Room for two

There was only one rule in my Mama’s house: do NOT open the door. Mama let me wander all around the house otherwise. I could watch anything on TV, I could play in any room I wanted, have any snack I preferred, I just couldn’t open that heavy metal door.

It was a tall, narrow door at the end of the hall, secured with menacing metal locks. I couldn’t help but wonder what was behind it as my imagination grew along with me. Maybe it was merely nothing at all or maybe it was a strange portal! Maybe it lead to secret tunnels under the house! As I grew, so did my curiosity. I heard Mama open the door late when she thought I was sleeping and wondered what she was doing. Even though the only rule was to keep the door closed, she still didn’t like me even being anywhere around it. It’s as if she knew I was growing more and more fascinated with its contents and what other secrets existed behind that door. The second I’d linger too long near it, she’d give me another task or chore and send me on my way.

When I turned thirteen, the curiosity finally felt like it was smothering me. My mind was drawn to the door, no matter how hard I tried to think about anything else. One night, I crept into Mama’s room while she was sleeping. I hid as best I could in shadows before slowly taking her keys off of her nightstand. I squeezed them tightly in my hand, so tight it was painful. I couldn’t let them make even the smallest sound. I tiptoed out of her room carefully, downstairs, and to hall. The door seemed larger, as if it were looming over me.

The hallway seemed so much longer, eerily too long. Had it always taken this many footsteps to reach the door? I finally reached it, shoving the key in quickly. I felt like had wasted enough time. I pushed the heavy door open with all of my might, the light from the hallway illuminating a small rectangle of space on the dirty floor.

I gasped at what I saw.

It was… me. Or someone who looked exactly like me. A sickly, pale version of myself. Our eyes locked, hers wide and desperate. I was frozen in fear, keys dropping, dancing across the floor.

“He…lp…” the other me stammered, reaching a frail hand out.

I stepped backwards and into mother, who pushed me forward with a growl. She lurched towards the other girl, snatching her keys off the floor shaking them at us in a huff.

“I gave you one rule, and you broke it. Bad girls who don’t listen or follow my rules must be punished!”

The door shut and locked faster than I could even move, leaving the darkness to swallow us both. We sat in silence for a moment before the other girl finally spoke up.

“…don’t open the door…”