Filled with a sudden sense of purpose and adventure, I sprung up from my seat. I found myself filled with curiosity concerning what strange visions might now lie just on the other side of that door.
“Whatever is the matter, dear?” was the question from my perplexed bride.
“I have a sudden urge,” I replied, “to open the front door.”
Was it merely my imagination, or did her lovely features distort and take on an oddly demonic aspect, for just a moment? Surely it was merely my overwrought imagination at work, for in another moment I perceived that all was as it had been — my beloved’s usual cheerful countenance and demeanor had been fully restored.
“There is no need,” she admonished. “It is cozy right here, is it not? Just the two of us alone, with all the time in the world together.”
At those words I felt an odd sense of foreboding, as though some terrible thought were trying to intrude upon my brain, hovering just barely beyond conscious reach. “I think,” I replied slowly, “that it would be pleasant to have a bit of air.”
Before she could object, I had walked over to the unopened door, and on an impulse had flung the bolt and stepped through the portal. Once outside, I looked around me in some surprise.
The scene before me was precisely as it had been when I had first approached the house. For some reason, this was not at all what I had expected. As I peered around, examining my surroundings, I felt a rush of air, and could hear the door slam shut behind me.
“Ah!” I replied, “it must be the wind.” I turned around and tried the doorknob, but the door would not move — not even an inch.
I was rather more amused than concerned at this sudden development. For now I knew something I had not known before — the way back in.