Walking through the mangled trees, the tension in the air was so thick it was almost palpable. She continued to make her way down the cobblestone walkway that led to the old abandoned house. She had made a bet with her best friend that she could stay in the haunted house at the end of Broken Bend. She slowly crept up the driveway and onto the porch. She reached her hand up to strike the door, but withheld her grip.

    “What am I thinking?” she wondered aloud, “No one knocks on the door of an abandoned house.”

    She creaked open the rotting wooden door and it was heavier than she expected. Her footsteps sounded like gunshots echoing through the corridors of the dilapidated corridors. She knew the adventure wasn’t actually going to be dangerous. The only real risk was the instability in the ancient structure. 

    The creaking floor panels made her wince with every step. As she walked through the foyer and into the main hallway she could see spider webs and dust coating the stretch of hallway, giving it a ghostly aura.

“What a dump,” she said aloud to no one in particular. 

    The stuffy air was hard to breathe, but still she persisted. She wondered if her pride was truly worth the uncomfortable experience. Moving slowly across the house she eventually reached another door. She apprehensively brought her hand up to the handle. The instant before she grabbed it, millions of thoughts raced through her head. 

Where did the door lead? Wasn’t the house not large enough to have space for another room? But, this wasn’t another room. This was the only room. Scanning through her recent memories, she realized that there hadn’t been any other openings. There were no doors along the walls of the hallway nor anywhere else in the foyer. The startling thoughts gave her pause just before she latched onto the small metal rod sticking out of the side of the door. She examined the front of the door. It was white. Not just white, but ethereal. Even more ghostly than the cobwebs around her and yet it was alluring. The curiosity of the secrets it surely possessed had seized her and weren’t letting go. The cracks around the door seemed to be glowing, but only within her mind’s eye. As if she knew there was treasure behind it that the rest of reality hadn’t become aware of yet. She could hear the scattered scrambling sound of tiny feet skittering along the ground just beyond the threshold. It was too captivating to ignore any longer. She swung the door open with vigor. It wasn’t as weighty as the exterior door she had entered previously and felt like it almost opened itself. Like the door wanted her to come inside.

    The room revealed from behind the oak door was strangely beautiful. Despite the muted colors of the walls, there was life that was so precious, so magnificent lying just inside. Moss and grass covered the edge of the room and tiny critters scurried along the floor. She took a step into the room and it fell silent once again. The livelihood of the space felt interrupted by her presence. She took another step in and inhaled a deep breath. This air isn't stuffy. Not at all. This air felt even more free than the outdoors. This place felt more open than the vast oceans and yet more reserved than the privacy of one's own mind. The little slice of nature was a picturesque scene captured perfectly inside a forgotten structure.

    How had she never come here before? This wasn’t a dump. This was peace. This was tranquility presented in a way she had never even imagined. Staying here wouldn’t be a chore, it would be an experience. It was decided then and there that this was where she wanted to be.