicy strawberry.

The moth’s mouth watered and desperately wanted to eat it because it was starving. But someone else had their eye on this strawberry.

Behind this eye, there was a brain. This particular brain had a memory about a beach with large waves and a stunning sunset that it had seen once. The eye, in front of the brain, had another memory suddenly about a door without a doorframe. This eye had seen it one time but had never opened the door. Today, it was going back to the door to see what was on the other side of it.

Reader, you already know what was on the other side of the door, a candle, that had been burning since the beginning of time and a moth who had been there a long time but not since the beginning of time as the candle.

One day, the candle and the moth were both fresh out of interesting thoughts and daydreams. The only thing they could do was stare at one another awkwardly.

The moth asked the candle a question.

“Wise, aged candle, would you say that you and I are compatible?”

The candle answered, “You tell me. You’re the one who struggles with being around the light of my flame, all the same…”

“Your flame is alright but I shall not get too close because you may scorch my wings.”

“Suit yourself…”

In the next instant, the door opened faster than it ever had before, so much so that it blew the candle flame out. An eye peered from the other side of the door. The moth flashed out of the room in a frenzy.

The question of compatibility didn’t matter anymore. Time had come to an end. The moth had flown away, in search of a real strawberry, outside of time entirely!