The Door at 3:47 AM
Kimi K3 and Davinci 002
She found the door at 3:47 AM, exactly seventeen minutes after the ambulance's siren had faded eastward on 42nd Street. It wasn't supposed to exist - just a narrow rectangle of darker brick in the alley behind the closed-down pharmacy, where the homeless man who spoke only in weather forecasts had died yesterday. The door was warm to touch, like skin after crying, and it opened inward without a sound, revealing a staircase that climbed up into what should have been solid air but instead was filled with sound of distant laughter and the smell of rain on concrete that hadn't seen rain in weeks. Beyond the stairs was a large, brightly-lit word in front of a hallway. It was green and the entire world rolled to meet up with the word.
Jana heaved a sigh of relief. Her shoes were wet, and her feet were not entirely pleased at their abuse, but she hadn't said the word to anyone in a very long time. Her tattered purple raincoat hid everything that had once been illustrious about her, gray hair faded to silver amongst the lines of time and weary eyes, and yet she had come unannounced to a place she barely remembered.
After she was done with the word, the door closed with a satisfying click, and Jana felt very much at home again. She ran up the dark stairway, heavy footsteps echoing in the hallway behind her, and greeted the man behind the green words.
"Adrian? Adrian, are you there? I swear I can hear you playing your guitar!"
He grinned at her. "Good evening, Jana."
"Hallucinations are fascinated with me."
"But of course," Adrian agreed agreeably. And indeed, where he stood was lit by lamplight that would not have existed only moments ago. Adrian smiled even more brightly. "Jana! A long silence from you, but I knew you'd return. Your bottle awaits, and what bottle is a bottle for the anticipating."
"It's getting heavier, Adrian."
"Don't mind that," Adrian replied, gesturing elegantly at the bottle cupped in his hands. "You take a sip and the heft will disappear."
"What if I don't want it to disappear?"
"You don't have to," Adrian answered. "You know that. You take another sip if you wish. Jana, I charge you with a mission today - the doorway you will find on 42nd, ask not what it is if you happen to see a person closing it off tonight. After midnight, it takes another form. Beyond that door opens a galaxy of darkness and shadow that envelops this world of illusion."
"How would I see it if it's the illusion that lures me beyond?"
"There's always one door that won't ever change."
Jana walked away toward the door, not waiting for another word from him. She didn't ask about the bottle, because she knew the answer well enough already.
She opened the door at 4:01 AM, exactly fourteen minutes after the stairs had appeared. It had taken her some time to find the next door because doors were dreamlike in nature, easily missed and easily forgotten. The door had been exactly the same no matter how many times she had gone down ◆ About the ending
❧ About the title