The Door That Wasn’t There Yesterday

* A Step Into the Unknown *

Emma had lived in the same apartment for five years. She knew every inch of it—the way the wooden floor creaked near the kitchen, the stubborn cabinet that refused to stay closed, the small crack on the bathroom mirror she had meant to replace but never did.

But one morning, something was different.

As she stepped out of her bedroom, rubbing sleep from her eyes, she saw it.

A door.

A door that had never been there before.

A Door That Shouldn’t Exist

It wasn’t just unusual—it was impossible. The hallway of her apartment led directly to the living room, and there was no space for another room. Yet, the door stood there, seamlessly blending into the wall, as if it had always existed. It was an old wooden door, slightly warped, with a brass handle that looked too polished, too new, as if someone had installed it overnight.

Emma’s breath caught in her throat. She touched the handle. It was warm.

She hesitated. Should she open it?

Her mind struggled for an explanation—maybe she had been sleepwalking and imagined her apartment’s layout differently. Maybe this was a stress-induced hallucination. But deep down, she knew something was wrong.

The Room Beyond

Curiosity won. Emma turned the handle and pushed the door open.

The air inside was still, like the breath of a long-forgotten place. A dim, golden glow lit the room, though no lamps or windows were visible. The space was identical to her living room, except…

Everything was slightly off.

The furniture was arranged differently. The couch she had moved against the window last year was back in its old place. The books on her shelf were not the ones she owned—titles she had never seen before, written in languages she couldn’t recognize.

And then she saw it—a framed photograph sitting on the coffee table.

It was a picture of her. Smiling, sitting in that very room.

But she had never taken that photo.

Her chest tightened. She backed toward the door, heart pounding, ready to slam it shut. But then—

A voice.

“Emma?”

A Life That Wasn’t Hers

She spun around, her breath shallow. A woman stood in the doorway of what should have been the kitchen.

She looked exactly like Emma.

Same face, same hazel eyes, same slightly crooked nose she had always been self-conscious about. But this Emma’s hair was shorter, her clothes were different, and the way she stood—it was like looking at an alternate version of herself.

Emma couldn’t speak. The other woman’s face twisted into confusion, then shock.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” the other Emma whispered.

Emma bolted. She turned and lunged for the door she had entered through. But as she grabbed the handle—

It was gone.

The wall where the door had been was now smooth, blank. As if it had never been there.

The Fractured Reality

Panic surged through Emma’s body. She turned back toward the other version of herself.

“What is this?” she demanded, her voice trembling. “Where am I?”

The other Emma stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. “You’re in my apartment,” she said, voice eerily calm. “But… you’re not from here, are you?”

Emma swallowed. “This is my apartment.”

The other Emma tilted her head. “Maybe in your world.”

A cold realization settled over her. This wasn’t just another room. It was another version of her reality. A parallel life that had been running alongside hers, invisible—until now.

Emma looked around again, and suddenly, all the subtle differences made sense. The books, the couch, the photo. This was a life that might have been hers, if things had happened just a little differently.

But why was she here now? And more importantly—how could she leave?

The Rules of the Door

The other Emma walked toward her, slowly, carefully. “I don’t know how you got in,” she said. “But I do know one thing.”

Emma’s pulse raced. “What?”

The other Emma’s expression darkened. “Only one of us can stay.”

A deep silence filled the room.

Emma’s mind spun. What did she mean? Did that mean one of them had to disappear? Did the door pull her in because it needed balance?

She took a step back. “No,” she whispered. “I need to get back.”

The other Emma smiled, but it wasn’t friendly.

“You should’ve thought about that before you opened the door.”

The Escape

Emma didn’t wait to hear more. She ran.

Through the hallway, through the unfamiliar layout of her parallel apartment, searching for a way out. But every door she tried was locked, every window showed nothing but darkness outside.

She turned a corner—and there it was. The door. The same one she had entered through, but slightly cracked open now. A way back.

Behind her, she heard footsteps. Fast. Coming for her.

She lunged, grabbing the handle and pulling the door open. The moment she crossed the threshold, she felt a force dragging her through space, like falling through water. A rush of cold air, a sensation of being ripped from something.

Then silence.

Emma landed hard on her bedroom floor. Her apartment was normal again. The door was gone. As if it had never existed.

Her breath was ragged, her hands shaking. She rushed to the living room. Everything was as it had been. The books, the furniture. The photo on the coffee table…

Gone.

She sat down, pressing her hands against her face, trying to convince herself it had been a nightmare. But deep down, she knew.

The door had been real.

And somewhere, in another version of her apartment, another version of her life

—

Someone else had been left behind.