Wendy

Chapter 4: The Doors

All the way, Wendy forced herself not to ask any more questions, instead she tried to guess where Abel intended to take her. Hard as she tried, she couldn't think of any place. At last, Abel came to a stop. Wendy looked around for this mysterious place Abel spoke of but saw only fluffy white clouds aglow with the light of the setting sun. There was nothing so special or insanely awesome around.

"I don't see anything." Wendy said as she looked around.

"Patience, Wendy," Abel said as he let go of her hand.

He took two long strides forward then began writing in the air with the tip of his finger. His writing appeared long winded and it glowed bright blue against the white of the cloud. Wendy furrowed her brows as she stared at the figures floating in the air.

What Abel wrote looked like weird symbols, but to Wendy's surprise she understood what it read. There were the numbers: '56788', the word: 'THERIONA' and what appeared to be an over-sized 'G' stood alone. She frowned slightly. None of it made sense to her.

"Abel, what does the glowing words and number mean?" she asked, tugging at Abel's robe in a bid to get his attention.

"Just wait for it. If I tell you now it would no longer be a surprise. Would it?"

Wendy shook her head reluctantly as she chose to wait, still holding on to Abel's robe.

Her jaw dropped when she saw a tall double door appear out of nowhere before them. The door was made of hammered gold and it shone brightly in the sun light. She had to arch her back in order to get a full view of it. She let go of Abel's robe in excitement and grabbed his free hand. She noticed he was holding a key but thought nothing of it.

"This is so awesome," Wendy gushed, she had an animated expression on her chubby face.

"You're impressed by this?" a smug smile tugged Abel's lips. "Wait till you see what's behind the door."

It was all so exciting, she had even almost forgotten that she had died a while back. Wendy stared at the beautiful double-door in wonder. It had several intricate designs; she noticed birds, stars, comets and there were tiny open-flower patterns around the edges of both doors.

What stole her attention the most was the carving of a great tree etched on each door. The roots of the trees were bare and looked like a tangled mess- a beautiful tangled mess. Its leaves were wide and they resembled clubs, the kind seen on playing cards.

Wendy noted that the massive trunk of the tree bore a resemblance to a pillar; it didn't look rough, instead it possessed a flawless smooth surface. The branches looked like that of a normal tree but the tree on both door bore a single fruit. From one angle the fruit appeared to be a pear but from another it looked like an apple. Wendy moved her head from side to side, thoroughly fascinated by the image it depicted.

The doorknobs were as big as watermelons; round, golden and polished to perfection. Wendy chuckled in amusement as she made faces at her reflection, the mirror image on the knob made her appear so comical. 

"Whoops!" She spread her arms in a bid to steady herself midair, she hadn't even noticed she floated up in a bid to get a better view. Upon closer inspection of the doors, Wendy noticed that there was no key hole in sight.

"How would you open it?" Wendy asked, pointing to the area where a keyhole should have been. "There is no keyhole."

Abel's brow furrowed. "What do we do now?" Abel appeared positively confused.

Wendy's expression became thoughtful; she didn't know if Able was joking or being serious. Remembering the key she felt in his hands, she swooped down and pointed at his hands. At the moment, she felt like they were about to open a treasure chest or something.

"But you have a key in your hand. Is that not for this door?"

"Hmmm. I do have a key, let's see if it'll work." Abel shrugged as he revealed the perfectly normal looking key. It was made of ordinary iron and it didn't look like it could open the doors. Wendy could feel disappointment creeping in and her excitement slowly ebbing away.

"What if it doesn't work?"

Abel patted her lightly on the shoulder as he pushed the key against a small keyhole that appeared beneath one of the doorknobs.

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Margret sat as stiff as a rod on the hospital bed. Even with the pillows cushioning her back, she still felt extremely uncomfortable. She stared at the wall clock blankly as thoughts of her daughter flooded her mind. Wendy running to her car when she picked her from school today. Wendy going on and one about her her teacher liking the turtle she drew. She could even hear the carefree laughter of her daughter in her head. The memories were like red hot rods piercing her grieving heart.

Life was a funny thing, despite all her training as a doctor she couldn't save the one person that meant the most to her. She was almost certain she would never laugh again. She even found it impossible to think of anything that could make her smile. She mindlessly wiped a tear that raced down her cheek. Burying her face in her palms, she took in a shuddering breath. the pain was too much.

She stood wearily, cringing as her bare feet touched the cold tiled floor. Looking around, Margret noticed with dismay that none of her property was in sight. She wanted to leave the hospital; to go to a place where no one would be able to find her and give their annoying condolences.

It was worse that she was admitted in the hospital she worked in. Several came to drone empty sympathetic words but she was certain that she had never spoken to over half of them. She even had the feeling that most came to spectate in order to have something to say about her.

"Would you please get out of my way?" 

Margret stiffened at the sound of the voice. She felt dread envelope her as she realized the voice came from the corridor just outside her ward. Her mother was around!

Her mother always spoke in a dignified manner that would make one instantly think of a stiff school principal. To her, her mother was a harsh woman who didn't have a single loving bone and she was absolutely the last person Margret needed to see right now. Who informed her mum of the accident? It had only been three hours!

Margret quickly sat on the bed. Cringing in pain as she managed to arrange the pillow and bed sheet around herself. There was no way she would allow herself appear weak in the presence of her mother. She leaned against the cushioned headboard of the hospital bed as she took in calming breaths.

"I can do this!" she muttered fiercely as she battled the panic that was swiftly rising.

Her heart thudded with foreboding, matching the sound of her mother's approaching footsteps. She raised shaky fingers to her hair and attempted to arrange the disheveled mess. When she heard the door open, she let her hands drop to her side.

Refusing to look up, Margret chose to stare at the wall as she heard her mother take a seat. Strength, she needed strength for this. She couldn't get herself to shed any more tears, all she felt was emptiness and deep sadness. What more could her mother throw at her that would make her feel worse than she already did?

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