House of Many Doors

Chapter 2

His hands covered my eyes.

My heart quickened only to be calmed by the surrounding sound of a busy street and the feel of fresh air.

"Don't look," he said, "not yet."

Confusion was hushed by curiosity. The excitement I felt kept the nervousness at bay.

We continued on foot. His hands my eyelids. His posture guided mine. Gentle tugs and pushes to avoid bruises and scratches.

Call it a gut feeling or stupidity but I trusted him. I knew this wasn't a hostage situation or anything of the sort.

When we stopped, he whispered, "We're here."

His hands gave way; darkness was soon replaced by amazement.

"We aren't on Earth anymore, are we?" I asked a question my eyes already answered.

Left to right. His head confirmed no.

My head turned upward; letting purple sky fill my eyes.

Earth: a planet dyed blue. If blue skies weren't enough, blue oceans would surely satisfy. Blue was largely the background for most of my memories.

The purple sky should have been overwhelming. It should have brushed against the blue grain, yet it didn't. I couldn't say that it felt unnatural when it seemed so fitting. The light purple formed a canvas for a golden sun to be painted, and it was beautiful.

"What colour are the clouds?" I asked when I didn't see any.

He smiled. "A cloud is an unknown term here."

"How is that possible? No clouds. No rain. That leads to no life and this place seems to be bouncing with it."

"There is no need for liquid water," he started, "this air has a hydrogen like substance, unknown to your world, that is absorbed through the skin or breathed though the lungs."

"Is there any flowing water on this planet?" I asked, thrown.

"Only in the system of living creatures," he explained, "To shorten a biology class: oxygen inhaled and hydrogen like gas combine to form liquid water in bodies."

"That insane," I breathed.

"That's not the best part," Seth grinned, "It's impossible to extract the water. As soon as it leaves the body it turns back into breath. As you can imagine the idea of water is a foreign fantasy."

"A world where people just don't drink."

"Weird, huh?" Seth smiled at my bewildered expression.

"Do they eat?" a curious me asked.

"The same way you do, in fact, but their food is a little different. They don't have any baked goods or processed food."

"That's awful."

"Heaven to some, hell for others," Seth tugged at my hand and we started walking again.

"A world without comfort food is a world without hope."

Other than that, everything seemed normal. The people looked human. The animals I saw weren't that far of from the fluff we cuddle and pet back home.

My little investigation distracted me from the amount of walking we did. Hand in hand, if I might add.

Stopping my cheeks from going full blush, I asked, "Are we lost?"

"I want to properly introduce you to your first alternative planet," Seth said, "We're going to the heart of the city. If my memory doesn't deceive me, there is a celebration tonight."

"Why didn't we just poof there from they beginning?"

"Poof?" he laughed.

"You know what I mean," I said playfully.

"I thought giving you time to explore and see this place was a better idea than just throwing you in the middle of a festival."

"Point taken," I said, "but why the whole blindfolding thing?"

He stopped walking.

"I have my reasons," he winked

His smirk sealed secrets that I wanted to hear.

His head turned slightly to the right, "Do you hear that?"

I did, "Music."