The Door

Winner of the February 26, 2007 Writer's Cramp Contest
Prompt: Write a story or poem that begins with this line:
"I wish I'd never gone through that door ...


I wish I'd never gone through that door. It was frightening to look at. The long stairway ended with the door, and over the years the wood around the door had turned gray and old. It had aged much faster than it should have, given that it was never exposed to the outside elements. The gray spread partway down the staircase. The stairs became warped.

Sometimes it sounded like there were a dozen people up there stomping around. Other times it sounded like a being with clawed feet was running back and forth. Scratching sounds, moaning, crying, shrieking. No one knew what was behind that door because if anyone came back, they were shells of their former selves.

It was an old house set in the center of a swamp surrounded by willow trees that swayed and moaned in a breeze that always flowed through. I always felt trapped there, like I would suffocate.

One night, I found myself half way up the stairs before I woke from a trance. I had my right foot poised on the first of the warped gray steps. Some force drew me forward.

When I stood on the landing in front of the door, I reached out a hand and pressed it against the rough, grayed wood. It was warm. I touched the knob gently at first, in case it was hot. It was quite cool. I gripped it and turned it gently.

All light was enveloped by the darkness within. I stepped inside. I was slightly aware of the door closing gently behind me. There wasn’t a shred of light, not even from under the door. I saw lights flashing before my eyes and I felt hope, until I realized it was because I couldn’t breathe. I closed my eyes and was dully aware of striking my head on the floor.

When I woke up, I was in a land full of writhing creatures that were mostly mist like beings. There was a great winding pathway down a hill. At the bottom was a throne and on the throne was a gargoyle, or perhaps a demon. She was chained to the throne by a large shackle around her neck. Her giant wings formed the ceiling of this cavern. When she moved, bits of stone fell from where her wings scraped the walls.

She moaned and I was filled with sadness. Who was this demon who had such a commanding presence, yet was full of such sorrow?

I wandered down the winding path and stood before her. Her figure, and the throne she was imprisoned to, stood at least fifty feet above me. She looked at me with cat eyes that were the same gray as her pallid skin.

“What ails you fair demon?” I asked, venturing a guess as to what she was.

“I am kept here, captive to my own duty,” she said.

“What is your duty?” I asked her.

“To weight the souls of the dead,” she said. She closed her eyes and a tear slithered down her cheek. “I was given this duty, and though it is a duty of great importance, here I sit, chained to my throne, a slave to the souls,”

“Is there nothing you can do to get out of this duty?” I asked her.

“I am to remain in this duty for eternity.” She said. “My soul was weighed, I became this monstrocity before you,” she shifted in her chair. “I was once a beautiful woman, a princess. I was killed on the eve of my wedding, poison,” she wiped a tear from her cheek. “I became this, and my love, my prince, he walks the land looking for me, not knowing that I am right here, for I do not appear to be his princess,”

“That’s so terrible,” I said. And truly it was. “I saw him,” I said, even though I really hadn’t. “If I brought him here, and told him, or made him believe you are the princess, will that do anything?”

My heart was racked with sorrow when she sighed again. “He will not believe that I am his fair princess. He will think of me only as a monster. He will not believe that it is me.”

“If it was true love,” I said. “He will know it is you as soon as your eyes meet.” I thought for a moment. “If this is true, will you give me back to the mortal world?”

She nodded. “You have an hour,” she said.

I looked frantically at first for any sign of a prince who looked lost and wandering. There were very few beings wandering around. The area was small and surrounded by a murky river; the River Stix. Charon brought a boat load of souls and they wandered single file down the path to be weighed.

At last I found him. He was sulking under a crooked tree. Every so often he let out a long wail.

“I know where your princess is,” I said. I had only seven minutes left.

“How do you know of my princess?” He asked.

“Follow me, and you will see her.” I said.

The line of souls was short, so I stood behind the last one and waited.

“Where is my princess?” The prince asked.

“Look into her eyes,” I said, pointing up at the demon before us.

“Does she know where my princess is?”

“Look into her eyes,” I said again.

The prince reluctantly turned his gaze upward. I watched his face. As soon as their eyes met, his face lit up.

“It is her,” he said.

“Mortal,” the demon said. “You have brought me my prince, and in return I shall send you back to the mortal world.” She snapped her fingers and a boat appear before me. “Do you have two coins to pay for passage?”

I did not.