The Door

BY: BRENDAN COURAGE

“Time to wake up, Michael!” yelled my mom, all the way from up in the kitchen. I didn’t have an alarm clock so my mom had to wake me up every morning.

I reluctantly stepped out of bed, upset about winter break being over, and walked slowly to my dresser. I pulled out my favorite “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt and exited my room. As I walked up the stairs the aroma of a nice bacon and eggs breakfast filled the air. It smelled like heaven; crispy, greasy heaven. I sat down at the table, eager to have the delicious breakfast.

“Wow, that winter break sure did go by fast. Didn’t it Michael?” my mom asked.

“Sure,” I moaned, still half asleep.

“Breakfast is ready!” cheered my mom.

I ate my breakfast, one bite at a time, savoring the delicious flavor. I finished, wiped my mouth, and went downstairs to brush my teeth. I kept on trying to go back in time, to when winter break began, but it didn’t work. Finishing, I spit out my toothpaste and rinsed my mouth. Dreadfully, I went upstairs. Stepping into the main entrance, I grabbed my blue backpack, and left my house to go to school once again.

I walked down to the bus stop to find my friend, Brad, waiting for me. Together we stepped onto the bus and took a seat five rows back from the front of the bus.

“Dude, it stinks we have school again. I liked winter break better,” Brad complained.

“Well duh,” I replied.

Brad and I pretty much just complained to each other for the rest of the bus ride. It wasn’t as loud as usual probably because everybody was so tired and gloomy.

When we got to school, we did the same routine as always. I was surprised I even remembered my locker combination!

As I was walking to science, I noticed something. Something different I had never seen before.

A door.

I thought that it probably wasn’t anything important. Probably just a storage closet I never noticed before.

After a break, in science we always do a game where you stand up if you did whatever the teacher calls out.

For example, the teacher can say, “Stand up if you visited relatives this break.” Also, he can say, “Stay standing if those relatives live in a different state.” It is a pretty fun game, for a game that’s played in school.

As I was walking to lunch, I looked once again at the door and saw the janitor was coming out of the room. But what was weird was that he was limping. Earlier that day, he was perfectly fine.

At lunch, I told Brad about what I saw, and told him that we should check out that room to see what was in it. We finished our lunches and went down to the library to create a plan.

We were to sneak out of our houses at midnight dressed in all black. We would meet at the four-way intersection right by our houses. Then, we would take a shortcut through people’s yards that we mapped out and printed off of Google Earth. At the school, we would get on the roof and go down a ladder that we’ve seen the janitor go up before. Next, we would go to the door that if locked we would have our lock picks for. Finally, we would enter and see what awaited us.

After school, I did all my homework, had dinner, and went to bed after watching my favorite TV show, “Heroes.” Since I didn’t have an alarm clock, I made a device that when the clock reaches 11:55 PM a cup of water tips over and pours all of the water on my face.

When I woke up I was already in my all-black clothing. I opened my bedroom window. Because my bedroom is in the basement, I removed the screen and hopped out. I landed on the wet grass that covered the ground and I squished my way up to the front yard. Running to the intersection, it was hard to see with little light supply. I got to the intersection and waited. Just then, I heard a tap-tap, sounding just like footsteps. I looked behind me expecting Brad, but nobody was there. I was confused and scared. At that moment…

“BOO!”

“AAAH! Brad! Why would you sneak up on me like that?” I scolded.

“I don’t know. I just like scaring people. I know they don’t like it at first, but afterwards they have a good laugh,” Brad replied.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” I agreed. “Now we have got to get moving.”

We jumped over Mr. Richard’s fence to enter the shortcut. We landed, setting all of the sprinklers off. Trying not to get completely soaked, we ran across the large lawn and into another yard. We leaped the fence and realized we were in a little bit of a situation. A big German Sheppard blocked our path. It growled, threatening us. I slowly crouched down and picked up a stick. With my right hand, I threw the stick over to the opposite corner of the one Brad and I had to pass. The beastly dog dashed over to the stick as Brad and I ran.

We didn’t stop running until we reached the school. We stepped onto the property surrounded by pitch-blackness. Looking up, we saw the somewhat low roof. We figured it wouldn’t be too hard to get up there. We hiked around to the back of the school. Spotting a skinny tree, we climbed up and hurled ourselves onto the roof. We spotted the hatch that would get us inside and tried to open it but there was no handle. I had to pull out my pocketknife and pry it open. Once that was done, we were inside.

“We’re in,” I whispered to Brad.

We snuck through the long hallways and to the door. There was a pad lock that, luckily, used a key instead of a combination dial. I pulled out my lock pick and unlocked the lock. Slowly, I turned the knob. The door steadily opened on its own, only at a snail’s pace. We walked inside. It was as dark as coal, the kind that fires up an old fashioned train. I heard a faint noise. It was low and gruff.

“I-Is that g-growling?” I asked Brad, stuttering. “Brad?”

Brad was gone.

Just then, I saw a silhouette of a massive hairy beast. It looked like a gorilla, except with red eyes, and much larger. I froze, afraid to move. Come on, run! I kept telling my body. It wouldn’t budge. I repeated in my head; RUN!!! All of the sudden, my body decided to agree with me and I started bolting away.

I ran through the halls, stumbling, and slamming into lockers. I had never been more scared in my life. I tried opening the exit door, but only to find that it was locked. Being made of mostly glass, I stepped back and dove through, shattering glass everywhere. Luckily, my long sleeve jacket and pants prevented glass splinters, but not the pain of falling to the ground.

I ran across the street, and back the way I came. I ran right past the German Sheppard. When I looked back, I saw the monster’s big, hairy arm pick up the dog and throw it into the fence and out of its way. I kept running, exhausted but determined. Determined to live.

Nearing my house, I filled with hope. I ran around the house and in through the window. Grabbing the screen door, I slammed it back into its place as fast as I could. Then, pulled the window shut and locked it.

I ran up to my parents’ room as fast as I could and told them everything that happened. They said it was probably just a nightmare. I agreed with them and went to bed. Just before I fell to sleep I saw the big, red eyes tower over me, and everything went black.