THE DOOR
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I excused myself and walked over to my sister. I patiently waited till she acknowledged me before I spoke.
"Excuse me ladies." I said to the women who were sitting at the table sipping tea and gossiping.
"Missy, I think it's time for me to depart. I'm not feeling well and a good rest would certainly help." I looked at her with pleading eyes. My desperation seemed to shine through enough for her to take notice.
She studied my face for a moment, then nodded understandingly.
"Yes brother, you do look a little pale." She said, gently reaching out to touch my arm. "Why don't you go lie down?"
Thank you sister! I knew she would understand.
"Yes, as I said I do not feel well. I shall head home. I suppose one of these fine women could escort you back to the estate." I kindly reject her offer and start to walk away.
"Safe travels, brother." she said with a warm, teasing smile.
I excused myself and said my farewells to my fiancé before heading out of the garden gate. It took a minute but before long I heard the 'clip clop' of the horses dragging the carriage down the stone path. I immediately hopped in and kicked off my shoes. While it was inappropriate, my feet were sore and swollen from the tight fitting dress Shoes.
Anyways, who was there to see besides myself? If the driver saw the most he could do was find it amusing that a noble could still act like a human. Or maybe he could silently judge me…but either way I don't care what he says because, no matter how snobby I sound, I'm the prince which means he can't say anything to my face.
As I settled into the plush seat and let out a sigh of relief, the rhythmic motion of the carriage quickly lulled me into a relaxed state. Looking out the window, I watched as the countryside rolled by, a blur of green and gold in the twilight.
Admiring the landscape outside, I let my thoughts drift back to my childhood. My parents gave me the bare minimum when it came to love but I still got the freedom of a young prince still studying. I don't have that much freedom anymore now that I'm older but I still get away with things. Living in a castle is also a perk but I can get lost and there's a lot of people I don't know that also live in the castle. It's not like I live in an attic and I have my own big room just like my sister but the difference is that my sister gets everything she asks for. I'm not jealous in fact, I'm glad. If my parents treated me like that I might not have become as humble as I am today. Or what I like to think of as humble. Maybe it was the bullying growing up or the fact I was dismissed on many family occasions without me knowing but I'm definitely not a snob like my cousins.
When I got home I dressed in more comfortable clothes and walked to the meadow not far into the forest. It was humid and the trees cast dark shadows but the light beamed through the trees almost as scaring away the reaching branches. The quiet hum of insects filled the air, and the earthy scent of wet leaves mingled with the fresh smell of the evening breeze.
I always loved this place and came here to relax and hide from the world. This is also where I read. Sometimes my sister would sit here and read my book of science and facts while I took a nap or we would play games and she would kick my ass every time. She always liked things like chess and poker. I don't, it makes my head hurt and personally, I don't think I'm cut out for it.
My sister was my tutor for English, piano, and etiquette while my tutor, Mr. Lyathin taught me math, politics, and strategy. That used to be my brother's job but he's busy taking care of the kingdom and doing odd jobs for the king. It's embarrassing to admit that my sister tutors me, but she's smart and she has a way more advanced schooling than I do thanks to my mother. I would also like to think I'm more of a bookworm than a math genius but Mr. Lyathin likes to say otherwise. I guess I'm not that bad at it but I'd rather sit and read about pirates and fairies than calculate the distance of the sun. Seems like a waste of time since I'm not visiting the sun anytime soon.
Mr. Lyathin always said that Numbers are infinite but that just proves my point that there's no reason to learn all about it since you physically can't. I can see how some subjects are necessary in life but I don't need the number for a triangle to know it's a triangle. I have eyes. I can see that it's a triangle.
I will die before I can even begin to understand. Nothing will ever be original. Even the smartest thought has been somebody else's passing thought. With multiple reality's we only have to try our best to fit into our own but I'd rather read about another's reality and drown out what happens in mine.
I stretched and laid on the grass humming a tune before drifting off thinking of the recent book released by my favorite author. All the book lovers are talking about it and I'm gonna be the first to receive it.
As I was about to fall into my dreams I felt someone reach into my pocket and pull out the pocket watch that was kept there for safe keeping. At first I was disoriented but as soon as I realized what was happening I sat up so fast that I got dizzy. I shook my head and shakily got up from where I was laying.
"Hey!" I yelled and turned around.
The man wore a white suite but it was a design I hadn't recognized. He has to be a foreigner, there's no other way to describe him. He also had rabbit ears and a tail but for all I know It could be some type of hobby. Weird but not totally unheard of.
Among other peculiar things he had bright blue eyes that looked cold against his dark chocolate skin. What also stood out was the snow white Hair and his silver adorned jewelry that I've never seen before. His pin straight white hair was typed up by ribbon and reached his low back. Only a noble could afford such luxurious items such as silver and silk but why would a noble steal my pocket watch?
"Are you *the* alice? What a peculiar name for a man." He emphasizes the word "the" like I knew who he was referring to. It wasn't me. My name was certainly not Alice but I feel bad for the real Alice having to deal with such a rude man.
He had my pocket watch in hand and I tried to grab it but when I did it was too late. He was running off with my fiancés pocket watch she gave to me. He was yelling something about being late while looking down at my watch.
"Hey! Come back here!" I almost tripped and fall trying to catch up to him.
I was quickly catching up and was about to grab his shoulder when he dropped into a hole. If I hadn't seen the hole I would have thought I was going crazy. I still think I'm going crazy. This all seems real yet also surreal. I can feel the wind and the itchiness of the grass recently on my skin but the thought made it all seem more like a dream.
'Are you dreaming?' A deep voice suddenly echoed through the hole in the ground.
"What?"
'Or are you awake?' I don't know. I think I'm awake. I can feel the wind and smell the scent of grass beneath my gripped fists. I definitely feel awake.
The voice was deep and baritone and sent a heavy shiver down my spine. Not startling but rather smooth and thick like melted chocolate.
The hole felt like it was crying out to me but it didn't seem worth the risk to look down it. I was about to walk away when something from behind me pulled me in. I didn't have time to look at who it was before I fell to my death.
The sound of clocks and chimes were going off around me, Colors of all kinds clouded my vision, and the smell of freshly baked sweets filled my nose. I passed out from the adrenaline and woke up to where I assumed was at the bottom of the hole. Emphasis on the assumption because I honestly wasn't too sure about anything right now. I had wondered how I survived the fall without even the slightest injury.
When I looked up I found I was in a room. The floor was playing tricks on my eyes and giving me a headache. Whenever I looked down, the spiral design made it look like it was about to cave under me. When I looked up I only saw the vast darkness of the hole I came out of. The void made me nervous so I decided to keep my eyes forward.
There were five doors in front of me. The first door was red and had a glass door knob. The second was black and the door knob was a skull. The third door was golden but the warning sign on top of it didn't seem so welcoming. The fourth door was purple and had a special pattern on it that made me dizzy when I looked at it for too long. The fifth was the most unsettling, despite its welcome sign and pure white door it seemed almost eartheral and spine chilling.
The only door that seemed almost remotely safe was the first one. So I walked up to it and opened it. Smoke came out so I decided to walk in to take a better look. If not now when, so why not now? I opened my eyes after a few steps to see myself back in the room I started at. I couldn't help but let out a groan and tug at my hair in frustration.
Why was I back where I started? Was it not the right room? Is this a trap? I decided to try the next best door which was door #2. I walk up to it with caution.
I grabbed the skull but before I could I heard someone yelling. I quickly turned around and shouted back,
"Hello?!"
Of course no one was there. Dang it Alex, get yourself together. You can't be hallucinating now. That was my mantra before I heard the yelling again. This time I realized where it had come from. I looked down to the doorknob and almost shrieked when I saw it move.
"Oi! isn't it rude to grab people's faces like that. Maybe you should try asking first." He had a gruff voice like a pirate with an accent, but I couldn't pinpoint where the accent was from.
I thought it best to respond politely in case it decided to help me any time soon.
"Oh, well I suppose It is, but you're a doorknob so I wasn't sure if you could speak." I spoke calmly but in this situation a talking door knob is not in my top ten of the weirdest things so far, but it's certainly top 15.
"Are you sure you're Alice? Alice would've known." He spoke as if he were sure I was Alice.
Just like the weird rabbit guy from before.
I'm not sure who Alice is but whoever it is must have been one crazy lady to know when a doorknob spoke.
"And where is this alice? I'm not Alice, I'm Alex. Also I'm not a woman so I don't know how anyone could come to that conclusion. Speaking of, where am I?" I almost sounded defensive when I spoke because honestly this has happened twice so far. You would think they would introduce themselves first before insulting me.
"Dear Alex, you are everywhere and nowhere. So I guess you could say you're up but if you wanted to be down you could. It all depends on you." That was confusing. How could I be nowhere if I'm standing right here. That doesn't seem logical.
Then again, everything about this whole place hints seems completely illogical.
"Ok, well tell me this. Should I open you or the golden door? cause you seem like the best answer." He looked like he was thinking but I wasn't sure. I learned that skulls don't have much expression.
"Well I suggest you try the other one if you don't wanna be eaten by the galagoozoo. But it's up to you Alice." Alice agin? I thought we were done with that. Also, what the heck is a galagoozoo? Well whatever it was it's not something I wanna meet according to doorknob.
Before I could ask him more questions the last door opened, sending a chill through my spine.
"I guess that's your answer. Have a nice visit in wonderland Alex." At least he got my name right but I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Lately I wasn't sure of anything.
I walked up to the door and pulled it wider so I could see inside. All I could see was a distant image. Like it was down a long hallway in the distance. I decided that if I hesitated now I would be stuck in here forever. The thought drove me crazy. So I stepped inside…
[edited 9/2/23]