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Our House (continued from Part 1)

I could tell she was serious. Her hand trembled a little with her grip. Slowly, she looked away and said, "So you don't go into black doors. That's the end. No more of it."

She turned away from the door and cleared her throat. "We can go back and find the beach. It's nice. You don't even need a swimsuit. You dry instantly anyway." She gave a little laugh and started walking away from the black door. I followed her around a corner. She stopped fast and panted in front of me. I looked ahead.

There was another black door right next to the white one we'd entered through. Only this one was open a crack. Just a crack. It shifted a little. The door undulated like how the bathroom door used to do when it was really windy and it was just barely open. It moved out and back. The latch clicked a little when it touched. The sound was like crunching something brittle under foot.

Maggie took a long breath and bent her head around to me. "Stop thinking about black doors. The house takes your thoughts. Even the bad ones. You have to think good things."

I swallowed. I wasn't trying to think about black doors but it was like trying not to think about anything. I came up with pink trees to flush the idea from my head. Maggie led me through the white door to some stairs. There were a few pink plants on the sides. She took a breath and we slowly made our way up the stairs together.

At the top of the stairs, she cried out. This time, there were two black doors before us. The doors were open about halfway, enough to see through. The interior was even blacker than the door. I couldn't even make out if there was a wall. Light didn't seem to pass through the threshold. There was a white door past the two black ones. Maggie kept her gaze on it as she told me, "Don't even look at them…"

I kept my gaze on her but I could feel like the twin doors were watching me as I passed, like a pair of empty eyes. Maggie clung to the knob and pushed it out. She screamed as the white door flung open. On the other side, every wall was covered in black doors and they were all open wide to blackness, like a gash. She quickly shut the door and whirled around, whispering, "Backtrack…"

As we made our way to the steps, they slowly evaporated, melding into the wall. The two black doors beside us banged open. As they slammed, they spread over all the walls. Four doors. Eight doors. Sixteen. Till they infected the white one with blackness and left us in the middle of a room with only open, gaping holes.

Maggie gritted her teeth and screamed out, "Leave us alone! We control this place! ONLY GOOD PLACES! Good thoughts!" She clenched her eyes shut and strained. It looked like she was trying to will good places. She panted. I shut my eyes and focused too. I didn't want her to be upset.

I took a breath. There were no other sounds but our exertions. Slowly, the ill-feeling started to wane. I was the first to open my eyes. I gave a sigh. Maggie gave a little grunt through her teeth when she opened her eyes. There was just one door left. A black one. But it was shut.

Maggie bit her nails and murmured to herself, "Not again…please not again. Just go away. Leave us alone…"

I put a hand on her shoulder and said, "We may not have any choice. It's the only exit. If you've never gone through it…how do you know it's so bad on the other side?"

She whirled around to look at me. "Every black, fearful, and hidden bit of darkness is behind that door. The worst nightmares. The feelings that hurt the most. All the suffering. It's the worst thing we can possibility imagine. That's how it is…"

I squeezed her shoulder. "You'll have me though. We'll go together."

She shook her head violently. "No! I'll break a wall. I'll make another way! Anything but that!" She immediately kicked at a nearby wall. She punched and made a quick, fist-shaped dent in it. She groaned and shook her hand.

The spot she'd made in the wall shifted back as though it had never been there. A deep, low rumble filled the room. We looked around. The walls were moving. They shifted closer on each side like a press. Maggie gasped and started hitting on them. They were as sturdy as stone.

The air felt close. Dirty and wet. The walls around us started to darken. I pushed too but soon there was only enough room to stand side by side. Just when it looked like it was about to hurt, they stopped. Then the floor began to shift towards the door. It sloped up, making it harder and harder to stand without falling. The rug receded and turned glossy, like plastic. Our shoes refused to hold. Maggie clawed at the walls but they were glossy as well and, while they were close, they were just far enough apart that we couldn't brace ourselves. We held on as long as we could before we went tumbling forward to the door.

It swung open wide and we were both swallowed by it.

We landed next to each other on a floor which felt strangely wet and slick. Maggie scrambled to her feet. I could barely see her next to me as a dim shadow in the dark. I could hear her fumbling against the floor.

She muttered, "No damn lights. Nothing here. Can you even see the walls?"

I looked around. It was so dark. My vision twisted with the leftover spots of colors and light, muddying what may have been there. I couldn't make out anything. The ground was decently solid at least, despite the weird feel. I tapped it with my shoe. It squished. I followed what I could see of Maggie's shape.

We grunted a bit, panting in the dark. I thought I lost sight of Maggie for a bit. But then I found her familiar shape standing in one spot. The shadow of her head turned towards me and stayed there. I asked her, "What is it?"

Standing next to her, her head was locked on me. There was only enough light to see her silhouette. From far away to my right, I heard Maggie saying, "I'm just looking the damn wall. How'd you get over there? Aren't you right next to me?"

I clenched my lips and answered, "Aren't you…and aren't you standing still and staring at me?"

Maggie's voice quieted. "That's you…isn't it?"

The shadow before me looked much darker than the area around it. The face. I could make out nothing of the face. But I could imagine its eyes were large, black holes of nothingness. I tried to resist that imagining and backed away from it slowly.

It advanced slowly, step for step. I held my hands up to protect myself and so did it. I wanted to yell out but I feared what might emerge from its mouth. I kept backing away until I hit something. I gasped and whirled around. Maggie stood before me with her mouth open and what looked like a gloss of sweat on her cheek.

I turned around to look and the black form was gone. Maggie panted and relayed a similar story with a shadow that looked like girl me miming her. Somehow, it seemed a little lighter by Maggie. I could barely see her features but well enough to know she wasn't a black mass. Her voice was reassuring. It wasn't the only sound I heard though.

It started slowly, at first barely more than a rustle. Before long, I couldn't ignore it. It was impossible to make sense of it. The noise was like something ever so gently grilling on a stove. Like when mom used to cook when she was well. But it wasn't just that. It also sounded wet, like something slick slipping around.

Maggie noticed it soon after me and hushly asked, "What on earth is that?"

I shook my head and grabbed her hand. She tensed a little but realized it was me and clung more tightly to my grip. We moved together in the darkness but the sound followed us, like it was everywhere. The floor still felt a little wet and slick, like someone had just taken a mop to it. But it was still fine to walk on. We had no idea where we were going. Maggie gave a little growl through her teeth at the strange sound.

At least it wasn't as bad as what came next. The sensation I felt was like putting your arm under the faucet when it was slowly dripping. One little something caught me and then it was gone. I pulled my hand from Maggie's and brushed at my arm. I didn't feel anything in the place where I was touched. Maggie asked what happened.

I explained it as best I could. Then she gave a little screech and batted at herself, saying, "Something hit me too!" She flailed a bit and murmured, "I wish I could see…anything."

Her wish was unfortunately soon answered as the room became brighter. We were able to see each other. Quickly, we looked up. We immediately wished we hadn't.

The ceiling rippled and moved. It looked bloody, pus-like, and black at the same time. Little insects flew in waves and scurried with endless legs. Wet worms dripped from above like a slimy rain. And the rotting was spreading to the walls on all sides. Roaches held in place long enough for us to see them before they seemed to vanish.

We crouched and Maggie clung tightly to my hand. She yelled at the mass on the ceiling, "Stop this! We do not want this! Stop it right now!"

I swallowed and looked up with a hand over my eyes to shield them.

The advance of the rot stopped. But new crackling sound began. It sounded like my parent's old LP player when it started up. We paused to listen. The ceiling slowly swayed and hard bits started to congeal from the gore and ooze. It was more of a whisper but cranked down, like a machine running out of batteries.

The first part I could make out was Kids are playing up downstairs.

There was the sound of footsteps about us and the masses began to project further downwards.

He can't hang around.

It looked like a massive growth holding all the horrible things from the ceiling. Like a droplet ready to fall.

Our house…in the middle of our street.

The words were clear. I remembered it. Something from dad's old collection he would play from time to time. It sounded so unsettling. The words repeated a few times, louder and deeper.

We backed away as far as we could go. Bugs hurried by out of the corner of my eye.

Something tells you that you've got to get away…from it.

The mass split open like a hungry maw with hard parts like irregular teeth. The sound was muddled as it started to roar. We ran around the room, trying to dodge whatever we could. Wet dribbles of disgusting things continued. Maggie groaned and staggered.

I turned back to look at her, the mass projected out at her like a horrible, rotten meatball. I tried to grab her to turn her away but it crashed against her. We both screamed but I took a breath when it puffed around her like a cloud of dust. The dust was foul, full of all the worst scents from trash that someone had long forgotten to taken out to things turning colors in the fridge. The worst of all was the crash of dust, like putrid spice against the sinuses.

Maggie bowed and trembled until the wave passed. She stood up but taller than she had before. I marveled. Her body was different. Her long hair was gone. It was still shaggy but not nearly so long. Her chest was flat and her figure had dwindled. Across her face, I saw the faintest peppering of facial hair.

She noticed her hands first and gasped before couching. The sounds from her throat were different, deeper. I reached a hand out to touch her. She turned away and whimpered.

"No. Not this. Please…"

I crouched beside her, trying my best to ignore the lingering odors and pulsing masses still present in the room. I put my arm around her and asked, "Are you okay, Maggie?"

She bent her head towards me and sniffled. "Why didn't it hit you…you don't even want that form…"

I took a breath and pressed my lips together. "I wish it had. I'm so sorry."

She brushed at her eyes and glared up at the ceiling, yelling, "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE FOR A MINUTE!" She still managed to get her growl to sound high and angry. Amazingly, the mass listened to her and pulsated by itself.

Taking a breath, Maggie told me, her face turned away, "My name is…Andrew. Like you. My birth name. And I wince every time I hear it." She winced a little saying it too.

I kept my hand on her shoulder. "So…you're another me?"

"A different you…I guess. A you who'd give anything to be a girl."

The mass receded a little into the wall. I could faintly hear the music again but I focused on Maggie.

I sighed to myself. "Well…uh…you make a really cute girl…and a really cute boy too. But I see you as Maggie. If that's alright."

She turned to look at me. "Yes. Thank you so much."

I gave a smirk. "You're my sister. No biggie."

The mass had dwindled so much that it looked more like a stain on the walls with the occasional insect fluttering around. I had no idea what I was doing but it seemed like the right thing.

Maggie cupped her face. "This is what I look like on the outside. I can't…keep it outside. I keep reverting. I found the switchboard…after mom died. She…always emphasized how much of a boy I was. Over and over…like water torture."

I looked beyond Maggie. The wall had begun to fester and swell. It dripped a bit too.

Clenching my teeth, I urged her, "But on the inside of the house…It's happier because you can change your form. Like you did for me."

Maggie kept staring at a place in the floor with her eyes still. "Mom never knew…any of it about me. I was…too gutless. I could never tell her. Or dad. They would always yell at me…think I was gay. I would yell back. Even in the darkest moments, we would fight…over and over." I clenched Maggie's shoulder. The mass had swelled just as large but it was turning black, like something necrotic.

I said, anxiously, "I had a lot of good moments. With both of them. More than bad. Really. There was yelling. A lot of yelling too. But uh…good too. I'm sure, they accept you. They…loved us."

A faint bit of music emerged, like from far off.

She's the one they're going to miss in lots of ways.

Maggie covered her eyes. "They didn't love me. They loved what they wanted of me. Mom especially… They loved what they said I would and could be. But they never fucking cared what I was. And I knew…if I breathed a word of myself to them…unthinkable things would happen."

The blackness ate further, churning with all the terrible things that slipped in and out of it.

I held tightly to Maggie's hand. "There were bad things. I took care of everything towards the end. For many years. And they didn't care how much I gave. It's like they were just eating it all up and there was more and more…a dark, consuming pit. More and more. I cared for them but it just…took so much. I felt like I was trapped but I could never complain…"

The refrain from that song returned.

Our house…in the middle of our street.

Maggie yelled at the music, "SHUT UP!"

But this time it didn't listen. In fact, as she spoke, the blackness seemed to crystallize. It became like glass. Cracks formed along the top of the room and radiated downward.

The music continued.

I remember way back when everything was true
And when we would have such a happy time.

Pieces of the room fell away from us, the blackness too. It tumbled into a new abyss. The walls dropped, leaving us with a fracturing floor like melting ice on a river. I held onto Maggie as tears flowed around her eyes. I held her and said, "I'll hold onto you. It'll be okay. No matter what happens."

We moved to try to cling to the few islands of dirty floor that hadn't dropped away. The areas beneath our feet quivered. We stepped around but were eventually left with just two pieces suspended in space.

And I remember how we'd play…simply waste the day away
Then we'd say nothing would come between us…two dreamers

I clung to Maggie and she clung to me as the last pieces finally dropped and us with it. The abyss was endless but we could still hear the words echoing in the dark.

Our house…our house

We fell for a long time, the wind whipping past us. Then, we were on the ground with no more of a fall than jumping off a curb. I looked down at myself. I had my normal body and clothes again.

The room twisted and revealed itself. I knew it immediately. It was the living room as it had been towards the end for mom. Her hospital bed was set up where the couch used to be. An old painting had cobwebs at the corners. The pump for her oxygen sat to one side. There was that pile of assorted things she needed off to the side, with the extra blankets at the very top.

There were masses in place of where mom and dad should've been. In dad's couch was a mottled mess with Swiss cheese holes through the head. Still, I could recognize his face, dipped and snoring. Mom was splayed across the bed. Her mass had brown spots like dried areas when I needed to change her sheets. Otherwise her flesh was a mix of red, pale skin, and oozing blackness.

Maggie stood and looked around with me. She softly said, "It's…just like it was…"

We crept along and watched until mom burst out yelling at the top of her lungs with a gurgle and bellow at the same time.

"ANDY! I NEED YOU! I NEED YOU! ANDY! I NEED YOU, ANDY! I NEED YOU! I NEED YOU…" Her words kept repeating in the same cycle.

Dad, bulbous eyes still closed, roared, "GET OVER HERE NOW! RIGHT NOW!"

Maggie winced and staggered back, as though the words had struck her. I took a breath and approached. I said, "I'm here, mom."

But her yells continued. She added the words, "I HURT! IT HURTS SO MUCH! I HURT! IT HURTS SO MUCH! I HURT!"

"What do you want me to do, mom? What can I do?" My answer felt automatic. Maggie mouthed some words to herself as well but let me speak alone.

Mom continued with her same cycle, the same words. She screamed over and over and then started moaning. Then, she said, her voice lower, "I want to die…let me die! I don't want to live! I want to die! God, let me die! I want to die right now! I need to die! Kill me! I need to die! I want to die! Let me die!"

I tightened my mouth. Words left me for a moment. What could I possibly say…I never knew in these moments. I could only come up with calm reassurances that she was fine. That she would be okay. That she didn't need to die. That we needed her. And things were going to be better. I said it the same way every time.

I started to say it again but I stopped myself.

Instead, I took a breath and told her, "Mom…it's okay. The pain is past. You're not suffering anymore."

Dad belched words. "What the hell are you saying? You want her to die!? You don't want to be responsible for ANYTHING!"

I turned and looked at my dad. I hated when he was angry most of all. I took a breath and told him, "No, dad. But she's gone. I took care of her for a long time. I did my best but people die."

Maggie looked on me with wide eyes. Dad's mouth bulged and pus erupted from it. "You're selfish! All the time! All you want is for yourself! You don't want to do anything for us!"

I stared dad down. "Sometimes I need to be selfish. Sometimes what I want is important. I shared a lot of my time with both of you. And I'm glad I did when I had the chance." I didn't dwell on the fact I contributed so much of my paycheck to help with the household and that every time I got paid, my parents would salivate at what money I had. Those were arguments I'd run through so many times to no effect.

Mom moaned. "You don't love us. Why don't you just leave! And let me die."

I took a breath. There was plenty about my parents I didn't love. But there were the memories of when I was young.

"I love you both. I just hate how you can be sometimes."

A gnarled mass of hand reached up from mom's bed. I looked down on her with a calm face. She could rage and slash and attack but I'd learned quiet ways of responding to her. She flailed against my quiet but soon receded. Her eyes darted away from me, to where Maggie was standing.

She took a breath. "My beautiful boy. There you are. You need to cut your hair. It's too long."

Maggie grimaced through her teeth. She clenched her hands into fists. "I like my hair the way it is. In fact, I want it longer. And…don't say…that!"

Gurgling came from mom and dad seemed to add a whisper to her words. "But it's too long. And you never take care of it right. You don't know anything about hair. No fashion sense either. You're such a boy."

With a lowered head, Maggie panted. I wanted to say something but I knew she had to do it for herself.

The words caught in her throat. I moved so she could see me. Her eyes flicked over. She panted again and then blurted out, "I AM NOT A BOY! I AM A GIRL!"

There were sounds like a deep, flowing gasp though I didn't know if mom or dad said it.

"So you're choosing to be gay? Why would you do that? You'll just make it all so much harder on yourself and us. Just choose to be a nice boy."

Her eyes flashed. "Gay has nothing to do with it. I like boys and girls equally anyways. AND I AM A GIRL!"

Mom's head dipped up with bloated eyes staring unblinkingly at Maggie, who didn't step back.

"A girl? Do you even understand what that means? Girls go through so much more than guys. You don't understand the pain. You don't understand the ordeal or the sacrifice. You think you can just claim that on a whim? Boys have it easy. You have no idea…"

Maggie shook her head and whispered, "Easy?…you just said I'm making it harder. And it is harder. Trying hard when I have no one around to help me learn and only parents to terrify me if I don't keep to their fucking ancient gender clichés. Wondering how much it all might cost…and what all I need to do…and knowing my best would still be miles behind passing for any average girl. Yeah, fucking easy…"

She trembled, like the words she was speaking were just what she could control of an upwelling fountain capped under pressure for so long.

Silence followed her bitter words. The response was, "You're such a disappointment. Maybe if you worried more about making money rather than your crazy ideas of gender then you'd actually amount to something. But all you can do is whine and make problems for yourself. Now wash me…"

Goo, pus, and other foul materials welled up all around mom. She bloated like a bubble preparing to burst. I braced myself but she just undulated. Maggie took a step forward and said, "If I'm such a disappointment when why I am I so necessary? Needed all the time to do this and do that. I take care of you. I'm your nurse. I'm you're comforter. I'm the mother…and more one than you were to me!"

The mass rippled and swelled. Maggie approached it and looked it down. She continued, "You are right though. I'll never know what it's like to grow up female with all that goes with it. And that family life, of my quiet dreams, is impossible. I'll never be the little sister who can tease her older brother. But…whatever pieces of me which I can express…I will fight for…with everything I have."

The rumble continued. I was sure that it would erupt all over her, covering her in all those nasty things. My throat quivered a bit at the lingering, terrible smells. I sent along whatever strength I could for my sister.

To my surprise, Maggie reached down to touch mom. Where her skin made contact, the masses edged away, just out of reach.

Maggie continued, "Just like you had to fight for everything growing up. I know it was hard. But…you said once in teaching me how to treat others…Why make things harder on others? Care for them. And I cared for you and dad. I love you both. I always will. I just have so many hard days around the both of you because you can't let me say who I am."

The violence of a moment before turned to a slow bubbling as the mass asked, "Then tell me…who are you?"

Maggie's eyes widened. The buried eyes on mom were focused right on her. She turned and saw dad's as well. Her lips curled a bit. I wished I could help her with the words but they came to her eventually.

"As I said, I am a girl. Even though I haven't gone through everything as a girl. I know what I am. I know my heart. It's like…you can take away all the flesh on a body…you can take away every distinguishing feature. And a body still knows what it is. It's in there. In my brain…my heart…whatever. Everything can be taken away from me. I can be a blob of flesh and I'd know with every beat of my heart that I am a girl. Facing that that battle for me is a wall of sadness and not knowing what I can do about it. And it's so very hard without my family to help. But, I know that I never told you this. I was too scared to show it. Too vulnerable. But here it is. This is me. I'm Maggie."

As she gestured to herself, the female form she had from the switchboard slowly returned to her.

Gently, the masses around our parents receded. The gore and horrors ebbed away to reveal their normal bodies. Mom looked at Maggie and said, "Hello, Maggie. My little girl."

Maggie trembled as tears streamed down her face. She embraced mom and so did I. Dad joined us with a smile after slowly getting up from his chair.

After the hugs, we all talked for a long time. Some of the talk regressed. Dad would dip into ambling talk about old computers and then snap out with a comment about taking out the trash. We imagined a trash to take out to placate him. We talked. We argued a little. We even randomly screamed. But, by the end of it, Maggie and I still felt calm.

It was like a therapy none of us had gone to as a family. When tiredness passed over Maggie and me, the door appeared. It was a dim but clear color of white, as though a cruddy black door had been washed clean.

Stepping through, we somehow found ourselves back at the train station. Or at least one of them. Maggie sat on the bench and cradled her head.

I sat next to her and asked, "Do you think the house did all that?"

She frowned and noted, "Could've done it better than scaring us to heck."

I leaned against her. "You said the house reflects our minds. So maybe we did it."

Maggie just raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

I smirked a little and noted. "So I guess it could be said we cleaned out the house of our minds…"

Looking over at me, Maggie said, with narrowed eyes, "You definitely deserve some sibling punishment for that…" She leapt on me and tickled mercilessly. I tried to counterattack but she was just too strong, despite being smaller than me again. When all the squirms and laughs were done, we sat there.

Maggie tapped her foot slowly. "That…all that with mom and dad. It helped. I dunno about cleaning. And I don't know if it makes it all right now. But…it helped." I put my hand on her shoulder and she smiled gently. I told her, "For me too. I wish it was really them. But, yeah, it helped."

Before long, a train puffed its way from the corner and pulled to a stop at the station. There was no driver. We made our way to one of the passenger cars and leaned out the windows.

Automatically, the horn sounded and the train pulled away. We rode off as the air washed over us and a new dawn rose over the distant wall. Maggie leaned her head on the edge of the window and let the air play with her hair. I leaned my hand out and felt the air cascade over it. I tried to see if my fingers could brush against anything as we rode past.

The room had a little of the scale model village of before but the setting was more a pristine wilderness. The grass felt real. The rocks didn't seem like imitations. The walls were harder to make out. And the sun which rose felt as brilliant as the real one in the sky.

We pulled into a familiar station. I could see a glimpse of the bar area near where I had entered. When we got out, I held Maggie's hand and told her, "You can stay with me."

Her eyes widened. "With you?"

I told her I had a decent apartment. There was a spare bedroom. She could do all sorts of crazy stuff so long as it wasn't at three in the morning. She smirked and noted, "There's an endless house before us and you're willing to go back to a small apartment?"

I razzed her a little and noted it wasn't that small, adding, "And it would be ours."

She hugged her arms and sighed to herself. "Alright."

I led her out of the house, taking the route I remembered. Back through the long hallway. Across the loft and out the garage guest house. I had to drag her from the video games in the enclosed porch. Then to the spare room's closet.

It took a moment to push the latch open and step around the junk. We emerged to a house which felt familiar and seasoned with age. All the regular rooms were there. All the cobwebs too. Maggie sighed and looked at the extra door behind the closet for a long time, as though she expected it to vanish away.

Putting my hand on Maggie's shoulder, I reassured her, "I'm sure the rest of the house will be there…if ever we need it again."

She nodded and then looked down. She gasped a little. "I'm still a girl. Each time I left before…I reverted!" She hugged herself and twirled a little.

Looking at me in relief, she sighed. "I was really worried about that. I guess I can live with not being able to have any meal for a few buttons."

As she went to go check herself out in the bathroom mirror a bit, I checked the clock by the kitchen. According to it, I had only been away for about an hour. It definitely felt longer.

I went to the front door to check and see if my car was still in the same place. Upon opening the door, I froze and peered out. Frowning, I turned and called to Maggie. She came quickly and stared at what I saw.

The house's extended front porch had the same dusty bench and worn chairs as always. But, to the left side of the brick column, at the top of the cement steps, was a single, white door standing freely.

The door was brilliant white. And it was more than the fact it was outside in the sunlight. The door brighter than any door inside the house and any door I'd seen anywhere. The knob was polished to the point it reflected a vision of the whole porch in its surface. Maggie staggered back on her heels and said to herself, "We're still inside the house. That's got to be it. Makes sense…I'm still a girl. I guess we have to camp out on the lawn."

The way was open to the right leading to the lawn. We grabbed a couple of sleeping bags, pitched a small tent, and told the confused neighbors we were camping out.

At first, it was hard to sleep. We spent more time trying to get one another to laugh with ridiculous stories. Eventually, we nodded off together.

When we woke, we unzipped the tent and peered out at the porch. The door was still there, same as before, even with dusk falling. Maggie paced and shook her head.

"This isn't right. We should be outside the house. What's going on?!" She made a motion like she was about to kick the door but she restrained herself.

We ventured back through the hidden doorway and to Maggie's world through the route she remembered. Her house, just as dusty but with some of her own choices of décor, had a door standing on the front porch as well.

Back on my porch, Maggie cradled her head in her hands and mumbled, "This doesn't make sense….we should be outside."

We thought it over. We went for a drive. The town was just as I remembered it, though Maggie got annoyed that certain businesses she liked on her side were closed up over here. We stayed a night at my apartment. The door was still there the next day.

We took some trips. We ventured around to familiar and fun areas. Each time, the door was still there.

One day, I brushed my cheek and told Maggie, "I think we should go through…"

Maggie shook her head and waved her arms. "No way! We don't know what's through there. It could be anything. It could be nothing. Who knows?!"

I smiled a bit and told her, "Exactly. Let's find out."

She glared at me and gave a slap of her feet. I tried to urge her with smiles but she was resolute.

I tried, "Alright. Let's just open it. If we don't like it, we can close it and…I dunno, say it's a bit of post-modern art or try lighting it on fire or something."

She protested but I could tell she was just as curious as me about what was on the other side of the doorway, if anything.

We stood before it and I put my hand on the knob. I thought maybe I would open it and simply see the other side of the street. I turned the knob. It moved smoothly in my grip.

I shut my eyes slightly. There was no flash of brilliant light or block of darkness as the door opened. Pulling it open further, I carefully looked through.

I smiled. Beside me, Maggie smiled as well and softly said, "I think I'm ready to go through."

Looking at her, I took her hand in mine and said, "Me too."

Together, we stepped through the threshold.

Description
Our House (continued from Part 1)

I could tell she was serious. Her hand trembled a little with her grip. Slowly, she looked away and said, "So you don't go into black doors. That's the end. No more of it."

She turned away from the door and cleared her throat. "We can go back and find the beach. It's nice. You don't even need a swimsuit. You dry instantly anyway." She gave a little laugh and started walking away from the black door. I followed her around a corner. She stopped fast and panted in front of me. I looked ahead.

There was another black door right next to the white one we'd entered through. Only this one was open a crack. Just a crack. It shifted a little. The door undulated like how the bathroom door used to do when it was really windy and it was just barely open. It moved out and back. The latch clicked a little when it touched. The sound was like crunching something brittle under foot.

Maggie took a long breath and bent her head around to me. "Stop thinking about black doors. The house takes your thoughts. Even the bad ones. You have to think good things."

I swallowed. I wasn't trying to think about black doors but it was like trying not to think about anything. I came up with pink trees to flush the idea from my head. Maggie led me through the white door to some stairs. There were a few pink plants on the sides. She took a breath and we slowly made our way up the stairs together.

At the top of the stairs, she cried out. This time, there were two black doors before us. The doors were open about halfway, enough to see through. The interior was even blacker than the door. I couldn't even make out if there was a wall. Light didn't seem to pass through the threshold. There was a white door past the two black ones. Maggie kept her gaze on it as she told me, "Don't even look at them…"

I kept my gaze on her but I could feel like the twin doors were watching me as I passed, like a pair of empty eyes. Maggie clung to the knob and pushed it out. She screamed as the white door flung open. On the other side, every wall was covered in black doors and they were all open wide to blackness, like a gash. She quickly shut the door and whirled around, whispering, "Backtrack…"

As we made our way to the steps, they slowly evaporated, melding into the wall. The two black doors beside us banged open. As they slammed, they spread over all the walls. Four doors. Eight doors. Sixteen. Till they infected the white one with blackness and left us in the middle of a room with only open, gaping holes.

Maggie gritted her teeth and screamed out, "Leave us alone! We control this place! ONLY GOOD PLACES! Good thoughts!" She clenched her eyes shut and strained. It looked like she was trying to will good places. She panted. I shut my eyes and focused too. I didn't want her to be upset.

I took a breath. There were no other sounds but our exertions. Slowly, the ill-feeling started to wane. I was the first to open my eyes. I gave a sigh. Maggie gave a little grunt through her teeth when she opened her eyes. There was just one door left. A black one. But it was shut.

Maggie bit her nails and murmured to herself, "Not again…please not again. Just go away. Leave us alone…"

I put a hand on her shoulder and said, "We may not have any choice. It's the only exit. If you've never gone through it…how do you know it's so bad on the other side?"

She whirled around to look at me. "Every black, fearful, and hidden bit of darkness is behind that door. The worst nightmares. The feelings that hurt the most. All the suffering. It's the worst thing we can possibility imagine. That's how it is…"

I squeezed her shoulder. "You'll have me though. We'll go together."

She shook her head violently. "No! I'll break a wall. I'll make another way! Anything but that!" She immediately kicked at a nearby wall. She punched and made a quick, fist-shaped dent in it. She groaned and shook her hand.

The spot she'd made in the wall shifted back as though it had never been there. A deep, low rumble filled the room. We looked around. The walls were moving. They shifted closer on each side like a press. Maggie gasped and started hitting on them. They were as sturdy as stone.

The air felt close. Dirty and wet. The walls around us started to darken. I pushed too but soon there was only enough room to stand side by side. Just when it looked like it was about to hurt, they stopped. Then the floor began to shift towards the door. It sloped up, making it harder and harder to stand without falling. The rug receded and turned glossy, like plastic. Our shoes refused to hold. Maggie clawed at the walls but they were glossy as well and, while they were close, they were just far enough apart that we couldn't brace ourselves. We held on as long as we could before we went tumbling forward to the door.

It swung open wide and we were both swallowed by it.

We landed next to each other on a floor which felt strangely wet and slick. Maggie scrambled to her feet. I could barely see her next to me as a dim shadow in the dark. I could hear her fumbling against the floor.

She muttered, "No damn lights. Nothing here. Can you even see the walls?"

I looked around. It was so dark. My vision twisted with the leftover spots of colors and light, muddying what may have been there. I couldn't make out anything. The ground was decently solid at least, despite the weird feel. I tapped it with my shoe. It squished. I followed what I could see of Maggie's shape.

We grunted a bit, panting in the dark. I thought I lost sight of Maggie for a bit. But then I found her familiar shape standing in one spot. The shadow of her head turned towards me and stayed there. I asked her, "What is it?"

Standing next to her, her head was locked on me. There was only enough light to see her silhouette. From far away to my right, I heard Maggie saying, "I'm just looking the damn wall. How'd you get over there? Aren't you right next to me?"

I clenched my lips and answered, "Aren't you…and aren't you standing still and staring at me?"

Maggie's voice quieted. "That's you…isn't it?"

The shadow before me looked much darker than the area around it. The face. I could make out nothing of the face. But I could imagine its eyes were large, black holes of nothingness. I tried to resist that imagining and backed away from it slowly.

It advanced slowly, step for step. I held my hands up to protect myself and so did it. I wanted to yell out but I feared what might emerge from its mouth. I kept backing away until I hit something. I gasped and whirled around. Maggie stood before me with her mouth open and what looked like a gloss of sweat on her cheek.

I turned around to look and the black form was gone. Maggie panted and relayed a similar story with a shadow that looked like girl me miming her. Somehow, it seemed a little lighter by Maggie. I could barely see her features but well enough to know she wasn't a black mass. Her voice was reassuring. It wasn't the only sound I heard though.

It started slowly, at first barely more than a rustle. Before long, I couldn't ignore it. It was impossible to make sense of it. The noise was like something ever so gently grilling on a stove. Like when mom used to cook when she was well. But it wasn't just that. It also sounded wet, like something slick slipping around.

Maggie noticed it soon after me and hushly asked, "What on earth is that?"

I shook my head and grabbed her hand. She tensed a little but realized it was me and clung more tightly to my grip. We moved together in the darkness but the sound followed us, like it was everywhere. The floor still felt a little wet and slick, like someone had just taken a mop to it. But it was still fine to walk on. We had no idea where we were going. Maggie gave a little growl through her teeth at the strange sound.

At least it wasn't as bad as what came next. The sensation I felt was like putting your arm under the faucet when it was slowly dripping. One little something caught me and then it was gone. I pulled my hand from Maggie's and brushed at my arm. I didn't feel anything in the place where I was touched. Maggie asked what happened.

I explained it as best I could. Then she gave a little screech and batted at herself, saying, "Something hit me too!" She flailed a bit and murmured, "I wish I could see…anything."

Her wish was unfortunately soon answered as the room became brighter. We were able to see each other. Quickly, we looked up. We immediately wished we hadn't.

The ceiling rippled and moved. It looked bloody, pus-like, and black at the same time. Little insects flew in waves and scurried with endless legs. Wet worms dripped from above like a slimy rain. And the rotting was spreading to the walls on all sides. Roaches held in place long enough for us to see them before they seemed to vanish.

We crouched and Maggie clung tightly to my hand. She yelled at the mass on the ceiling, "Stop this! We do not want this! Stop it right now!"

I swallowed and looked up with a hand over my eyes to shield them.

The advance of the rot stopped. But new crackling sound began. It sounded like my parent's old LP player when it started up. We paused to listen. The ceiling slowly swayed and hard bits started to congeal from the gore and ooze. It was more of a whisper but cranked down, like a machine running out of batteries.

The first part I could make out was Kids are playing up downstairs.

There was the sound of footsteps about us and the masses began to project further downwards.

He can't hang around.

It looked like a massive growth holding all the horrible things from the ceiling. Like a droplet ready to fall.

Our house…in the middle of our street.

The words were clear. I remembered it. Something from dad's old collection he would play from time to time. It sounded so unsettling. The words repeated a few times, louder and deeper.

We backed away as far as we could go. Bugs hurried by out of the corner of my eye.

Something tells you that you've got to get away…from it.

The mass split open like a hungry maw with hard parts like irregular teeth. The sound was muddled as it started to roar. We ran around the room, trying to dodge whatever we could. Wet dribbles of disgusting things continued. Maggie groaned and staggered.

I turned back to look at her, the mass projected out at her like a horrible, rotten meatball. I tried to grab her to turn her away but it crashed against her. We both screamed but I took a breath when it puffed around her like a cloud of dust. The dust was foul, full of all the worst scents from trash that someone had long forgotten to taken out to things turning colors in the fridge. The worst of all was the crash of dust, like putrid spice against the sinuses.

Maggie bowed and trembled until the wave passed. She stood up but taller than she had before. I marveled. Her body was different. Her long hair was gone. It was still shaggy but not nearly so long. Her chest was flat and her figure had dwindled. Across her face, I saw the faintest peppering of facial hair.

She noticed her hands first and gasped before couching. The sounds from her throat were different, deeper. I reached a hand out to touch her. She turned away and whimpered.

"No. Not this. Please…"

I crouched beside her, trying my best to ignore the lingering odors and pulsing masses still present in the room. I put my arm around her and asked, "Are you okay, Maggie?"

She bent her head towards me and sniffled. "Why didn't it hit you…you don't even want that form…"

I took a breath and pressed my lips together. "I wish it had. I'm so sorry."

She brushed at her eyes and glared up at the ceiling, yelling, "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE FOR A MINUTE!" She still managed to get her growl to sound high and angry. Amazingly, the mass listened to her and pulsated by itself.

Taking a breath, Maggie told me, her face turned away, "My name is…Andrew. Like you. My birth name. And I wince every time I hear it." She winced a little saying it too.

I kept my hand on her shoulder. "So…you're another me?"

"A different you…I guess. A you who'd give anything to be a girl."

The mass receded a little into the wall. I could faintly hear the music again but I focused on Maggie.

I sighed to myself. "Well…uh…you make a really cute girl…and a really cute boy too. But I see you as Maggie. If that's alright."

She turned to look at me. "Yes. Thank you so much."

I gave a smirk. "You're my sister. No biggie."

The mass had dwindled so much that it looked more like a stain on the walls with the occasional insect fluttering around. I had no idea what I was doing but it seemed like the right thing.

Maggie cupped her face. "This is what I look like on the outside. I can't…keep it outside. I keep reverting. I found the switchboard…after mom died. She…always emphasized how much of a boy I was. Over and over…like water torture."

I looked beyond Maggie. The wall had begun to fester and swell. It dripped a bit too.

Clenching my teeth, I urged her, "But on the inside of the house…It's happier because you can change your form. Like you did for me."

Maggie kept staring at a place in the floor with her eyes still. "Mom never knew…any of it about me. I was…too gutless. I could never tell her. Or dad. They would always yell at me…think I was gay. I would yell back. Even in the darkest moments, we would fight…over and over." I clenched Maggie's shoulder. The mass had swelled just as large but it was turning black, like something necrotic.

I said, anxiously, "I had a lot of good moments. With both of them. More than bad. Really. There was yelling. A lot of yelling too. But uh…good too. I'm sure, they accept you. They…loved us."

A faint bit of music emerged, like from far off.

She's the one they're going to miss in lots of ways.

Maggie covered her eyes. "They didn't love me. They loved what they wanted of me. Mom especially… They loved what they said I would and could be. But they never fucking cared what I was. And I knew…if I breathed a word of myself to them…unthinkable things would happen."

The blackness ate further, churning with all the terrible things that slipped in and out of it.

I held tightly to Maggie's hand. "There were bad things. I took care of everything towards the end. For many years. And they didn't care how much I gave. It's like they were just eating it all up and there was more and more…a dark, consuming pit. More and more. I cared for them but it just…took so much. I felt like I was trapped but I could never complain…"

The refrain from that song returned.

Our house…in the middle of our street.

Maggie yelled at the music, "SHUT UP!"

But this time it didn't listen. In fact, as she spoke, the blackness seemed to crystallize. It became like glass. Cracks formed along the top of the room and radiated downward.

The music continued.

I remember way back when everything was true
And when we would have such a happy time.

Pieces of the room fell away from us, the blackness too. It tumbled into a new abyss. The walls dropped, leaving us with a fracturing floor like melting ice on a river. I held onto Maggie as tears flowed around her eyes. I held her and said, "I'll hold onto you. It'll be okay. No matter what happens."

We moved to try to cling to the few islands of dirty floor that hadn't dropped away. The areas beneath our feet quivered. We stepped around but were eventually left with just two pieces suspended in space.

And I remember how we'd play…simply waste the day away
Then we'd say nothing would come between us…two dreamers

I clung to Maggie and she clung to me as the last pieces finally dropped and us with it. The abyss was endless but we could still hear the words echoing in the dark.

Our house…our house

We fell for a long time, the wind whipping past us. Then, we were on the ground with no more of a fall than jumping off a curb. I looked down at myself. I had my normal body and clothes again.

The room twisted and revealed itself. I knew it immediately. It was the living room as it had been towards the end for mom. Her hospital bed was set up where the couch used to be. An old painting had cobwebs at the corners. The pump for her oxygen sat to one side. There was that pile of assorted things she needed off to the side, with the extra blankets at the very top.

There were masses in place of where mom and dad should've been. In dad's couch was a mottled mess with Swiss cheese holes through the head. Still, I could recognize his face, dipped and snoring. Mom was splayed across the bed. Her mass had brown spots like dried areas when I needed to change her sheets. Otherwise her flesh was a mix of red, pale skin, and oozing blackness.

Maggie stood and looked around with me. She softly said, "It's…just like it was…"

We crept along and watched until mom burst out yelling at the top of her lungs with a gurgle and bellow at the same time.

"ANDY! I NEED YOU! I NEED YOU! ANDY! I NEED YOU, ANDY! I NEED YOU! I NEED YOU…" Her words kept repeating in the same cycle.

Dad, bulbous eyes still closed, roared, "GET OVER HERE NOW! RIGHT NOW!"

Maggie winced and staggered back, as though the words had struck her. I took a breath and approached. I said, "I'm here, mom."

But her yells continued. She added the words, "I HURT! IT HURTS SO MUCH! I HURT! IT HURTS SO MUCH! I HURT!"

"What do you want me to do, mom? What can I do?" My answer felt automatic. Maggie mouthed some words to herself as well but let me speak alone.

Mom continued with her same cycle, the same words. She screamed over and over and then started moaning. Then, she said, her voice lower, "I want to die…let me die! I don't want to live! I want to die! God, let me die! I want to die right now! I need to die! Kill me! I need to die! I want to die! Let me die!"

I tightened my mouth. Words left me for a moment. What could I possibly say…I never knew in these moments. I could only come up with calm reassurances that she was fine. That she would be okay. That she didn't need to die. That we needed her. And things were going to be better. I said it the same way every time.

I started to say it again but I stopped myself.

Instead, I took a breath and told her, "Mom…it's okay. The pain is past. You're not suffering anymore."

Dad belched words. "What the hell are you saying? You want her to die!? You don't want to be responsible for ANYTHING!"

I turned and looked at my dad. I hated when he was angry most of all. I took a breath and told him, "No, dad. But she's gone. I took care of her for a long time. I did my best but people die."

Maggie looked on me with wide eyes. Dad's mouth bulged and pus erupted from it. "You're selfish! All the time! All you want is for yourself! You don't want to do anything for us!"

I stared dad down. "Sometimes I need to be selfish. Sometimes what I want is important. I shared a lot of my time with both of you. And I'm glad I did when I had the chance." I didn't dwell on the fact I contributed so much of my paycheck to help with the household and that every time I got paid, my parents would salivate at what money I had. Those were arguments I'd run through so many times to no effect.

Mom moaned. "You don't love us. Why don't you just leave! And let me die."

I took a breath. There was plenty about my parents I didn't love. But there were the memories of when I was young.

"I love you both. I just hate how you can be sometimes."

A gnarled mass of hand reached up from mom's bed. I looked down on her with a calm face. She could rage and slash and attack but I'd learned quiet ways of responding to her. She flailed against my quiet but soon receded. Her eyes darted away from me, to where Maggie was standing.

She took a breath. "My beautiful boy. There you are. You need to cut your hair. It's too long."

Maggie grimaced through her teeth. She clenched her hands into fists. "I like my hair the way it is. In fact, I want it longer. And…don't say…that!"

Gurgling came from mom and dad seemed to add a whisper to her words. "But it's too long. And you never take care of it right. You don't know anything about hair. No fashion sense either. You're such a boy."

With a lowered head, Maggie panted. I wanted to say something but I knew she had to do it for herself.

The words caught in her throat. I moved so she could see me. Her eyes flicked over. She panted again and then blurted out, "I AM NOT A BOY! I AM A GIRL!"

There were sounds like a deep, flowing gasp though I didn't know if mom or dad said it.

"So you're choosing to be gay? Why would you do that? You'll just make it all so much harder on yourself and us. Just choose to be a nice boy."

Her eyes flashed. "Gay has nothing to do with it. I like boys and girls equally anyways. AND I AM A GIRL!"

Mom's head dipped up with bloated eyes staring unblinkingly at Maggie, who didn't step back.

"A girl? Do you even understand what that means? Girls go through so much more than guys. You don't understand the pain. You don't understand the ordeal or the sacrifice. You think you can just claim that on a whim? Boys have it easy. You have no idea…"

Maggie shook her head and whispered, "Easy?…you just said I'm making it harder. And it is harder. Trying hard when I have no one around to help me learn and only parents to terrify me if I don't keep to their fucking ancient gender clichés. Wondering how much it all might cost…and what all I need to do…and knowing my best would still be miles behind passing for any average girl. Yeah, fucking easy…"

She trembled, like the words she was speaking were just what she could control of an upwelling fountain capped under pressure for so long.

Silence followed her bitter words. The response was, "You're such a disappointment. Maybe if you worried more about making money rather than your crazy ideas of gender then you'd actually amount to something. But all you can do is whine and make problems for yourself. Now wash me…"

Goo, pus, and other foul materials welled up all around mom. She bloated like a bubble preparing to burst. I braced myself but she just undulated. Maggie took a step forward and said, "If I'm such a disappointment when why I am I so necessary? Needed all the time to do this and do that. I take care of you. I'm your nurse. I'm you're comforter. I'm the mother…and more one than you were to me!"

The mass rippled and swelled. Maggie approached it and looked it down. She continued, "You are right though. I'll never know what it's like to grow up female with all that goes with it. And that family life, of my quiet dreams, is impossible. I'll never be the little sister who can tease her older brother. But…whatever pieces of me which I can express…I will fight for…with everything I have."

The rumble continued. I was sure that it would erupt all over her, covering her in all those nasty things. My throat quivered a bit at the lingering, terrible smells. I sent along whatever strength I could for my sister.

To my surprise, Maggie reached down to touch mom. Where her skin made contact, the masses edged away, just out of reach.

Maggie continued, "Just like you had to fight for everything growing up. I know it was hard. But…you said once in teaching me how to treat others…Why make things harder on others? Care for them. And I cared for you and dad. I love you both. I always will. I just have so many hard days around the both of you because you can't let me say who I am."

The violence of a moment before turned to a slow bubbling as the mass asked, "Then tell me…who are you?"

Maggie's eyes widened. The buried eyes on mom were focused right on her. She turned and saw dad's as well. Her lips curled a bit. I wished I could help her with the words but they came to her eventually.

"As I said, I am a girl. Even though I haven't gone through everything as a girl. I know what I am. I know my heart. It's like…you can take away all the flesh on a body…you can take away every distinguishing feature. And a body still knows what it is. It's in there. In my brain…my heart…whatever. Everything can be taken away from me. I can be a blob of flesh and I'd know with every beat of my heart that I am a girl. Facing that that battle for me is a wall of sadness and not knowing what I can do about it. And it's so very hard without my family to help. But, I know that I never told you this. I was too scared to show it. Too vulnerable. But here it is. This is me. I'm Maggie."

As she gestured to herself, the female form she had from the switchboard slowly returned to her.

Gently, the masses around our parents receded. The gore and horrors ebbed away to reveal their normal bodies. Mom looked at Maggie and said, "Hello, Maggie. My little girl."

Maggie trembled as tears streamed down her face. She embraced mom and so did I. Dad joined us with a smile after slowly getting up from his chair.

After the hugs, we all talked for a long time. Some of the talk regressed. Dad would dip into ambling talk about old computers and then snap out with a comment about taking out the trash. We imagined a trash to take out to placate him. We talked. We argued a little. We even randomly screamed. But, by the end of it, Maggie and I still felt calm.

It was like a therapy none of us had gone to as a family. When tiredness passed over Maggie and me, the door appeared. It was a dim but clear color of white, as though a cruddy black door had been washed clean.

Stepping through, we somehow found ourselves back at the train station. Or at least one of them. Maggie sat on the bench and cradled her head.

I sat next to her and asked, "Do you think the house did all that?"

She frowned and noted, "Could've done it better than scaring us to heck."

I leaned against her. "You said the house reflects our minds. So maybe we did it."

Maggie just raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

I smirked a little and noted. "So I guess it could be said we cleaned out the house of our minds…"

Looking over at me, Maggie said, with narrowed eyes, "You definitely deserve some sibling punishment for that…" She leapt on me and tickled mercilessly. I tried to counterattack but she was just too strong, despite being smaller than me again. When all the squirms and laughs were done, we sat there.

Maggie tapped her foot slowly. "That…all that with mom and dad. It helped. I dunno about cleaning. And I don't know if it makes it all right now. But…it helped." I put my hand on her shoulder and she smiled gently. I told her, "For me too. I wish it was really them. But, yeah, it helped."

Before long, a train puffed its way from the corner and pulled to a stop at the station. There was no driver. We made our way to one of the passenger cars and leaned out the windows.

Automatically, the horn sounded and the train pulled away. We rode off as the air washed over us and a new dawn rose over the distant wall. Maggie leaned her head on the edge of the window and let the air play with her hair. I leaned my hand out and felt the air cascade over it. I tried to see if my fingers could brush against anything as we rode past.

The room had a little of the scale model village of before but the setting was more a pristine wilderness. The grass felt real. The rocks didn't seem like imitations. The walls were harder to make out. And the sun which rose felt as brilliant as the real one in the sky.

We pulled into a familiar station. I could see a glimpse of the bar area near where I had entered. When we got out, I held Maggie's hand and told her, "You can stay with me."

Her eyes widened. "With you?"

I told her I had a decent apartment. There was a spare bedroom. She could do all sorts of crazy stuff so long as it wasn't at three in the morning. She smirked and noted, "There's an endless house before us and you're willing to go back to a small apartment?"

I razzed her a little and noted it wasn't that small, adding, "And it would be ours."

She hugged her arms and sighed to herself. "Alright."

I led her out of the house, taking the route I remembered. Back through the long hallway. Across the loft and out the garage guest house. I had to drag her from the video games in the enclosed porch. Then to the spare room's closet.

It took a moment to push the latch open and step around the junk. We emerged to a house which felt familiar and seasoned with age. All the regular rooms were there. All the cobwebs too. Maggie sighed and looked at the extra door behind the closet for a long time, as though she expected it to vanish away.

Putting my hand on Maggie's shoulder, I reassured her, "I'm sure the rest of the house will be there…if ever we need it again."

She nodded and then looked down. She gasped a little. "I'm still a girl. Each time I left before…I reverted!" She hugged herself and twirled a little.

Looking at me in relief, she sighed. "I was really worried about that. I guess I can live with not being able to have any meal for a few buttons."

As she went to go check herself out in the bathroom mirror a bit, I checked the clock by the kitchen. According to it, I had only been away for about an hour. It definitely felt longer.

I went to the front door to check and see if my car was still in the same place. Upon opening the door, I froze and peered out. Frowning, I turned and called to Maggie. She came quickly and stared at what I saw.

The house's extended front porch had the same dusty bench and worn chairs as always. But, to the left side of the brick column, at the top of the cement steps, was a single, white door standing freely.

The door was brilliant white. And it was more than the fact it was outside in the sunlight. The door brighter than any door inside the house and any door I'd seen anywhere. The knob was polished to the point it reflected a vision of the whole porch in its surface. Maggie staggered back on her heels and said to herself, "We're still inside the house. That's got to be it. Makes sense…I'm still a girl. I guess we have to camp out on the lawn."

The way was open to the right leading to the lawn. We grabbed a couple of sleeping bags, pitched a small tent, and told the confused neighbors we were camping out.

At first, it was hard to sleep. We spent more time trying to get one another to laugh with ridiculous stories. Eventually, we nodded off together.

When we woke, we unzipped the tent and peered out at the porch. The door was still there, same as before, even with dusk falling. Maggie paced and shook her head.

"This isn't right. We should be outside the house. What's going on?!" She made a motion like she was about to kick the door but she restrained herself.

We ventured back through the hidden doorway and to Maggie's world through the route she remembered. Her house, just as dusty but with some of her own choices of décor, had a door standing on the front porch as well.

Back on my porch, Maggie cradled her head in her hands and mumbled, "This doesn't make sense….we should be outside."

We thought it over. We went for a drive. The town was just as I remembered it, though Maggie got annoyed that certain businesses she liked on her side were closed up over here. We stayed a night at my apartment. The door was still there the next day.

We took some trips. We ventured around to familiar and fun areas. Each time, the door was still there.

One day, I brushed my cheek and told Maggie, "I think we should go through…"

Maggie shook her head and waved her arms. "No way! We don't know what's through there. It could be anything. It could be nothing. Who knows?!"

I smiled a bit and told her, "Exactly. Let's find out."

She glared at me and gave a slap of her feet. I tried to urge her with smiles but she was resolute.

I tried, "Alright. Let's just open it. If we don't like it, we can close it and…I dunno, say it's a bit of post-modern art or try lighting it on fire or something."

She protested but I could tell she was just as curious as me about what was on the other side of the doorway, if anything.

We stood before it and I put my hand on the knob. I thought maybe I would open it and simply see the other side of the street. I turned the knob. It moved smoothly in my grip.

I shut my eyes slightly. There was no flash of brilliant light or block of darkness as the door opened. Pulling it open further, I carefully looked through.

I smiled. Beside me, Maggie smiled as well and softly said, "I think I'm ready to go through."

Looking at her, I took her hand in mine and said, "Me too."

Together, we stepped through the threshold.