Doors

by Sky

Sky stormed through the Enchanted Forest of Doors. She was very determined now, no vines, snakes, or scorpions could stop her way from finding “The Door” out of all the doors. Confusing? Of course. That was the ultimate test for those who agreed on entering this forest. Before they enter, they would have to sacrifice their identities, and given a new one. Why, you might wonder, this forest was full of committed people in the pursuit of any specific doors that they want to find, therefore, sticking to their identity or knowing the identities of others might demotivate them and lead to failure. For instance, Ariff was a coward man, but still, he wanted to challenge himself and give a try on the pursuit of “The Door”. Thus, the guardian of the forest erased his identity and gave him a new name: Storm. Once he stepped in as Storm, he would not even have the memory of being a coward. To be put simply, he was brand new.

This forest, being so enchanted, have only two way out: going through the doors of your dreams, or vanish to the pitch black hole if you failed or gave up. The choices made it seems like… there is no way out, isn’t it? Well, that was one of the reasons why Sky was determined after all. The formula of success is actually simple, if you give yourself no option but to succeed, then you will, taking the level of determination as the manipulating variable.

As she was busy avoiding scorpions that were everywhere on the forest floor, she heard a knock from a door which is quite close to her. Stricken with shock, she fell down and took her time thinking better to answer or not, whether to open the door or not. Before she even managed to look the name of the door, her view was blocked by a figure of a man, reaching out his hand towards her.

“By the look of your locket, it seems that we are looking for the same door. Want to collaborate?” Storm said as he was trying to help Sky standing up.

            Carrying a cautious mind with her, Sky calculated the possibilities.

“Sure,” they smiled to each other and carried on their adventure.

            After a few hours, Sky suddenly stopped her steps, making Storm stopped too, after realizing no sound of footsteps behind him.

“I should just answer that door knocking just now!” Sky shouted.

Storm just stared, confused.

“I’m such a fool!” Her voice resonated again.

“Mind telling me the full story?” Storm finally blurted out his confusion.

            With an irritated intonation, Sky told him the incident that happened just a few seconds before he arrived. On the other hand, Storm listened attentively, leaving out no words slipping through his ears. He nodded and nodded. After Sky was done telling her tale, he took a few moment to rewind his experience before he met Sky.

…

            It was approximately 45 minutes after Storm first entered the forest. He, too, heard a knock from a random door. As soon as he heard the knock, he could feel someone storming from behind towards the door.

“Mine! Mine! Don’t you dare open the door!” The man with hunched back shouted his heart out with his coarse voice. Couldn’t really adapting, Storm even moved to make some way for the old man. Once he reached the door, his hands on the knob, he turned slightly to face Storm.

“Remember, young man, if the door knocks, you are a lucky person! Go in, never let it go away!” And that was the last sentence he said before entering the door with the biggest smile.

…

“Are you even listening?” Sky said, bringing Storm back to present.

“Yes, of course I am. Now I have a question for you.” Storm replied, calm.

“What is it?”

“When you first came in the forest, was your goal finding “The Door” or simply answering to any random knocking doors?”

The question hit Sky hard. Her eyes looked straight to the floor, as she continued her steps heavily, leaving that question with no answer. Apparently, that was not a question that needed an answer to begin with. It was a question that knocks your head, a question that lifts your spirit back at its peak.

The Sun has finally sets and they decided to take a break. Each of them tried to find a tree to lay their back, and fallen asleep in no time.

…

           

When did this Enchanted Forest of Doors exist? It was during the era of despair. Where the kingdom received a lot of complaints saying that there is no hope anymore, and there were quite a number of suicide cases here and there. Hope is really a strange thing. This four-letter word actually holds a huge power on deciding people’s lives. When it is present, the person stayed strong, and continued his voyage on the sea of challenges. When it is absent, the person weakened, and jump into the sea, with no thought of surviving. As soon as the kingdom realized about this huge issue, the king called his magicians and intellectuals. After a few meetings, they have decided that they need to create this forest. Although it is named that way, it actually symbolizes hope. When the citizens did not know what to do anymore, they can enter the forest to strive for success behind the doors, or lose the battle.

After a few weeks of having this forest, the suicide cases decreased significantly and complaints were lessened. However, to say that this is the ultimate solution to all the kingdom problems, not really. What actually happened to the people that ‘vanished’ through the hole once they gave up? First, they didn’t really vanish. Second, they were actually becoming the slaves that work for the kingdom, from the underground. They are gone in the eyes of other citizens, but they actually live while contributing to the nation’s labour.

…

            The energy in Sky and Storm’s steps slowly reducing. It felt as if there were tonnes of weight chained at both of their feet. One. Two. Stop.

“Storm, I don’t think I can do this anymore. Is it even worth it?” Sky sighed, for the nth number of time.

“What are you implying?”

“I want to give up. Bet the pitch black hole is better than this venture!” She suddenly laughed, probably at the verge of going out of her mind.

            Storm stayed silence. Chances might be that if he said something impulsively, a string of words that will hurt her feelings would come out. In fact, he had been really patient with her throughout this challenging journey. Their name was actually irony, Storm was a lot calmer than Sky. Hence, since the silence is too loud, Sky decided to turn away from Storm. The male, on the other hand, stepped forward.

After a few steps, he stopped.

“Sky! Sky! Come back!” he shouted with all his might. No response.

“Sky! Trust me, don’t give up! Come back here!” No response.

“Sky! Right in front of me is the door that we’ve been looking for!” No response, and Sky is moving further away.

“Sky! It’s the OPPORTUNITY door!!!” Storm used all his energy, hoping that his mate would turn around and come back.

“… Really?” a faint voice was heard, as Sky slowly walked towards him, eyes locked on the shining door.

“Finally…” Both of them said simultaneously.

Before they open the door, Storm reminded Sky.

“It doesn’t matter if opportunity only knocks once. Because, you can always look for the door, and keep knocking it until it opens!” Storm said with a bright smile.

Sky nodded, smiled, and opened the door.

“So now that we’ve found it, let’s grab the opportunity, should we?”

P/s: This writing has been submitted by the author for NotionPress Short Story Contest