The Door

Cindy was in so much shit. She’d woken up in a dark room, unsure where she was. Cindy tried to get up and find a light but kept tripping over things in the dark. She figured she was in some sort of basement because she could see the outline of a door up above. She didn’t know how long she’d been down here, but by the pains in her stomach, she’d missed a couple of meals.

She knew she had to escape here before whoever had taken her returned. She didn’t know how much time she had. She was scared to move and terrified to stay. So, she decided to crawl to feel around better with her hands and hopefully find the stairs leading up to the door.

Cindy crawled for hours in the dark before her head hit the wall. She was unsure which way to go but figured it didn’t matter, so she turned to the right and followed the wall to the next.

She panicked when she came across an even darker aperture in the wall. Afraid to leave the part of the wall she was on but not wanting to turn around and head back the other way, Cindy sat for a bit and thought about her problem. Deciding to go forward, she walked across the opening, hoping to find the other half of the wall she was following.

The air wafting from the other room had a sulfur smell to it. Soon, Cindy was gagging from the odor. She could hear a buzzing movement from the room; she was sure of it. Gasping back a scream, Cindy continued on her way.

Five steps from the blackened doorway, Cindy ran into the steps out of the basement. Crying out in relief, she started up the stairs. She was slightly confused that the light from the door was directly opposite her until she stumbled across her first landing and realized the stairs wrapped around the wall.

Quickening her steps, she sensed an urgency to leave this room. Her captor would return any minute now, and she knew then that she’d be doomed. With one hand on the wall, she continued upward as quickly as she could.

When she reached the outline of the door, she put her ear up to the door to listen. Not hearing anything, she tried the knob, finding it unlocked. Cindy opened the door as slowly as she could so as not to make a sound, although the hinges creaked slightly.

Cringing, Cindy stepped across the threshold into a room brightened by the moon shining through the windows. She ran across the threatening room, with odd shapes floating in the air and tentacles hanging from the ceiling. Cindy ran to what appeared to be a door that she hoped led to the outside.

Cindy was struggling to open the door when suddenly, the lights came on in the room behind her. Terrified, she turned around to see who her kidnappers were.

“Surprise!”

“Happy birthday!!!”

All her family and friends stood behind her, yelling in unison. She had walked into her surprise party.

Everyone, of course, thought she was crying happy tears when they were tears of relief. She thanked everyone for surprising her and commented about getting the party started.

Her mother came up beside her, wrapped an arm around Cindy’s shoulders, and asked her if she was sure she was okay. Giving her mom a side glace, Cindy said she was fine and then asked her mom why she asked.

“Well, I just wondered. You were in the basement for a long time. Did you get that box of decorations down for Halloween?”