The Door

The Door?

         “What is it?”
         “I have never seen this, Hugert, or anything like it.”
         They stared upwards, gazing at the huge closed door.  Then their eyes met.  A slow grin spread across Hugert’s face.
         “I don’t like that look.”  Chari stepped back, away from the door, into the shadows.  He shook his head. “No.  We aren’t going to.  We will walk away and pretend we have never seen this.”
         Hugert just smiled and nodded toward the door. “It’s what we’ve been waiting for all summer.  Excitement.  Intrigue. Suspense.”
         Chari shook his head no again. “I’m leaving. And you are, too.  We are supposed to meet the others by the Fir tree at dusk, then head over to the meeting.  By the time we cross the water and get cleaned up, we will just have time to make it.  I don’t want to be late this time. Rwars has promised something special.”
         Waving his words away, Hugert reached out his hand and drew Chari alongside him. “Let’s begin with just a survey, do a perimeter walk around the base. Might find more clues. But we’re not leaving until I test that door.  Forget about Rwars and his ‘something special’”.
         Chari closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  When he opened them again, the door and Hugert’s face were still there.  He gulped.  Hugert was right.  They had been talking all summer about what might be.  Here it was, and he wanted to run away.  To be anywhere but here.  He glanced behind them, his foot nervously moving the leaves aside.  A bird above let out a shrill whistle and he jumped.  He raised his fist to the bird, suddenly angered at his own fright.
         “What, are you still standing here?” he challenged Hugert.  “Let’s do the walk.”
         Hugert pumped the air with his upraised fist and then turned it into a pistol.  He pointed it to their left and off they went, slowly circling the tree, looking sharply around, hoping for more clues and afraid they would find them.  Then there they were, back at the door.  Nothing had changed.  The door was still closed. The bird above whistled again. Stalemate.
         “Let’s go have a closer look,”  Hugert boldly stated.  “See how it opens.”
         Chari brushed the ground with his toe, trying to look like he was also deep in thought.  Actually, the only thing he could think of was leaving.  His bravado had faded when they faced the door again.  He should have known better than to have gone exploring - once Hugert got an idea, it was do it full, no slacking. Frowning, Chari darted his eyes at Hugert.  “The only way that door is going to open is if someone else opens it.  Good grief!  It’s way and above our heads,  that is, the latch is.  And the weight of it!” He sighed with his thinking. “Let’s just go. Now.  We’ve proved our bravery.  Let’s leave before it does.”
         A shake of the head. No. Hugert started sneaking toward the door, glancing covertly behind him as he went.
         “Don’t think anyone is here, Hugert.  Surely they would have heard us by now.  Or maybe they’re asleep. Yeah, that’s it. Just walk right up and bang on it. Asleep? Or not? Maybe they will answer.”
         At that, Hugert stopped to glare at him. “And then what?  See if they’ll invite us in?  I don’t think so.  We don’t know who - or what - exists behind that door. I might seek excitement, but I’m no idiot.  I do want to live to see the next semester of school. And to tell Rwars what we’ve found. Let’s check it out a bit more, then we’ll get reinforcements.  Do this think right.” 
         Hugert started toward the door once again. Then a creaking sound bounced through the forest; the hinges let out a horrible squawk. Then silence. No movement anywhere. Except for Hugert.  His feet never touched the ground;  Chari had heard tell of people walking on water, but never walking on air!”
         “Hey! Wait up!” Chari yelled, but it was no use. Himself, he felt drugged, unable to move. Useless. He watched Hugert dive in the water and start swimming toward the opposite shore.
         Chari looked again toward the door. Then, for some unknown reason, he was no longer afraid.  Maybe Hugert’s show of fear had absolved Chari of his.  Maybe the fact that the door had sounded, but no real movement had taken place. Leaning forward, he looked a little closer at the door, then chuckled.  He ran up to the door and pounded on it, hard, just so he could tell Hugert about it later.  Then he turned and strolled toward the river, hands in his pocket, whistling back at the bird. 
         He knew what Rwars “something special’ was to be.

         Hugert was standing in the back of the otherwise empty meeting room, clothes still streaming water.  Chari sauntered over to him.
         “Thanks, buddy.  For leaving me alone with, well, with the door.  Glad to know how a friend acts in times of trouble.”
         Hugert hung his head.  He couldn’t meet Chari’s eyes.  He mumbled something.
         “Can’t hear you.”
         “Sorry. Don’t know when I’ve been such a bloke.  Just lost my head.  Thought that door was opening.  I’d imagined such horrible things behind it, just couldn’t deal with what reality might be.  I’m a real joke, aren’t I? Mr. Bravery meets the real world. Loser.”
         Chari patted his friend’s shoulder.  “We’ve all been there, done things wrong or not shown well.  I was ready to run when we first spied it.  If it wasn’t for your courage, I’d never have stayed.  Brush it off and cheer up.  Come on, I’ll lend you a change of garments, got one next door in the gym.”
         They shook hands and smacked each other’s shoulders, then wandered away toward the gym, recounting the adventure they thought they’d had.

         Rwar spied Mumdo on the meeting room’s stage. Sauntering up, he watched as he tinkered with the back screen.
         Glancing over his shoulder, Mumdo spied him standing there, “So, what do you think, was it a good idea?”
         “Best we’ve come up with yet.  The logistics were, well, difficult to overcome, but with Rond’s engineering, it got done.”
         Mumdo fiddled with the podium set-up, re-directing the microphone more toward the center. “Any, um, excitement there yet?”  Bending down, he adjusted the table skirt, grumbling under his breath.  “Want anything done with precision, gotta do it yourself.  Blasted interns.”
         “Yeah. Awhile ago. Wait until we show the film.”
         Jerking his head up, Mumdo grinned widely at Rwar. “Film!  I didn’t know we were filming it!”  He stood upright, stretching the kinks out of his aging back. “Man, Rwar!  Tell me about it!”
         “Nah.  I’ll let you have fun with it tonight, too. You could use the laugh.”
         “We’ve waited all summer for something like this!” Mumdo’s eyes shone with anticipation.
         Rwar grinned again and they chuckled, then high-fived each other as they parted ways, Rwar toward his seat and Mumdo toward the sound booth. It would be a good night.


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