My Future Behind The Door

There was only one rule: don't open the door.

I sit on my bed twirling my new teddy bear in my hands. Mummy bought it for my eighth birthday which was today.

"You must not open the door on your right," mummy told me.

"Why?" I asked.

This was my home, and I felt safe here. There couldn't be anything frightening behind that door.

"Where's daddy?" I asked.

"He'll be here soon."

Mummy ushered me into the living room, where everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me.

I didn't feel like this was my party. I had adult memories tucked away inside my child's mind.

I was fed up with this party. There were too many gifts and too much fuss.

I opened the forbidden door; everything behind me disappeared, and I was an adult again.

I sit in my room playing with my teddy, though I am eighteen now. There is a knock at the door. The Police are talking to mummy, and mummy starts crying.

"I'm sorry Lorna, there was nothing we could do."

A gravestone appears in front of me with my name on it.

A figure appears.

He says

"This is your future."

Mummy walks over to my bed, and now I see she is a skeleton with maggots in her eyes, and one of her arms is missing.

"It wasn't supposed to be revealed," she says.

There is a flash of light, and I am flung back into the party.

"Happy eighth birthday," everyone cries.

"I'm going to die when I'm eighteen," I reply.

I fall silent.

The date is October 31st, 2024.