The Red Door

I never meant to hurt anyone. I just wanted to know why the area was restricted. All my life there have been walls or fences and dark. The area beyond the fences was the restricted area. There were no visible lights in the restricted area. No one was allowed to go there. I never knew if they were trying to keep something out or keep something in. My father always said they were watching, but I was too young to understand who they were or why they would be watching. When I turned 12 years old, I remember a loud knock at the door and guards coming in to take me away that night. They said I was being put into quarantine. I didn’t understand why or what I did wrong. I couldn’t see my father while I was away. The time seemed to pass very slowly in quarantine.

I was alone in my room. There was nothing remarkable or personal about the room except the bookshelf in the corner. The books on the shelf reminded me of the books my father had given me to read. The only person I ever saw was a woman in a pale ash gray coat that matched her eyes. She checked on me in the evenings and made sure I ate my rations. She helped me pass the time by giving me more books to read. They talked about places that seemed so real and wonderful I could almost imagine living there. She asked me questions all the time about what I liked and didn’t like and what I thought about the books. She always smiled at my excitement and awe about everything I read and I soon began to think of her as my friend.

One night she came to my room and said we were going for a walk. We normally went for walks before bed. Tonight, seemed different, she turned down a different hallway that brought us to a door I never saw or noticed before. It seemed impossibly large and it was red which seemed out of place. She asked me if I wanted to see the world beyond the walls. Of course, I did. She pushed the door open and we went through. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I saw. The place where I had been quarantined was far beyond the fences saying restricted. I could see the faint lights from the town. I looked around in confusion. I didn’t understand. Where was my father, how could he have let them take me? My friend looked at me sadly and smiled. Then she handed me a box. I opened it hoping for answers, instead what I saw was a silver heart shaped locket with a tiny red stone in the center and a book. The stone twinkled eerily in the dark. I just stared at her. She took the locket from the box and put it around my neck and I slowly felt the ground coming up to meet me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was on the ground and my head hurt. I must have fallen. My friend was gone and it was dark. I looked at the locket again and opened it. To my astonishment there was a photo of my friend and my father. This was too weird. I didn’t understand and I didn’t know where I was. I saw the box still laying by me. There was the book I had first notice and a few pieces of paper. One was a map, the others looked like notes. I grabbed the one on top. There were two words on it. “I’m sorry.” I heard a rustle in the night. I wasn’t sure what it was, and I was pretty sure I didn’t want to find out right now. I stiffly got to my feet and noticed the ground. There was a pile of ash. I didn’t remember that pile there when I had walked out with my friend. I looked around for the door, but it was no longer there. I looked out at the lights in the distance and turned and walked the other way. I was still quarantined and was pretty sure I would not be let back in without someone else bringing me back.