The Door

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                                                                                    The Door



It would have been better if the door had remained locked. Keeping the door locked would have kept Joe and Mike from entering their Father's laboratory. Then, the twins, Joe and Mike, would never have entered their



Father's laboratory. At eight years old they knew their Dad worked with atoms but did not understand what that meant.



When Joe pushed the door open," Mike shouted, {c:redJoe we're not allowed in there! Mike was shouting, don't go in there, as Joe was pushing the door open. Come on Mike, I want to see what it looks like." They walked into a big room with all sorts of apparatus on the counter tops and hanging from the walls. Amazement



spread over their faces when they saw a number of cages with rats, rabbits and monkeys inside them." He uses them for experiments, Mike".



In the middle of the room was a big glass chamber. Joe opened the door and stepped in. He smiled at Mike," pull the lever,



Doc." Mike laughed and pulled the lever. There was a flash of light and Joe was gone. As panic took hold, he whispered,



"am I imaging this?"



His Father came home but it wasn't until lunch time that he asked, "where's Joe? I think he went to the woods to find chestnuts, Dad."  "Mike, where's Joe? take your time, answer me honestly, now, where's Joe?



As they ate their tea his Dad suddenly said, "were you and Joe in the laboratory?" Mike looked at his Fathers face and it was the same face he'd seen when their Mother disappeared two years ago." Yes Dad,but... its ok Mike, tell me what happened. We were playing in the yard and Joe noticed that the door was open, so we went in for a look around. Then Joe went in the chamber and told me to pull the lever and he disappeared." " Dad, we did it for a laugh, I didn't think anything

would happen. Its all right Mike, I might be able to bring him back." They went over to the laboratory and Mike watched as his Dad hooked up some wires . Then he placed hairs from Joe's comb inside the chamber. Finally he pulled the lever.



When the flashing lights stopped,Mike saw Joe lying on the floor of the chamber. Mike saw Joe on the floor of the chamber after the lights stopped flashing. His Father pulled him to his feet and they hugged him. "Thank God you're all right Joe."



As they walked back towards the house, Joe gave a few hops. Mike looked at his Dad and they smiled at each other. "Did

you notice his ears, Father. Yes Mike, they seem to be longer. Does that mean we're going to be eating more carrots Dad?" Dad, are we going to have to eat more carrots from now on?{g;green} Dad, you know carrots are good for rabbits, do you think Joe will be adding carrots to his diet now?



The laboratory was closed a week later. Mike never asked his Father about his Mother's disappearance.



Written for the "Once Upon A Time Workshop"

Word count= 426