The Door Maker

The Doormaker walked along the street every day with many wooden doors strapped to his small wagon. Some people thought he was desperate for an extra nickel, and selling doors was the only way in his mind to do so. Most just thought he was crazy.

It was well known that he carved the doors himself. The elementary girls and boys would tease that he carved the hinges with the bones of children and polished the wood with blood. It was about as crazy as selling doors door to door, but I suppose every small, boring town needs its own horror story. 

“Don’t go outside dear.” My mother called from her seat in the living room. I was caught red handed with my hand reaching toward the doorknob. “The Doormaker is out there.” My mother was just as paranoid as the town. I sighed.

“He has a name doesn’t he?” I asked, taking my hand from the door and shoving it in my dress pocket. “Why does no one call him by his name?”

My mother sighed, setting down her book. She never seemed to be without one. “Perhaps he doesn’t have one. He’s just been the Doormaker.” 

I peeked out the window, and there he stood, with his top hat, red wagon and blue collared shirt. Sure, the doors were odd but couldn’t be bad. I reached cautiously for the door knob again. 

“Mavis dear-” My mother started, but before she could finish I was already out on the porch, a small smirk splitting my lips. I sat on the bench, gazing at the wind in the trees. There seemed to be more of it recently. 

“Hello Miss!” I heard from beyond the white gate. I looked down as the doormaker tilted his hat politely toward me. 

“Hello.” I said cheerfully. “I’m sorry but my ma and pa aren’t interested in buying a door. They think you’re crazy.” I spoke frankly.

“They do, do they?” He chuckled. “I assume you don’t want one either.” He said, almost a quiet sadness in his voice. I tilted my head slightly in intrigue. 

“No need for one sir.” 

He sighed. “Well then, have a great day Miss.” He grabbed the handle of his red wagon again, and stepped forward. A whistle was on his lips. I laughed recalling the story my sister heard from her classmates that when the Doormaker whistled it was a secret spell to hypnotize humans. That was another thing. People assumed he wasn’t human, but he looked human to me. 

I stared up at the colored sky, feeling brave and all the more curious about the Door Maker. My thoughts were quickly interrupted as strong arms grabbed me from the waist and my eyes were suddenly staring at the red vest on my brother’s back. “Kiernan!” 

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He chuckled as he turned toward the door. “Mother wanted you to come inside.” 

I sighed. “Good. Then Ma can see that I talked to the Doormaker and came back unscathed.”

“You talked to him?” Kiernan asked, bewildered. He paused for a moment, before flipping me off his shoulder and gently to the ground. “Just be careful. He probably isn’t an evil warlock, but still no one knows who he really is.” 

“Maybe because we always turn him away, cause he’s a Salesman.” I folded my arms. Kiernan opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it. He shrugged and then laughed. “I suppose you’re right Mavy.” 

“I often am.” I said with a grin. “I guess I’ve learned that from you.”  

“You’ve learned it from me huh?” Kiernan said with a small smile. “Just be careful about that man Mavis.”

“I will.” I assured him as I opened the door. “Though why is just talking not being careful? I talk to you all the time.” He merely rolled his eyes as he followed behind me. The door shut behind him with it’s customary creaking. 

“Mama, I got Mavis,” My brother called. I looked toward Ma's reading chair. Empty. The smells of dinner wafting through the house meant she moved to the kitchen. Kiernan must’ve noticed the same thing as we walked through the kitchen archway together. Mom stood at the table, her dark hair was up in a messy bun and in her hand, instead of her previous novel, appeared to be a cookbook. Atleast, from the picture of food on the cover. She had a knife in her hand. And that is when I finally remembered that I had disobeyed her by going outside.  

“Before you get all worried ma, I’m okay and was not kidnapped by the evil warlock.” I said and walked over to the table. I grabbed another knife to help cut some vegetables. 

“The evil warlock.” Poppy repeated. I glanced over to see my little sister hop in from the living room. My dad followed behind her. “Dannie said he saw the doormaker chiseling a bone yesterday! Probably for the door hinges!” She announced, prancing around the kitchen. 

“Poppy dear- there is no need to spread around gruesome rumors.” My mom said. I agreed with her. One thing always astounded me how intrigued little poppy was with all the scary lies of her classmates. “And Mavis he’s not some warlock.”

“He is an enigma though. Yesterday he asked about just giving me a door, for free.” My papa said. “Insisted it would be very useful for an emergency panic room. That man has some strange advertisement ideas.”

That man. Everyone always referred to him as such. That reminded me of my conversation from earlier. “Papa, do you know if the Doormaker has a name?” I asked.

“I have no idea Mavy.” He said, patting me on the head before moving to his wife. He gently grabbed her shoulder and pecked her on the cheek. “How can I help?” He asked. My mom motioned for him to continue cutting her vegetables as she walked off to work on something else.

Kiernan, as he often did, started singing a song while cutting potatoes and we’d all joined in. I liked days like these. They were calm and peaceful as my family worked and sang together. 

Poppy and I helped set the table as Kiernan and my parents finished cooking. The delicious smells of freshly cooked vegetables and chicken filled the kitchen. I sat gleefully at the table, quickly joined by my family. Dinner was blessed and eaten in a flash and suddenly we were working again to clean the dishes. While walking my plate to the sink, a shiny object caught my eye. A dime lay alone on the floor. I was struck with an idea and slipped the small object in my pocket. 

“Whatcha got there Mavis?” Kiernan asked suspiciously as he scrubbed his plate. 

“Nothing.” I replied gleefully. He looked at me and shrugged. After placing my dishes in the sink I swiftly went out the front door. 

The sun was setting, filling the sky with orange and pink hues. I sat on the bench again, fingering the coin in my pocket. The Door Maker passed by again, his wagon still full. I waved at him.

“Still out here?” He asked cheerfully as he stopped his wagon beyond the gate again.

“Yes sir.” I responded. I walked to the gate, grabbed the coin and held it out to him.

“Here’s a dime. I don’t want a door but I want you to have it.” I said with a smile. He chuckled but shook his head.

“I don’t want your money.” He said, gently pushing my extended hand down. “I do appreciate the gesture though.”

“Then why do you go around selling doors door to door?” I asked.

“I just wish to be of help.” He responded with yet another smile. I looked at him confused. We already had all the doors we could need. What help would they be? “Besides I never said I was selling them.” I didn’t understand what he meant. He waved goodbye and walked off. I watched him walk for a moment, watching as the old wagon wheels turned, until he seemed to disappear in the distance. I sighed as I walked inside. 

The next week went by in a blur. The weather outside was suddenly sweltering hot. You’d think the howling winds that whipped through the trees would have helped cool the air down but still it felt like an oven. No one wanted to step a foot outside, besides the Door Maker. 

I sat by the window and watched him as he walked. This time only one door was strapped to his wagon. I would’ve stopped him to ask if he had sold any, but he was walking fast and looked incredibly anxious.

Suddenly I heard a crashing noise coming from my parent’s room. Before I could get up to check what happened, I was thrown to the ground. Shattered glass was all around me. But the only thing I was focusing on was the big, black creature glaring at me.

I froze, staring at it’s soulless eyes. Suddenly the creature started screeching, which woke me up from my frozen terror. “Mom. Dad! Mom!” I yelled, inching backward. It lunged toward me and I bolted toward the door. Outside was worse. More of the black creatures flew around and I could see my neighbors running. “Dad!” I called again.

I ran to the back window where my parent’s room was. The window was also shattered. My parents were gone. I ran to the other window. Kiernan and Poppy were gone too. 

I looked back to the panicked streets. The Door Maker caught my eye. He looked so different. He still had his red wagon, he still had his top hat but he was running. I suppose everyone was, but he seemed to be running somewhere. Somewhere was better than the panicked nowhere everyone else was running towards. So, as much as my mother would have killed me if she knew where I was, if I knew where she was, I followed him.  

He couldn’t see me but still my arm raised frantically to get his attention. My mouth opened to shout toward him, to ask for help, but my gaze quickly fell upon another monstrosity. Flying above me, with large black wings and disgusting fangs. It stared at me, unblinking. I dove away, hiding behind two houses. Peeking out again, it flew off, off to terrorize some other innocent person. How in the world did this happen? 

“Mister-” I called frantically. He didn’t seem to hear me. 

He pulled the door off his wagon and stood it up on the side of a house. He opened the door and disappeared inside. I blinked. Where did he go? I looked around at all the panic and took a deep breath. Without thinking, I slipped in behind him. 

The door shut behind me and I was met with a sudden quiet. All around me were green fields and a peaceful breeze. 

I looked down to see the Door Maker, sitting in the grass with his shoulder slumped. His face was red and splotchy. “I tried. I tried. I tried.” His words choked in his throat.

“Mister?” I called as I approached him slowly. He looked up quickly, suddenly seeing me.

“Hello Miss.” He said, slowly getting to his feet. He tilted his hat politely at me. His face was still somber but he smiled. He suddenly mumbled to himself but I still could make out his words clear as day; “At least I was able to save one person.”