Fan Fiction ❯ Doorways ❯ Doorways ( Chapter 1 )

Story: Keys

My name is Jonathan, and I'm eight years old. I used to live in a house with a mommy and a daddy. I used to have a little brother and a baby sister. They were really cute, especially my sister. Sissy's three months old. She smelled soft and laughed a lot, although mommy said it was just gas. I asked daddy once how could gas make you laugh? He winked and me and made a sound with his hand against his mouth the sounded like a fart. It made me laugh and then I understood. I miss them, but Dr. Meinost said I can't see them yet. I don't like him.

I used to live in a pink house with soft green grass that felt good against my face. I used to live in a nice house, but now I stay in a little gray room with wires on the window. I don't want to be here, but they won't let me go home. Dr. Meany says it's not safe for me at home. Why not? Daddy never hit me, he never even spanked me. Not once. He just told me that he was sad when I would do something wrong. It would make my tummy feel tight and funny, so I didn't do that anymore.

Mommy never yelled, she just smiled at me and my brother and sister. My sister's just a baby and my brother isn't even three yet, so why isn't it safe? He never answers my questions, he just writes on his papers and watches me. I hate it when he writes. He makes scratchy noises. The scratchy noises make my tummy hurt. Really bad. I told him that once, but he just stared at me and wrote on his paper. I think he did it on purpose, to see if I was lying. I threw up on his shoe, and I felt better.

I hate it at night here. When the sun's up, you don't notice the quiet. There's always people around, so somebody's making noises. Not at night. It's too quiet at night. Mommy used to let me play the radio, real soft so it wouldn't wake up my sister. Dr. Meany says a radio would keep me up, so he took the one mommy gave me when I came here. I don't like him.

I want to go home. I miss my brother and sister. I don't like the gray room and the too quiet nights. I want my radio back. I want my grass and my pink house! I want…what was that?

"Hello?"

My voice sounds really loud in the quiet. The moon's really bright tonight, so I can see my whole room. The moonlight makes it look blue, like water. That's pretty. I wish the room would stay this color in the morning. I…what is that?

"Hello?"

This time the question is quiet, so it won't sound so loud. My tummy hurts a little. There's a sound outside the door, like scratching. It's making my tummy hurt really bad. The nurse said I should call her if it hurts really, really bad, but I don't want to move. I feel cold and thirsty. I think I'm cold 'cause I'm shivering really badly. Scratching at the door is getting harder. My tummy starts to hurt so bad I think I'm going to throw up, but nothing comes. It's just keeps hurting.

Why am I crying? I didn't hurt myself today, so why am I crying so hard? The scratching is faster and it sounds funny because the door is made of metal instead of wood. Wood? Why do I think it would sound different on wood?

I want my daddy! The blanket is thin and it doesn't stop me from shivering, but it muffles the scratching a little. My tummy hurts so baaddd!! I wanna go home! I hate Dr. Meany, I hate him!!! Home is safe! Mommy and Daddy love me and they keep me safe!!

Rocking helps my tummy a little. Mommy said she used to rock me when I was a baby, like my sister. I wish she could rock me now. My sister used to love that.

Used to? Where is my sister? I hug the pillow tight. That's a stupid question, but it makes my chest tight. Like I want to cry.

She's in her cradle, under the ground. My tummy hurts!! Babies don't sleep underground, only dead people sleep underground.

It hurts so bad and the scratching is getting louder!

Is my sister dead? She can't be dead. How could she die, she just got here?

Little things got her. Little mean things, like Dr. Meany only worst. I tried to tell mommy and daddy, but they said I was just dreaming. I tried to tell them the mean things wanted to hurt the baby and they had to keep her safe. Daddy had frowned at me like I had said a bad word and sent me to bed. I heard him and mommy talking about me being jealous. I wasn't jealous, I was scared. The little mean things were going to hurt the baby. I snuck out my room and hid under her crib with a flashlight and a baseball bat. I made sure to lock the door.

Mommy my tummy hurts so bad!!! Make it stop, please someone make it stop!

I think I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up, the baby was screaming. I've never heard screams like that. I was so scared I peed on myself just like a little baby, but I couldn't help it. All I could hear was screaming and scratching. Mommy and daddy couldn't get in because I'd locked the door. I wanted so bad to go open it, but the scratching was so loud. That was the first time my tummy hurt for something other than daddy's frowns.

My sister stopped screaming, but the scratching kept on and on. It seemed to last all night. Something wet was falling on me from out of the crib. I couldn't see, because it was so dark, but it smelled like pennies.

Something told me it was bad. Something told me to lay really still and quiet. If I cried, the scratching would make me scream too, so I squeezed my eyes tight and laid still.

I don't remember when mommy and daddy came in, but I remember them crying. Mommy was crying so badly that daddy had to make her leave the room. She never saw me, but daddy had. When he came back, he picked me up and gave me a bath. I didn't ask him about my sister, all I could think about was the scratching.

Why can't the nurse hear the scratching? Where is she? My tummy…

After the bath, daddy put me to bed. I thought I would never sleep again, but I did. The next day, mommy and baby sister weren't at breakfast. I asked daddy where they were, but he didn't say anything. He just told me to finish eating and then go get dressed. I did and we both got in the car.

I pull the pillow over my head to make the scratching sound go away. It helps a lot and my tummy stops hurting so much. Where is the nurse?

We drove for a long time. Daddy had turned on the radio and I sang songs. I thought that maybe the scratching had just been a bad dream. I fell asleep and when I woke up, we had stopped in front of a big building. Even though the sun was bright and the grass looked pretty, I didn't like the way it looked. I asked daddy why we were there, but he wouldn't tell me. That's when I met Dr. Meany.

It's quiet. The scratching's stopped. My tummy feels really better now. The moon is so big and pretty, I want to go to sleep now.

Dr. Meany told me that I would be staying at the big building for a little while. I told him no thank you. Daddy said I would have to be good for the doctor. I asked him why. I was crying just like my brother does when he doesn't get something he wanted, but I didn't care. I wanted to go home, I still do. That's when daddy told me that he wanted me to be safe from the little mean things. He said that when it was safe, he would come get me.

That's when I knew the little mean things had gotten my baby sister. I told daddy I would be brave. I told him I was sorry I hadn't been brave enough to stop them from hurting my sister. Daddy looked like he was going to cry. I told him to be brave for mommy. I wanted him to hug me, but he didn't. I didn't understand, but the nurse came and brought me to this gray room.

I'm getting sleepy, but the noise is keeping me up. The scratching is starting again and my tummy hurts.

Dr. Meany asked me lots of questions, most of them were stupid. He only wanted to know why I was jealous of my sister, or did I think mommy and daddy loved her more than me. At first, I just answered politely, like mommy taught me. I wanted to be good so I could go home. But soon I realized that Dr. Meany wouldn't let me. He kept telling Daddy (mommy was sick and couldn't come) that I wasn't making enough progress. That's when I started to hate him.

Am I being silly, or is the scratching louder? I want the nurse, and I have to pee.

I tried to tell the truth, about the little mean things, but Dr. Meany wouldn't listen to me. He told me that I was being silly. He said they couldn't be real. I told him they were nightmares. He said I was agreeing with him. I said no. The little mean things were bad dreams that go out and didn't want to go back. He asked me how were they trying to stop going back. I couldn't answer him because he was writing on his paper and it was making my tummy hurt.

The scratching is so loud! I know the nurse can hear it. I really have to pee, so I peek out from under the blanket. The room is so bright and blue. I run to the bathroom. The light is bright and makes my eyes hurt. I feel better after I pee and drink some water from the sink. I don't really want to go back to bed because I can't hear the scratching from in here, but I want to lay down.

I run back to bed, but leave the door to the bathroom open. I like the light, it makes me feel better. Dr. Mean doesn't believe me about the mean things and he says the pain in my stomach is all in my mind. I think he's stupid. If your tummy hurts, what does your mind have to do with it?

I'm so sleepy but the scratching is so loud it's making my head and tummy hurt. I need to do something.

I know I can do it. Daddy said to be brave. The chair by the window is heavy and it takes a while, but I push it over to the door. I climb up on it to look out of the little window with the funny wires in the glass. Maybe I can see the nurse.

The moonlight through the big window in the hall is really bright, just like in my room. It let's me see everything.

I jump off the chair wrong and hit my elbow on the arm of it. I'm crying, but I don't care if I look like a baby anymore. I want to go home. I want to go home now. Daddy was wrong. Dr. Meany was wrong. I get in bed and pull the blanket around me tight and shut my eyes, trying not to hear the scratching. I'm just waiting until morning.

The nurse isn't coming. She can't. The mean things got her. They're outside in the hallway. They're everywhere and they're the ones scratching at the door. Daddy was wrong, this big building isn't safe, not anymore. Maybe it never was.

When Dr. Meany comes tomorrow, I'll try to run away and hide someplace. Or maybe not. The door is metal, so it would take them a long time to scratch through it. Maybe forever.

Dr. Meany's going to ask me if I know what happened to the nurse. He'll blame me, even though I couldn't have done it. He didn't understand what I was trying to tell him before. No one did. I told mommy and daddy to watch out for the little mean things because I saw them the night they came out of my head.

Dr. Meany once asked me why was I scared of things that I made? Wasn't I their door? Wasn't I their creator, their maker? The little mean things wouldn't hurt their maker, would they?

He doesn't understand. I didn't make them and I'm not the door. They're old, so very old. They were trapped someplace small and dark and mean, like them. I opened the door for them somehow, I didn't do it on purpose and I don't know how to send them back! I'm the key that opened the door and the mean things will do anything not to be locked up again.