The Door

He stepped in through the doorway. It was low and tiny so he bent over. Inside was an elegant room, decorated in a Victorian styled manner. The walls were a soft cream color lit by gentle candle light. There was a table in the center of the room. In the center of the table was a feast beyond imagining. Everything was in place. Four plates, evenly positioned at the four ends of the table. Four ends matched four chairs, but there were only three people sitting.
“Mom? Ted? Emilia? What are you guys doing here?”
“Join us, Timothy. Sit down, your mother’s been worried sick.”
He sat at the table. He was feeling uneasy and awkward. His mother looked at him with the compassion he so missed, and he smiled. They sat quietly and no one said a thing. Then, slowly, one by one, the plates were passed amongst the four. He was so happy to see his family all together: his mother, brother, and wife all in one place. He had missed them and their company. They looked at each other and picked up their forks and knives and began eating.
Timothy stabbed the hunk of turkey meat on his plate and began cutting into it. Their was a strange sound. He looked closer to find maggots on the inside. They scurried out and ran up and down his arms. His company was laughing at him. He screamed and screamed trying to brush off the maggots. They ran up and down his body, then ran into his mouth.

He stepped in through the doorway. It was low and tiny so he bent over. Inside was a field and it was on fire. He stood next to a pile of dead bodies. Each was being thrown onto the other. The stack must’ve reached five feet high. There were bodies of men and women and children. They were all smiling. What were they smiling at, he wondered? His father stood before him with a shotgun in hand.
“Timothy, there’s something we need to talk about. Your mother is dead, I killed her.”
He yelled and the fires blazed in the background. He fell to his knees and started to weep. He cried and cried. His eyes began to ache as he noticed that his tears were made of blood. He reached for his eyes and they were not there. He couldn’t see a thing, but he kept crying anyway.

He stepped in through the doorway. It was low and tiny so he bent over. Inside she was waiting for him. He was in his room and she lay upon his bed. There were rose petals scattered all over. She was naked and beckoning for him. He approached slowly. Her face was lit by the soft candle light around them. It was night time and shadows danced on the walls.
“Happy Anniversary, Timmy. I got you a little something”
She beckoned him still, and he was close. She sat up to kiss him and he closed his eyes. He heard a shout. He opened his eyes to see that she was being lifted into the air by many black hands. The shadows were trying to take her away from him. He ran towards her, but he wasn’t going anywhere. She was pulled further and further until she vanished in the darkness. He yelled and then felt a cold hand on his shoulder.
“No!”

He stepped in through the doorway. It was low and tiny so he bent over. Inside it was snowing. He saw a boy wrapped up tightly in a big winter coat. His scarf covered his mouth and his hat covered his head.
“Timothy! Come play catch with me!”
Timothy moved slowly toward the boy, who quickly ran away.
“Catch me if you can!”
The boy was laughing and running with the ball in his hand. He was having so much fun, he didn’t see that he had ran out atop a frozen lake.
“No! Ted come back!”
“C’mon you slowpo--”
The boy fell through the ice. Timothy ran as fast as he could to help his little brother. By the time he had reached the lake, the water had frozen over again leaving an invisible barrier between him and his brother. The boy screamed and thrashed underwater. He couldn’t breathe. Timothy yelled.
“Help me!”

He stepped in through the doorway. It was low and tiny so he bent over. Inside there was a plain wooden chair. In the seat of the chair sat a revolver. Timothy picked up the gun and sat down. There was nothing else in the room. He looked down the barrel and he saw a familiar face and a bright light.