The Red Door

18-03-24

Finn was an explorer at heart, even if his explorations rarely ventured beyond the overgrown edges of his grandfather's sprawling backyard. One humid afternoon, while chasing a particularly plump bumblebee, he stumbled upon something he'd never seen before a red gate.

It wasn't a grand entrance, more of a rickety wooden frame nestled between two ancient oaks, barely noticeable beneath a curtain of ivy. Curiosity pricked Finn like a thistle. He'd never seen a gate in the backyard before. The latch, a rusty crescent moon, seemed to beckon him.

Ignoring a nagging voice in his head, Finn pushed. The gate creaked open with a groan that echoed through the heavy air. A cold gust of wind whipped past him, smelling faintly of sulfur. He peered through the narrow opening. All he saw was an inky blackness.

Hesitantly, Finn stepped through. The world went dark. He stumbled, heart hammering in his chest. When his vision adjusted, he gasped. He wasn't in his grandfather's backyard anymore.

A desolate landscape stretched before him, bathed in an eerie, blood-red light. Twisted, skeletal trees clawed at the sky, and the ground was littered with cracked black rocks. In the distance, monstrous shapes lumbered about, their guttural roars shaking the air.

Panic surged through Finn. He had unleashed something terrible. Turning back, he sprinted towards the now-glowing red gate. It seemed impossibly small, a mocking reminder of his naivete.

He burst back into the overgrown clearing, the familiar sight of his backyard a beacon of relief. Just as he slammed the gate shut, a long, clawed hand shot through, scraping against the wood. The roar that followed was ear-splitting.

Finn threw himself against the gate, his small body straining to keep it closed. The gate pulsed with an ominous red light, the force pushing from the other side immense. Tears streamed down Finn's face, his breath ragged.

Suddenly, the red glow died. The air grew still. The monstrous hand vanished. Panting, Finn collapsed onto the damp grass. He'd done it. He'd closed the gate.

But the damage was done. Strange creatures began appearing on Earth, one by one. Grotesque imps with razor-sharp teeth terrorized towns, shadowy serpents slithered through cities, and the once-peaceful night sky was marred by the fiery glow of the otherworldly dimension.

Finn, once an ordinary boy who chased bumblebees, became a reluctant hero. Armed with his grandfather's old atlas and a fierce determination, he set out on a quest to find a way to permanently seal the red gate, forever separating his world from the nightmare he'd unleashed. The fate of Earth now rested on the shoulders of a small boy with messy brown hair and a heart full of regret.