The Door

The Door

By

Mark J. Wilcoxen

The great door stood closed. For eons it closed off what lay behind it. Meant to be shut forever the great door was secured with giant locks; the art of their make forgotten and lost to the harsh march of time.

A low scraping sound came from behind the door as the sun sank below the tops of the nearby mountains. Those peaks had been much taller when the door had been constructed. In those days the sun’s light vanished much quicker thanks to those mountains; allowing what lurked behind the door to assault the barrier earlier in the twilight hours. Back then the door was new and strong; able to withstand any force on Earth.

The scraping sounds neared the door. While loud and menacing behind the door the sound was softer than a whisper to the outside world. Such was the door’s nature to utterly seal away its charge. And it had succeeded perfectly in that regard. The door and what lay behind it were utterly forgotten by the world. Here in its valley at the foot of the mountain the door remained undisturbed; save for the nightly assaults from its prisoner.

What lay behind the door started scraping at the barrier, examining it for any sign of weaknesses that it could use to gain it’s long sought after freedom. The backside of the door was covered in gouges some nearly a foot deep. Accumulating all this damage throughout its long history the door was in no danger of being breached; at least in regard to being clawed apart.

Thud!

The ancient locks jostled lightly in their brackets and settled back into stillness. Each of the five locks was as large as a fist. Like what lurked behind the door they too were prisoners; bound to remain trapped in the valley. But unlike the prisoner in the dark they had changed over the flood of centuries. Where once their surfaces were polished smooth, pockmarks of rust coated them. Where the locking mechanism in each could have once been opened with a key, oxidation had fussed the inner workings together, permanently sealing the locks shut. The grease lathered on and in them to prevent their decay had long since washed away to the countless storms that had passed overhead.

Thud!

The powerful impact struck the door, but like each time before the door remained unmoved. This was the one constant in the valley. Each night what lurked behind the door would struggle to be free and the door would bar it from the mortal world. In the time following the door’s creation the people who’d built it flourished. Free from the terror that haunted them they created a mighty civilization. Their culture eventually failed and faded into history, myth and obscurity. The climate changed as the continent that hosted the door jostled, shifted and fused with another; completely invalidating any maps that existed before, during or immediately after the door’s installation. Many species of flora and fauna came to inhabit the valley after it was made safe by the door. Only a couple of these original settler species still dwelt in the valley. Most of their comrades were now extinguished either through the arrival of a new predator or another species better suited to the environment. None of these creatures dared approach the door even during the day light. Though they didn’t understand the door’s make, they knew its presence kept them safe. Only moss, who cared the least of all living things, surrounded the door.

Thud!

Again the door was struck. While it had endured many powerful impacts each night for millennia. This time was different. In the silence that followed every living thing in the valley was still. Hundreds of miles away people glanced around them. The primal part of their brain cried out that danger was at hand; an ancient danger that their modern minds didn’t know or understand. Many ran home and quickly locked their doors. Children cried for their parents to comfort them. The great door had shifted!

The shift had been only the breath of a hair but what lurked behind the door had felt it. With wicked menace it threw itself against the door again and again. It had not attacked the door with a vigor like this since the door had first been installed over its prison. Back then the door was new. The metal of its five locks and brackets were still warm from the forge that shaped them. The stone body of the door had just been carved into the shape it would bear for eons. The arts used to seal the door in place were fresh in the minds of mortals who hoped that their work would last forever. Now it was evident that wouldn’t be the casel.

Thud!

The door shifted further this time. The creatures in the valley began to leave. They didn’t know what lurked behind the door but they knew death came with it.

Thud!

Far from the valley a growing sense of panic gripped people. Tonight was the night their ancestors had tried so hard to protect them from. Once again the world and its people would know what life was like before the door.

Thud!

Though the door lacked a pulse it, in a sense, was alive.

Thud!

Its creation had installed in it a limited ability to think, or more correctly, feel.

Thud!

While for a long time the door felt a sense of pride at remaining shut for so long; it now felt a great sorrow in its failure to remain forever closed.

Thud!

As the sun crested the mountain it illuminated the lifeless valley. The mangled corpse of every creature that had once lived within the valley was strewn across lifeless trees and the rotting vegetation of the undergrowth. Hundreds of miles away cries of grief and terror filled towns and cities. The great door lay open.