The Door
The world, as we know it, is a lie. You may not believe me, you don’t have to. I believe me. If only I weren’t so curious.
The entire incident was completely coincidental. The big cosmic joke, called an accident, a happenstance, an occurrence. Whatever you call it, I suppose that it was my fate.
I was cleaning up after work on a late night in August of 2012. My boss only trusted me with the after hours clean up, as I was the only employee without a record. I thought it was absurd, personally. Mostly because I would have welcomed help with all of the work, and secondly, because I actually had interactions with my co-workers and they were freaking fantastic human beings, records be damned. People make mistakes, a philosophy that my employer did not subscribe to. I would do my job without complaint, however. Ever the obsequious little maiden.
Enough of that, you’re wanting to know why the world is a lie. What proof I have, and not about my crappy job. Well, hold your horses. I had to establish the background. Back on topic, now. As I was clocking out at the front of the store, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. It appeared to come from the eastern end of the parking lot, near the dumpsters, where there were no streetlights, no light at all, in fact. A very dangerous area in the dark. Even in a small town.
I figured it was probably a reflection from headlights on some glass or something, so I ignored it and continued to clock out, which took freaking forever, because the machine had to be an ancient artifact. It beeped every time I swiped my card. Which was like 20 times. And then I still had to manually input my time.
Finished with the ancient machine, I set the alarm - another ancient artifact - and locked the door. I was walking to my car, when I saw another flash, this time I could also hear a sound. And there were no cars. So, my earlier theory of headlight reflections didn’t jive.
The sound was creepy and low. It sounded like a movie zombie moan. I was honestly freaked out. Also curious, which completely overshadowed any fear I had. I was a very inquisitive person, okay?
I made my way over to the dumpsters. The dumpsters were at the very end of a small alley on the east end of the parking lot, up against a rock wall that looked like it should be part of a castle in Ireland, instead of a parking lot in rural North Carolina. I noticed that the area was very clean, which was weird, because it was three days until garbage day, so there should be garbage everywhere. Nothing for light to reflect off of, in other words. Super creepy. I walked closer to investigate.
There was another flash of light, this time it sort of pulsated, and the sound was a bit higher, more of a slow “whoosh” now instead of a zombie moan. My curiosity drew me ever onward. A full fifty yards of a journey later, I came to the dumpsters. The dumpsters looked like normal dumpsters, dark green, smelly, big. You didn’t start reading this for a description of dumpsters, so I’m not going to go any further along that tangent.
The pulsating light grew brighter and brighter and the pulsating became slower and slower. There was a blinding flash and a thud and suddenly a door was in the wall. A normal looking, wooden door, like one you would see on any house. “Ummmm…” I kind of thought to myself. “Okay. Super weird.”
I decided, what the heck and shuffled closer. The doorknob was slightly rusty looking and I could see a bluish light under the door. The “whoosh” sound was louder and clearer now. Curiosity was pulling me forward and I grabbed the knob and turned it. At first, it wouldn’t turn, it was rusty after all. I put a bit more force into the turning and I heard a clink and the door opened.At first, I couldn’t see a thing. Then, my eyes adjusted and I saw what changed my view of the world.
It looked like a sort of electrical closet. There were wires, circuit boxes, security monitors, and strange, blinking lights on what seemed to be sensors of some sort. Then, suddenly, another, smaller door to the left of the monitors opened and a small man came out. He was dressed like a security guard and when he noticed me, his eyes opened wide and he reached for a button on the panel of blinking lights. I put my hand on the door and stepped in.
“You can’t be here,” he said. “You’re not supposed to know about any of this.”
“What is this? What’s going on?”
“Little girl, this is the real world. Now you know that. You can’t go back.”
He closed the door with a button and took my arm, “Don’t touch me! Tell me what is going on!”The entire incident was completely coincidental. The big cosmic joke, called an accident, a happenstance, an occurrence. Whatever you call it, I suppose that it was my fate.
I was cleaning up after work on a late night in August of 2012. My boss only trusted me with the after hours clean up, as I was the only employee without a record. I thought it was absurd, personally. Mostly because I would have welcomed help with all of the work, and secondly, because I actually had interactions with my co-workers and they were freaking fantastic human beings, records be damned. People make mistakes, a philosophy that my employer did not subscribe to. I would do my job without complaint, however. Ever the obsequious little maiden.
Enough of that, you’re wanting to know why the world is a lie. What proof I have, and not about my crappy job. Well, hold your horses. I had to establish the background. Back on topic, now. As I was clocking out at the front of the store, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. It appeared to come from the eastern end of the parking lot, near the dumpsters, where there were no streetlights, no light at all, in fact. A very dangerous area in the dark. Even in a small town.
I figured it was probably a reflection from headlights on some glass or something, so I ignored it and continued to clock out, which took freaking forever, because the machine had to be an ancient artifact. It beeped every time I swiped my card. Which was like 20 times. And then I still had to manually input my time.
Finished with the ancient machine, I set the alarm - another ancient artifact - and locked the door. I was walking to my car, when I saw another flash, this time I could also hear a sound. And there were no cars. So, my earlier theory of headlight reflections didn’t jive.
The sound was creepy and low. It sounded like a movie zombie moan. I was honestly freaked out. Also curious, which completely overshadowed any fear I had. I was a very inquisitive person, okay?
I made my way over to the dumpsters. The dumpsters were at the very end of a small alley on the east end of the parking lot, up against a rock wall that looked like it should be part of a castle in Ireland, instead of a parking lot in rural North Carolina. I noticed that the area was very clean, which was weird, because it was three days until garbage day, so there should be garbage everywhere. Nothing for light to reflect off of, in other words. Super creepy. I walked closer to investigate.
There was another flash of light, this time it sort of pulsated, and the sound was a bit higher, more of a slow “whoosh” now instead of a zombie moan. My curiosity drew me ever onward. A full fifty yards of a journey later, I came to the dumpsters. The dumpsters looked like normal dumpsters, dark green, smelly, big. You didn’t start reading this for a description of dumpsters, so I’m not going to go any further along that tangent.
The pulsating light grew brighter and brighter and the pulsating became slower and slower. There was a blinding flash and a thud and suddenly a door was in the wall. A normal looking, wooden door, like one you would see on any house. “Ummmm…” I kind of thought to myself. “Okay. Super weird.”
I decided, what the heck and shuffled closer. The doorknob was slightly rusty looking and I could see a bluish light under the door. The “whoosh” sound was louder and clearer now. Curiosity was pulling me forward and I grabbed the knob and turned it. At first, it wouldn’t turn, it was rusty after all. I put a bit more force into the turning and I heard a clink and the door opened.At first, I couldn’t see a thing. Then, my eyes adjusted and I saw what changed my view of the world.
It looked like a sort of electrical closet. There were wires, circuit boxes, security monitors, and strange, blinking lights on what seemed to be sensors of some sort. Then, suddenly, another, smaller door to the left of the monitors opened and a small man came out. He was dressed like a security guard and when he noticed me, his eyes opened wide and he reached for a button on the panel of blinking lights. I put my hand on the door and stepped in.
“You can’t be here,” he said. “You’re not supposed to know about any of this.”
“What is this? What’s going on?”
“Little girl, this is the real world. Now you know that. You can’t go back.”
“Come with me. You’re an employee here now. You’ll learn everything in your orientation.”
Indeed, I did learn everything. I learned that what you and I thought of as our world, as our reality was only one of about two thousand experiments. Everyone, in all of the experiments was implanted with a microchip at birth. Everything that we did was monitored, every interaction, every movement, EVERYTHING. Also, I wasn’t the only one to have discovered this. Two-thirds of the “employees” were people, like myself, who had accidentally stumbled upon one of the doors. Probably most of the “missing persons”. Many of the people just lived their new lives here in the inner workings of the “lab”. Some of us formed a plan. We had to let everyone, in all of the experiments know the truth.
I am the only one left. I am probably dead now. However, if you are reading this, I didn’t die in vain. If you believe what you have read, please, do something. It would be better to know the truth. The doors usually materialize around 3am. When shifts change. Often around architectural structures that look out of place. So, if you see an old fashioned stone wall in a rural parking lot, a brick wall near a trailer park, fancy, wrought iron fence on a farm, this is probably where the doors will appear.
I don’t believe you are in any danger, only if you actually open the door will anything happen to you. Don’t open the door. Just knowing that it’s there is enough.
Indeed, I did learn everything. I learned that what you and I thought of as our world, as our reality was only one of about two thousand experiments. Everyone, in all of the experiments was implanted with a microchip at birth. Everything that we did was monitored, every interaction, every movement, EVERYTHING. Also, I wasn’t the only one to have discovered this. Two-thirds of the “employees” were people, like myself, who had accidentally stumbled upon one of the doors. Probably most of the “missing persons”. Many of the people just lived their new lives here in the inner workings of the “lab”. Some of us formed a plan. We had to let everyone, in all of the experiments know the truth.
I am the only one left. I am probably dead now. However, if you are reading this, I didn’t die in vain. If you believe what you have read, please, do something. It would be better to know the truth. The doors usually materialize around 3am. When shifts change. Often around architectural structures that look out of place. So, if you see an old fashioned stone wall in a rural parking lot, a brick wall near a trailer park, fancy, wrought iron fence on a farm, this is probably where the doors will appear.
I don’t believe you are in any danger, only if you actually open the door will anything happen to you. Don’t open the door. Just knowing that it’s there is enough.
By Jessica Caldwell
