Flash Fiction Anthology

The Locked Door

Una tied her boat to the tall reeds growing at the water's edge and stepped out, her bare feet sinking ankle-deep into the soft sand heated by the sunshine.

She could see it now, the place where the strips of water lily leaves of which the boat was made had become so worn and threadbare that her vessel started to leak... The damage wasn't too great as yet but she knew that it would be better to have the boat fixed before it became irreparable, she couldn't really afford a new one.

Sighing, she twisted her long black hair with both hands, squeezing out the last droplets of water, then shaking it loose; it would dry up in no time. She adjusted her simple dress next-- a colourful creation made of scraps of fabric she had managed to exchange in the market for a pearl necklace she had made-- noticing how very similar it looked to her small boat. The dress was just as threadbare, old, and poor... But there was nothing to do about it, fishing and taking the fish she did not use herself to the market did not earn her much.

Sighing again as she picked up a wide basket woven from the reeds' long leaves, now filled with fish and shells, she made her way up the sandy bank to her house, a tent-like shelter huddled around the wide trunk of a tall palm; the only tree growing on Una's island.

A smile played on her lips as she walked inside, into the cool shadows under its roof. Despite it feeling lonely, as no one else lived on this island with her, this was her home and she loved it here. And other people, some of them her friends, lived nearby on similar islands-- Lia, ten minutes' swim to the south, Egon, half an hours' boat journey north...

And then there were all those people living on the Castle Isle, all together. She couldn't imagine herself living there, in such close proximity with other human beings, but she didn't mind her weekly visits to the Isle's market, with one of her friends or even alone. Una always enjoyed the weirdness of walking on a firmer ground that her sandy island had, the novelty of getting lost among the stalls and tents of the market, or in the long, winding lanes of the town. Strolling around, looking up, from time to time, towards the hill rising from the center of the Isle as if it wanted to reach the sky, admiring the castle perched on its top, spilling over its sides.

None of the other islands of the realm had a hill, let alone a castle, and there were thousands of them... Some did have small earth or even stone houses on them, like the Castle Isle, but they were all perfectly flat. At least that's what she had heard from the merchants in the market. Their words made that hill and the castle on top of it look so very mysterious, a thing from fairy tales. That she had never met anyone who had ever been up there and seen the castle up close, only added to its mystery.

But it was impossible to get there; only those who had been invited personally by the Prince, a man who was rumoured to live there alone just like she lived alone on her tiny island, could climb the hill and enter the castle. Those who had tried anyway, were said to have lost their memories, and sometimes even their mind.

Those who had received and accepted the Prince's invitation, and entered the castle, had never come back.

Una shook her head, she really should stop listening to all the gossip she heard in the market. The hill was just a hill-- a mound of earth. And the castle was simply a house of their Prince. That no one had ever seen him either, was another matter, but it wasn't up to her to ponder about it, if no one else did...

She was so lost in thoughts that she did not notice the silvery object lying on the sandy floor of her room until she stepped on it, pain spreading through her bare foot.

Made of a material she did not recognize, fashioned into a shape she could not name, it was another perfect mystery... How did it get there? It wasn't there in the morning when she left, who brought it then? When? How? Why?

Having no one to ask, she resolved to visit the Castle Isle the next day. Someone there, one of the strange people she always met in the market, gathering there to barter what they did not need for things they could not produce, was bound to know and tell her what it was.

She had been right. The moment she reached the shores of the Castle Isle the next day, leaving her half flooded boat in the skilled hands of one of the men she found in the harbour and who set to work on it immediately, Una walked to the market and found herself surrounded by many curious, a few helpful, and a couple of knowledgeable people.

"It is made of silver, a precious metal from my island." A middle aged man said.

"The shape is a heart, at least we from the Eastern Isles call it so," a woman told her.

"It's the Prince's invitation, lady." Another man added somberly, silencing all the others.

Una looked at him incredulously, torn between excitement and fear... "What if I won't accept? Refuse to go?"

"They'll come and get you," he shrugged, "it won't be more difficult for them than dropping that box on your island."

"Box?" Una asked, looking at the shiny object in her hand, turning it around, noticing for the first time the tiny clasp. She lifted it with her finger, and the heart opened, revealing another object she had never seen before. She looked at the old man again, eyes brimming with questions.

"It's a key, lady. A key to a locked door."

"What am I supposed to do?" She asked.

"Go to the castle. Find the right door... and then see what happens next." The man murmured uncertainly, shrugging again.

Una nodded, making her way through the market, towards one of the lanes meandering up the hill, towards the house of the mysterious Prince, the box and the key becoming heavier in her hand with each step she took.

There was only one door set in the perfectly smooth wall made of what looked like opaque glass running around the entire castle. Her hand shook slightly as she pushed her key into the key hole, her heart beat loudly as she turned it and the door gave way, inviting her in.

Unable to resist her curiosity, she took the first few tentative steps beyond the wall.