The Forgotten Promise

It all started when Stella walked out of the bathroom door just like any normal day at school. She checked the time and noticed she was late for class and as a nervous tik went straight to her left ring finger to rotate the newly added Dimond ring. When she noticed her thumb had touched a bare and empty ring finger she gasped in horror. She had taken it off in the bathroom! She turned around to go through the bathroom door but there was a problem. The long hall once had many doors one of which being the bathroom but now all doors were gone except for one. The lonely doors trim was red and the door itself was white and covered with yellow roses. Stella was scared and decided to leave the building but once she turned around, she saw the stairs were replaced with a dead-end wall. There was nowhere to go but forward. She made her way to the door which she opened with ease. Blinded by the light her eyes take some time to adjust but when they do, she is taken aback. It is her late grandma's garden covered in magenta Nerium oleander. The faint smell of apricots draws her farther into the garden where she finds the gazebo to which her boyfriend purposed to her. In fact, it's like she can see him purposing to her. As she walks closer, she rubs her eye to see the scene play out just as it did that day. With the same forceful grab of the wrist and harsh kiss but an overwhelming feeling of happiness. The scene comes to a close and a fire erupts from the gazebo. Smoke filling the scenery as the flowers catch flame Stella runs down the garden path where she is presented with 2 more doors. One with green trim and purple door the other completely red. In a panic, she swings open the purple door gasping for air as it slams shut. You can hear a quiet lock. Stella turns to see if the fire has followed but she is greeted by an entirely different door. This door has the number 26 on it and in her hands was her lanyard. Feeling the sense of familiarity wash over she unlocks the door to return home. Stepping through the living room she sees her fiancé watching the game and her eye dart down as she hears him grumble in dislike. Their a puppy who had passed away a few weeks ago laid beside the recliner. Fearfully Stella looked towards the game. She had seen this all before. The game was almost over, and his team will have lost. She watched in confusion and disbelief as the opposing team scores the last touchdown and her drunk fiancé stands up furious and kicks the small puppy out of his way. The puppy slamming into the wall next to her, not breathing. Stella remembers this but her body moves on its own. She pushes her lover as hard as she can yelling and crying while her thoughts scream, "stop! You know what will happen!" She feels her hair pulled and the boxy tv close to her face and then her body lays flat on the floor. She feels a relief when the floor starts to swallow her whole. The feeling of falling comes through as she is surrounded by black then followed by a soft landing. Stella awakes to a room that felt like a distant memory. Lying next to a small girl who was crying into her pillow. Stella and the little girl both flinch at the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer to the door and both breathe a sigh of relief to hear them pass and get farther away. Once the steps were no longer heard Stella ran to the window in hopes of an escape but found none. She turned around to see the little girl drawing as both heard the sound of glass breaking and a mother's plea for help. Stella walks over to the little girl and her stick figure drawing and sees something she had forgotten or locked away deep in her mind. The little girl had a bruised almost purple in color finger that she had seemed to have scotch taped to another straighter looking finger. She was drawing while mumbling to herself. The drawing was 2 messy and loose stick figures with a funny little heart around them. The paper was splotchy and wet. Stella remembered the drawing and the promise she had made that day, how could she have forgotten, the promise to never be with someone like daddy. Taking one more look around the room Stella decides to walk out the turquoise door and to her surprise is now in a bathroom where a golden ring with a small diamond lays on the sink. Stella takes a deep breath, and, without going to get the ring, turns around to walk out the bathroom door.