The Door We Closed Twice

After school, Aya, Ken, and Hana returned to the green door behind the hall. The blue line was gone, but the door looked older than before. A white glove lay beside the step.

Ken picked up the glove. “It is better to close the door and leave,” he said. Hana thought staying was better than guessing. Aya listened to both ideas.

The handle moved before anyone touched it. A quiet room appeared behind the door, with three chairs and a clock at 7:13. On one chair was a blue notebook.

Aya chose to take a picture, while Ken chose to close the door. Hana chose to call the manager. Their choices were different, but each one kept the others safe.

The door shut. A minute later, the manager arrived and found an ordinary storage room. It looked the same as the storage room they knew. He said the three friends had been scared by an old spring. They thanked him and walked home together.

At the corner, Aya looked at her picture. The room was still there, but the chairs were now empty. Under the photo, a sentence appeared: “The second closing was kinder than the first.”