It was a beautiful, cloudless night, and fourteen- year old Marissa Crawly was lying under the unending blanket of stars outside what seemed almost exactly like her home. She looked around the yard, lit up by the moon at it’s fullest. It was exactly how she remembered it. But there were little differences in the yard that the human eye would not be able to notice unless searched for. The little white hammock was a shade darker, the pine needles a little bit sharper, and the rocks lining the path were taller. As Marissa noticed each difference, her heart felt heavier. Although her house was only ten feet away from her grasp, her home was so far the distance could not be measured. When Marissa had opened her father’s secret door, she had been expecting a scientist’s closet full of chemical formulas, not a hallway of doors that led to parallel universes. She regretted ever finding out that the door existed. She wished she had listened to her father when he said to stay far away from the door. And now, her defiance had brought her to a world where her father was a jolly old man like Santa Clause, not the serious scientist who loved her more than life itself. Here, her mother dressed like a dull woman with no personality, her hair in a bun and wearing shades of grey. Marissa missed the way her mother would light up the room with her laugh, cheering up even the saddest of people. And, worst of all, in this world, her seven- year old little brother Wyatt, whom she loved dearly, had died four years ago. She knew that to go back home, she’d have to risk everything she had, even if it wasn’t currently much. She would have to test out every single door in the hallway, which could possibly lead to a world much worse. But Marissa didn’t care. She missed her family so much, she would risk anything for them. She would go down to the parallel basement, open the secret door, and open any door from there on until she found The Door, The Moment of Truth, her home.
