Warning: It’s not a good idea to respond to calls for help coming from behind doors that were made specially for the Halloween season.
Why? Well, when you read what happened to me recently upon responding to calls for help coming from behind the rather scruffy door in the image below, you’ll believe me.
The October Door
“HELP! GET ME OUT OF HERE. HELP!”
Those were the words I could hear coming from the other side of the October door.
With its light blue paint having almost peeled away and signs of having been kicked from the scuff marks along its bottom, the door looked unloved and old. People passed me and the door by without taking any notice. Was I the only one who could hear the calls for help?
I watched as the flap of the letterbox lifted and two eyes appeared. They looked shocked when they saw me.
“I’m trapped. Please, you need to get me out. Just turn the knob to the left, then to the right, and once more to the left, and the door will open. I’ll be truly grateful for your help. It’s jammed. I’ve been stuck in here for over forty years.”
As the flap closed, I questioned what I had just heard. Forty years? That should have told me not to open the door, but the writer inside me said this would make a great story.
“Hold on. I’m coming in. Step away from the door,” I announced, as I approached it.
“Left, right, and left again,” I muttered under my breath, as I tried the door knob. The door opened without any problems, but I hesitated before stepping into the black void that now faced me.
“Hello,” I called out, as I took my first step inside.
Nothing but silence met my ears. Even the world behind me seemed to go to sleep. I hesitated and wondered if I should take a step back; to maybe get some help?
“In here,” came a voice, “please help me.”
On my fifth step in, the door slammed behind me.
Turning, I ran towards it, but it wouldn’t open. I told myself not to panic and to feel for the door knob, but there wasn’t one. Then, I heard a terrifying sound from something behind me. I banged on the door hard with both hands, hoping that somebody on the other side would hear me.
“HELP! GET ME OUT OF HERE. HELP!”
As the sound behind me got nearer, I had a strange feeling that somebody on the other side of the door had heard me. Then I remembered that the door had a letterbox. I bent down and pulled open the flap. My eyes opened wide with shock.
I hadn’t expected to see myself staring back.
***
This week’s door is located in Llandeilo, South Wales, in the United Kingdom.
Have you ever come across a door that isn’t all it seems?
Linking to the weekly photography challenge ‘Thursday Doors,’ hosted by Dan Antion who blogs at No Facilities. Click here to join hundreds of other participants with your Thursday Doors.
If you’re enjoying the pieces of flash fiction I’m including with my Thursday Doors posts then you may like Glimpses, my first book of flash fiction and short stories.
The above piece of flash fiction features in Glimpses.
Glimpses
28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction that take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.
If you’re an author of a published book, this is how creating a reusable block for your book will put it in front of hundreds of new visitors to your blog.
Have you ever been through a door that wasn’t there when you were going back to exit it?
It happened to me. It was back in 2017 when I first published a Thursday Doors post that included these doors.
When I pressed the publish button, I was transported through the doors and could not get back.
The white cat was very friendly, but everything else wasn’t as it seemed.
Somebody mentioned who or whatever passed by me into my world when places got traded carried on with writing and publishing posts on my blog.
You may have thought it was me who left you a comment or two but was it?
Thankfully, when Terri Webster Schrandt posted ‘Going Back‘ as the theme for this week’s Sunday Stills prompt, who or whatever was here took up the challenge and got transported back through the doors.
I’m happy to say that I instantly found myself going back to where I should have been for the last four years.
My fingers are crossed that I won’t be going back through those doors when I push the publish button.
Did/Will you miss me?
This week’s doors are located in Hove, East Sussex, in the United Kingdom.
Linking to the weekly photography challenge ‘Thursday Doors,’ hosted by Dan Antion who blogs at No Facilities. Click here to join hundreds of other participants with your Thursday Doors.
If you’re enjoying the pieces of flash fiction I’m including with my Thursday Doors posts then you may like Glimpses, my first book of flash fiction and short stories.
Glimpses
28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction that take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.
When I first noticed the street art on the wall in the photo below, it was the door next to the painting that caught my attention a lot more.
Another Time, Another Place
Blue! I love blue. But this shade of blue spoke to me. It was as if the door was inviting me to walk through into a different world – another time, another place.
The tiled floor that the door opened onto, almost matched the colours on the street art. And I wondered if the blue panel above the door is a sheet of glass that was painted the same colour as the door.
The two figures in the street art called out my name several times, but I declined their invitation to join them by walking through the door. I decided that the time and place I was currently in is right for me. I’m not ready to move on yet.
If you saw the last two doors I published for ‘Thursday Doors’, the ‘Open, Sesame!‘ door and the door to ‘The Tower Of The Ecliptic‘, the ‘Another Time, Another Place’ door is only a ten minute walk from them.
All the doors in my last three ‘Thursday Doors’ posts are located in Swansea, South Wales, in the United Kingdom. You can check them out further down on this post.
Would you have accepted the invitation from the figures in the street art to walk through the blue door to another time and another place?
Linking to the weekly photography challenge ‘Thursday Doors,’ hosted by Dan Antion who blogs at No Facilities. Click here to join hundreds of other participants with your Thursday Doors.
Join Hugh on social media. Click on the links below.
“Open, Sesame!” is a word I’ve wanted to use since I first heard the magical phrase being spoken in the story of ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’ in Antoine Galland’s version of One Thousand and One Nights.
Ali Baba is a poor woodcutter who secretly watches as 40 thieves hide their treasure in a cave, the door to which can be only opened by the verbal command of “Open, Sesame!” He later uses this magic phrase, steals riches from the cave, and lives a prosperous life.
I’ve never spotted a door I thought ‘Open, Sesame!’ would work on. However, when I happened to stumble upon this door that begged the words ‘Open, Sesame!’ to be shouted at it, I wasn’t pleased when my vocal efforts failed. Why had those words worked for Ali Baba and not me?
Open Sesame
Nothing would open this door. I pulled it, I pushed it, but it wouldn’t open. Maybe it was locked? I couldn’t even spot a keyhole, but I loved the handles.
I never found out what was behind the door, but given the look and style of it, I imagined it led to a mystical world that could only be reached by a ride on a magic carpet. Would anyone like to join me? That is, if we can open the door.
If you saw the door I published for ‘Thursday Doors’ last week, the ‘Open, Sesame!’ door is only a short walk from ‘The Tower Of The Ecliptic‘ in Swansea, South Wales.
Let me know if you manage to open it.
What do you think is on the other-side of the ‘Open Sesame’ door?
Linking to the weekly photography challenge ‘Thursday Doors,’ hosted by Dan Antion who blogs at No Facilities. Click here to join hundreds of other participants with your Thursday Doors.
Join Hugh on social media. Click on the links below.
Although we’ve lived in Swansea in South Wales for the last five years, it always amazes me when we take a walk off the beaten track and come across something you had no idea was there.
This is the door to ‘The Tower Of The Ecliptic’.
Door to The Tower Of The Ecliptic
And it’s on this building that you’ll find the door. Can you spot it and any other doors?
The Tower Of The Ecliptic – Swansea
If you think of me standing in front of that door taking the photo, you’ll get an idea of how big this building is. How on earth have I managed to miss a big building like this in the city where I live?
What is The Tower Of The Ecliptic?
It’s an observatory that houses the largest telescope in Wales. Designed by architect Robin Campbell in 1989, the building opened in 1993 for the local astronomical society.
Sadly, in 2010, the building was closed to the public due to a disagreement with the Swansea City Council regarding the building’s rental terms. The Swansea Astronomical Society now holds regular observing sessions at the University College of Swansea. I’ve no idea if they took the telescope with them. Do you think they did?
For more information about The Tower Of Ecliptic, click here.
Linking to the weekly photography challenge ‘Thursday Doors,’ hosted by Dan Antion who blogs at No Facilities. Click here to join hundreds of other participants with your Thursday Doors.
Hugh's Views & News 