"Do Not Enter"

"Do Not Enter"

Michael sat at his office desk staring out the window as the blizzard got worse. Almost everyone had already left expecting bad weather, so he was all on his own. “Should’ve left when they all did”, he thought to himself as he lazily brushed off some dust on his table. A half hour turned into two and the time kept passing but the skies didn’t show any signs of hope. “Ugghhhh!!”, Michael yelled starting to get annoyed. After a week of bearing with his boss and completing works before their deadlines, all he wanted was to sleep through the weekend. “Can’t I do that here too?”, he asked himself but even though he tried he couldn’t bring himself to sleep in that stuffy office. After a wait of a few hours, he finally began to think that he had lost it. He got up deciding some coffee would do him good. He went over to the coffee machine and got himself a cup. Along with the cup of coffee he decided to stroll around his workplace. Despite having worked there for years he barely knew anything about it. “For a place that looks so small from the outside it’s really huge in here”, he realized. Walking through the poorly lit corridors, he soon came to stumble upon a door with a label in bold saying ‘Do not enter’. “Hmm……...interesting.”, he thought as a smirk started to appear on his face. His hand reached out to the door handle and he entered a rather dark room. He reached around to find the light switch and turned them on. He looked around at the room that was visible only from the little bulb hung on the wall. “Oh……. it’s just a library”, he thought, rather disappointed. He wasn’t particularly expecting anything but he was still let down. Well, I guess that’s how life works anyway. Looking at all the books stacked on the wooden shelves he thought, “When was the last time I even looked at a book……...like the 12th grade?” He started forming an idea in his mind. “Let's start reading habits again. “He thought determinedly. If he were to fall into a conversation with a bunch of book enthusiasts at least he could suggest a couple of book names. He started picking book by book, but after just half a page of each, he kept it back. “I guess I wasn’t made for reading either then. ``he thought and went and sat on a chair. All he had to occupy himself with was his thoughts. As he sat staring at the paintings that were lined across the room, a thought struck him. “What if there was a hidden room behind the bookshelf?” He kept thinking about it until he realized “I must actually be losing my mind to think this is real right now.” But the thought kept bugging him. Anyways, it’s not like someone could judge him anyway. He was alone……... hopefully. He made his way to the shelves and started picking out all the books. After picking out a few books, suddenly…. the lights went out. “Great, what a perfect day”, he said sarcastically. He reached around with his arms, trying to find the  light switch . Once he found it, he  was about to turn it on but he was halted by a few sounds from the side of the room. He froze. “I must be imagining things'', he tried to convince himself but the sounds only became louder. It sounded like someone was struggling. Michael, though scared , somehow kept having the urge to turn on the lights. “This must be why people always look even if they shouldn’t in horror movies'', he thought. Slowly, the sounds started getting clearer. “Wait…”, he thought “that sounds more like…….a dog?” He finally picked up the courage and turned on the lights. The surroundings didn’t look familiar anymore but his eyes darted to the source of the sounds. He saw a little puppy’s tail stuck under the leg of a chair. Michael’s eyes immediately softened at the sight. He bent down and moved away the chair slowly to save the little puppy. He started to play with him, continuously ruffling his hair. “Who’s a good boy, yes you are. Yes you a- “but his playful words were paused as the little dog placed his paw up signaling no. Michael, a little taken aback, started ruffling his hair again “You’re a funny little thing aren’t you”, he smiled at the puppy. “Yeah I think that’s about time you stopped that. “, the puppy said with a ‘done’ face. Michael’s eyes immediately went wide and his jaw dropped to the floor. H-h-ow c-can you t-talk?”, he stuttered. “If you humans can speak, I don’t see why we shouldn’t.” the puppy explained. “Also, if you continue to widen you’re eyes like that they’ll probably pop out. So please stop, I don’t want to be responsible for that.” But that just made his eyes go even wider. He shook his head and then for the first time looked around him properly. He realized it was still a library, but a different one. “Why did I get myself into this mess”, he sighed. The puppy looked up at him, “Well at least because fools like you, fools like me can get out too.” “How did you end up here? Like aren’t we supposed to pull a book. How did you rea-” “Don’t even ask.” he said with his paw up. They both looked at the long shelves of books in front of them. “Let me guess, you need my help to start pulling all the books to get out, don’t you?”, Michael looked down at the puppy who in turn smiled dorkily and nodded. Michael sighed and thought, “Well, I guess we’re stuck to doing this''. He started pulling out book by book in hopes that he would be able to find the right one out. After a while of searching, he asked the puppy,” Hey, my name’s Michael by the way, what’s yours?” The pup thought for a while and replied “Well, I guess I’ve never really had one, I am a stray pup after all.” “Then I’m going to call you………... Philip'' he remarked.  “Lysimachus Alexandarius Philip. Finally, I can call someone that.”, Michael smiled. “Really Michael? Really?”, he said rather judgingly. “Mhm'', Michael said smiling dorkily. The pup just rolled his eyes. He knew arguing with THAT was just a waste of time so he gave in (although with some reluctance). They continued searching, not missing a single book. It had been more than hour since they had started searching, but all of it was up to no avail. Michael finally sat down exhausted from all the searching, “Philip, I don’t think we’ll be getting out of here.” “How positive of you”, Philip said sarcastically. Michael, paying no attention continued,” Even if we die in hear no one will know we’re gone. I mean is anyone even searching for us. But I guess it’ll be good if they don’t find us. Pulling a book in a forbidden room and ending up somewhere else wouldn’t give me the smartest image.” Philip rolled his eyes at the red-faced man. His hair was completely disheveled from pulling it out of frustration. And his clothes were all messy. Overall, it wasn’t a pretty sight. But Michael looked at Philip smiling and said, “But at least I made a friend like you.” Philip smiled back warmly, wagging his tail. He was happy too. 

As they were about to get up to search again, they suddenly heard the sound of a door opening. They looked at each other, smiles appearing on their faces. Michael’s colleague who had just entered was pulled into a big hug he was not expecting. “How did you find us?” Michael asked, relieved to have known he wouldn’t die in there. “Ummm…...the door……...it was left open”, his friend said pointing to the door at the corner of the room. Both Michael and Philip looked at each other dumbfounded. Philip would’ve given him a good bite too if it weren’t for that colleague in front. “Right……the door”, Michael nervously laughed. “Yeah, I was searching for you as the weather had gotten better and I figured you’d want to go home.” “Thanks a lot man.”, Michael said and left the room with Philip. “You are a complete idiot.”, Philip exclaimed. “What does that make you then hmm?”, Michael smirked with raised eyebrows. Philip stayed silent knowing he’d never be able to find a good comeback to that. Michael collected his stuff and headed out with Philip following close by. Once they reached the exit, they stood to face each other and Philip spoke, “Well I had a good time I suppose.” “Yeah “, Michael smiled at his friend and they both started to walk in opposite directions. But after a few steps Michael paused and called out to Philip, “Hey, want to crash at my place for a while.” “I guess I might be able to bear you for a while.”, Philip replied trying to sound disinterested, but his happy wagging tail proved him wrong. Michael stopped and Philip ran back to him. And they both walked back home  leaving a new pair of footprints in their lives.