A key was taped to the bottom of her top desk drawer. And there was a note.
She quickly grabbed the pocketknife out of her desk and slams the drawer, eager to get on with the morning's hunt. Something shiny falls onto the beige carpet, caressed in velvety tape. It catches her eye, reflecting the dawn's greeting. With great suspicion, she reluctantly picks up the key. A small, age worn note was tied into the iron key with a burlap strap. On the note was a faded number. Fifteen. She turned the word fifteen over and over like dice on her tongue. Her little sister barges into the room, uninvited. "What's that?" ten year old Delilah asks.
"My knife," she says, shoving the key into the breast pocket of her olive green shirt. She suddenly remembers what she set out to do and shoves Delilah aside while grabbing her bow, and a sleeve of arrows.
***
Leaves rustle in a bush to her right. A plump rabbit hops out of the bush, leaves half-chewed, hanging out of the side of it's mouth. She loads an arrow, and aims. She exhales, and before releasing, the rabbit scurries off. She follows it, convinced that that's her kill. It leads her through the woods and after rounding an old oak tree disappears. Dumb-founded, she searches around the base of the tree, only to find a knot in the center of the bark, at chest level. She leans against it to scour for losing her dinner. She examines the tree and finds the number fifteen carved neatly into the bark. She pulls the key out and closely inspects it's ridges, then looks at the knot in the tree. Small slits are cut into the wood. She slides the key in and slowly turns it counterclockwise. A door swings open and she stumbles, falling into a dark room no bigger than her, knocking the breath out of her lungs. She slowly stands up, soaking in her surroundings. It's a small, pitch-black room inside the tree with an oval door. There's a tiny light in the distance, giving off enough illumine-sense to make out a harrow staircase leading downward. She curiously follows the stairwell's lead. The light blinds her as she reaches the end. She steps through the opening and finds herself in her hometown's park. She stares at the all-to-familiar playground. Delilah climbs the stairs, leading to the slide. The churches board reads September 27th, 2031...ten years from when she left the house this morning. A black Ford slowly rolls by the park. The passenger window rolls down revealing the top of a 9mm pistol. A loud bang fills the park, loud enough to mask the sound of her voice calling her sisters name. Blood rushes down the slide, carrying her ten year old sister's body with it. She runs for her, tripping, and blacks out.
She wakes up in the little dark room of the oak tree. She rushes down the stairs and back to the future of the park. Delilah steadily climbs the stairs to the slide. She looks around trying to find an ease to her confusion, a single tear still rolling down her left cheek. She spins around at the rumble of of a truck. A black Ford creeps by. The passenger window rolls down revealing the tip of a 9mm pistol. A rush of fear fills her as she sprints for her sister perched at the top of the violet-covered slide. A shot rings out and her sister goes limp, her body, and a rush of blood, roll down the slide. Trying to reach her dead sister, the metal frame hits her head, knocking her out.
She wakes up, sitting on the park bench, her head resting on her fist. The churches board reads, September 27th, 2021. She realizes she's back in reality, back to her life. It was all a dream. No, a nightmare. She smiles as she watches her sister frolic across the playground. Her smile fades as her sister climbs the stairs to the violet slide. The black Ford rolls up and she screams as the window rolls down revealing the barrel of a 9mm pistol.
