The Door

         He reached for the doorknob once more, hoping this time he could muster the strength to turn it. The thought of what might lie beyond the door terrified him. The door, the color of blood, loomed over him like an imaginary monster over a child in their worst nightmare. He reassured himself that there was nothing to be afraid of. He was just allowing his imagination to run away with him again.

         "It's just a door. Nothing else," he said aloud in a vain attempt to ease his mind.

         He finally touched the knob but snatched his hand back in pain. The knob seemed to glow with an eerie light. He caressed his hand, unsure if it had been burned or frozen. The knob was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Or was it that he had not felt anything? He just wasn't sure.

         He gazed at the door, trying to determine if he should even be thinking of opening it. He had been trapped in this dark abyss for so long he had almost forgotten what light was like. He still hadn't the slightest clue how he came to be in this empty tomb. The only thing he had ever been able to see was the door. Its simple magnificance encompassing all of his thought. It seemed to call to him but he was certain his sanity was slipping.

         He stared at the door, so plain yet somehow, he knew, it held the answer to this bleak existence. Though, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was on the other side. What if he was dead? What if that door led to some other plane of existence? Possibly hell. Possibly heaven. Possibly some place in between. He didn't know, wasn't sure he wanted to know and he wouldn't know until he opened the door.

         Again, he touched the knob. This time he did not snatch his hand away. This time he grasped the knob. This time, he would do it.

         "Anything is better than this, right?"

         He took a deep breath and turned the knob. He pushed the door open. There was a strange warmth emitting from the open door, though he still could not see anything; only blackness. He sighed, "What have I got to lose?"

         He stuck his hand through the door and it dissapeared as it passed through the frame. He quickly pulled his hand back. "What do I do?" he asked himself aloud. "Should I take the chance?" That's when he decided. He knew it was time to take the chance or he would be stuck in this place forever. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew.

         He took a deep breath and stepped through the door...