Too Many Doors Not Enough Exits

Last night I dreamt of doors once again. Finding myself in a stranger’s home I panicked at every footfall that did not belong to me. There had to be a door to the outside somewhere in this house.

Frustrated after trying the first three doors, which all looked promising before I opened them and found they just led me to more rooms. The windows lied to me. They were not to be trusted. There was no sunshine and garden out there. It was a trick.

All the outside doors were locked to me. Others were going in and out with ease. I did not have the right key. Every door to the outside world was closed to me. I was suffocating. There was not enough air in this home. The muddy air was sucking me into it and my footsteps to escape were sluggish and draining as I crawled from the house to the shop, without ever breathing outside air.

Asking the shopkeeper if they had any doors to the outside that worked she told me the doors only worked when I was awake. She was sorry but I would have to return in the daytime when the doors would be unlocked. I pleaded with her to just open one for me or I’d die. She smiled sadly and pocketed the silver key before she vanished.

There was a city within these walls but I could never leave. Not while I was asleep. I could buy anything I wanted, dine in the finest restaurants and even light a candle in the church. As long as I was asleep there would never be a sweet escape to visit the mountains and the river I could see from behind the foggy windows.

Every night. Every night. Doors and more doors kept me trapped. I even tried being awake while I slept to see if the doors would let me go. They were not fooled. The shopkeeper had warned them in the dusky change from day to night. “Don’t let that one get away.” Here I will stay, inside the secret place filled with locked doors until I solve the riddle of dreaming wakefulness.