An Open Door

There was only one rule: Don’t open The Door.

There may be social norms and unspoken agreements, but there has only ever been just the one hard and fast rule.

I remember the night I awoke in The Hillside. I thought I'd gotten lost on the way home from a party. I don't even remember whose party it was, just that I wanted to get away from everything for a little while. God, how I wish I could get back. I spent nearly three hours walking in circles that night.

I remember Jolie trying to tell me what was happening and thinking that she was just as sloshed as I was. I remember thinking how strange it was that she kept catching up to me.

I remember finally noticing the exact same tree line repeating.

I remember finally noticing The Door.

I didn't believe her at first. Jolie did her best to explain it all. A single, infinitely repeating Hillside with no way to the top. A single, lonely black Door amidst a sea of wildflowers. And a single, simple rule...

"Don't open The Door," she said. "It doesn't go anywhere better than here."

Jolie says it to everyone who wakes up here.

None of them ever listen.

I remember the last one who didn't listen. He was so frustrated. So tired. He said the whole thing was "ridiculous." He said it had to be the way out.

He laughed when he saw himself standing there on the other side of The Door.

He cried that he was sorry when it dragged him through The Door with its claws.

And it apologized for the commotion when it closed The Door on its way back.

They are always so polite, but we know better. And so we don't open the door.