~ Part 1 - The Door~
It was a balmy night, my clothes sticking to my sweat covered body. Rolling over in bed I tried to get comfortable, but nothing seemed to work. The air conditioner spluttered and gurgled, trying to combat the humidity and losing. Eventually it fell silent and I lay, spread out on the bed, listening to my breathing, soon falling asleep.
Suddenly thirsty, I woke and left my bed, heading out into the kitchen for a cool glass of water. Pulling a glass from the cupboard, I opened the fridge expecting a refreshing blast of cool air. Instead, I was hit with the rank odour of sour milk. Gagging, I shut the door and turned towards the sink.
Placing the glass down on the bench, I pulled off my shirt and used it to wipe the sweat from my face and neck. I grasped the tap, which was grossly warm, and turned it - hoping for a sweet stream of refreshing liquid.
The pipes rattled and shook, the noises echoing around the room. Once it had fallen silent, a small flow of clear water began to trickle from the tap. I quickly placed my glass underneath, and watched as slowly filled. I turned the tap more, hoping for more pressure, but was disappointed.
By now the glass was half full of the clean water and looked very tasty. The tap banged and rattled some more but I ignored it, closing my eyes to the heat. Soon, I heard the glass overflowing and water running down the drain. Groaning, I opened my eyes and looked in the sink at the glass.
The sight made me sick, my once clean water was now brown with muck which flowed from the tap at an alarming rate. I quickly shut the tap and felt strangely triumphant as the brown water flow came to a stop. This feeling quickly died as I realised I had nothing to drink anymore. Letting myself slide down the cupboard and onto the floor, I tried to decide what to do next.
After some time, I pulled myself up and staggered to the front door. Grasping the handle I turned it, the lock clicking undone, and then pulled it slowly open.
The sight I saw was stunning and caused me to stand in the doorway with my mouth open like an idiot. I saw an open desert plain, right out my door, complete with cacti! The heat wafted in through the door in waves over me until I finally came to my senses and slammed the door shut.
As the door clicked into the lock, the temperature in the room began to sharply drop. It hit the nice twenties before continuing downwards. Soon I was starting to shiver and not long after that my breathing began to float away from me in a powdery cloud. Confused, I opened the door again.
This time, I was staring into a snow filled wasteland. Snow was blown through the doorway by strong winds and I could feel myself going numb from the cold. Once again I slammed the door shut and tried to pull my hand away from the doorknob, only to feel the skin tear away where it had frozen to the metal.
Nursing my bleeding fingers, I felt the temperature change again. I opened the door and was this time looking into a dense pine forest experiencing a heavy downpour. The sound of rain was tremendous. Remembering my thirst, grabbed a shoe from near the door and placed it as a stopper to hold the door open as I went and retrieved my glass.
Back at the door, I slowly reached out my arm with the glass through the door.
As the first drops of rain hit my hand I felt a slight tingle, but after that it just felt like normal rain. Although I was tempted, I resisted the urge to jump into the rain and simply filled my glass up, drinking deeply.
Now that my thirst was quenched, I stood and pondered why my door had suddenly become a portal! Curious, I began to open and close it quickly. Various scenes flashed before me; huge mountains, dark caves, savannah plains and dense jungle. A new location with every click of the lock!
Disaster soon struck in the most inconvenient way possible. The door opened on the top of a snow covered mountain with the most amazing views of the surrounding mountain range. As I admired the view, a strong gust of wind tore the door out of my hand and pushed it back against the wall. A mound of snow then slid inside.
Grasping hold of the door, I tried to close it but was unable to due to the snow which had formed a mound on my doorframe. With my bare foot I tried to push it away, which was only effective if I pulled it towards me, into my house. I finally cleared it and was able to shut the door.
Looking at my numb foot, I knew I had to find a warm climate place to stop it from falling off. I opened the door again and for the first time found myself looking out over an ocean. The water was calm and crystal clear, the sun high in the blue sky glistening on the small waves.
Water lapped the doorframe onto my bare toes. Carefully, I dipped my frozen foot into the water, which I found to be warm. Annoyingly, the way in which I was standing hindered this movement and I could not submerge my whole foot. Holding onto the doorframe and outer door handle, I moved other foot to a better position.
Unfortunately, the place I put it down happened to be covered in snow and I slipped. I lost my grip on both the doorframe and handle, which caused me to plunge into the water. As I fell, I managed to grab the bottom of the door with one hand, and I slowly pulled myself up. As I was just getting my chest out of the water the door, moving from when I had fallen in while still holding it, pushed my fingers off and me back into the water.
I drifted below the water in shock for some time, until my natural need for air brought me to the surface. Pushing the water from my eyes, I looked around for the door. It was gone. Despair fell heavily on me. I was stuck in the middle of an ocean with no way of getting home.
I went limp and only kept myself above the water. Time passed nonchalantly as my mind turned itself off and I just drifted.
~ Part 2 - The Island ~
It may have been soon, or it may have been never, could have been hours, and could have been seconds, but eventually I felt sand beneath my feet. I let the tide continue to carry me until I was laying on the sandy floor in water no deeper than up to my knees. I lay there, making sure my head was not in the water as the tide receded and I was left on a pile of wet sand.
Shakily, I stood. I turned to see where I had washed up. It was a tropical island, complete with palm trees and a white sandy beach on which I had washed up on. It was of moderate size; however the jungle in the middle restricted me from seeing the other side.
Looking down at white sand beneath my feet, I saw my hand and suddenly realised how much it was stinging. The salt water had done a good job at it so now it was red, but no longer bleeding.
Turning around once more I sat down on the sand and looked out to see. The sun was low in the sky directly in front of me - it was early morning. I watched the soft waves roll in for a while before I decided to explore the island.
Standing, I began to walk along the beach line. Knowing that I could go round in circles forever, I moved to the nearest pine tree and collected several old coconuts from around its base. Then, laying them in a line, I marked the point at which I would start.
It took around an hour for me to traverse the perimeter of the island; finding nothing of interest aside from a few dead fish washed up on shore and and the skull of what I assumed had once belonged to a monkey. Reaching the coconuts, I lay on the sand and closed my eyes.
I once again woke to a raging thirst and found myself in the horrible position of being surrounded by water and not being able to drink any. I turned from the ocean and stared at the dark jungle, knowing that it was my only chance of finding clean drinking water.
With a sense of foreboding, I entered the jungle fringe and immediately felt the temperatue change from pleasant warmth to a humid heat which immediately felt turn my sweat glands into overdrive. I continued into the jungle, the trees growing closer with every step, and hoped that I would find some water soon.
Now tripping over vines I travelled into the heart of the island, keeping an eye out for water. Leaves and leeches had managed to stick to me without my notice, and every so often I walked straight through a swarm of small biting insects. I was immediately wishing that I was back in my bedroom.
I did not fear getting lost, as I knew that if I kept walking in any direction I would end up on a beach in less than half an hour.
After some time I came upon an area that was clear of trees and vines. Instead, it held a large stone with a hollow in its centre. Inside this hollow was a small pool of crystal clear water. I stumbled towards it and collapsed at the stones base.
It was lucky that I did fall down at the stone rather than immediately drinking, as when I fell I saw strange carvings above the water. Standing, using the stone to support me, I investigated these carvings and found that it was a rhyme, written in English.
Tracing the letters, I read it;
From this stone water will spring,
For all hours of the day.
But if you have a greedy heart,
You'd do best to stay away.
For fire can spring just like water,
But acts quite opposite.
Where water is easily consumed,
Fire consumes with a bite.
So traveller of doors beware,
When you drink, do take care.
Slightly puzzled by the abstract nature of the poem, I tried to ponder it until my dehydrated body threatened to make me fall to the ground again. It was time to drink.
with a cupped hand I scooped some water from within the stone and drank it, the cool elixer running down my throat like a miracle. Dipping my head to the water I drank more. The water tasted normal - like water chestnuts - and in no time at all my thirst was quenched.
That was when I made a wrong choice. I did not know when I would be able to drink again, or if I would even be able to find this clearing again, so I continued to drink until I felt bloated with water. I did not notice anything different until my tongue scraped the bottom of the depression. Confused, I saw that the water was almost gone and was actually disappearing by itself into the stone.
Confused, I stepped back as the last drops of water seemed to disappear into the stone. There was an odd gurgling and then something else began to fill the pool. It was bright yellow and seemed to dance with the breeze. Only when the pool was filled with it did I realise that it was some kind of magical fire.
The fire seemed to pause and observe the clearing before beginning to overflow down the sides of the stone. When it hit the ground, it immediately sprung up and expanded quickly in a perfect circle. Scared, I was rooted to the spot; even though I longed to move.
It was only when the fire began to bite my toes that my trance was broken. I turned and ran as fast as I could from the clearing into the jungle. Jumping over fallen brances and vines I made my way in whatever direction looked easiest to traverse. I did not look back once however I knew that the fire was, so to speak, hot on my heels.
Eventually I made it onto the beach and then sprinted for the water. It was only once I was safely up to my waist that I turned back.
The island was gone. In its place was an inferno rising high into the sky. I watched as the fire spread onto the sand and towards the water. Subconsciously I stepped back in fear, until my view of the island was impeded by a huge cloud of steam accompanied by a hiss that seemed to come from all angles. The steam enveloped me, and so I turned and dived into the water and swam some meters until the water felt cooler.
Now in over my head, I looked back at the island and admired the beauty of the black smoke emerging from within the white clouds of steam.
By now, the sun was getting lower in the sky, and would soon set. As I watched it slide towards the horizon, I saw something in the distance casting large shadow over the water. A slight spark of hope springing within me, I swam towards it.
When I reached it, I knew I had found what I was looking for. It was my sky blue door, half covered in water. This puzzled me for a moment until I guessed that the tide had come in since I had first fallen through. As I examined the door, I realised that this was a helpful occurrence as I could now open the door.
Grasping the door handle, I turned it.
It was locked.
My heart fell and I was tempted to just let myself sink beneath the waves for good, or go back and throw myself in the fire. That was until I felt something poking me in my upper thigh.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my house keys, surprised that they had managed to stay in my pocket the entire time and confused at why I would have had them in my pocket when my adventure began when I was in bed. I would have to think about this matter later; right now I just wanted to get home.
I placed the key in the lock and turned, hearing the click as the lock...unlocked...and then turned the handle to open the door. The door was pushed quickly open as the seawater rushed in. I was pushed in with it, but managed to hold onto the door and close it thanks to the wall.
As I pushed the door shut, the water stopped coming in and I sank to the ground. My lounge room was filled with a small layer of seawater that was sinking into a the carpet. I was slightly worried about trying to explain that to landlord, but at the moment i was just happy, because I was home.
