Black coat, White Coat

I stepped forward and took a deep breath. Two doors towered above me. If I didn’t choose a door quickly, the man in the black coat would drag me back to the basement. The door on the left shined a bright blue, cloaked with a robe of flower petals, and scented like leaves of lavender. The right door, however, was littered with thorns and raven feathers. I could feel the air thicken as I stared at the knob, covered with a sticky, red substance. But there I was, inching closer and closer to the door of horror. Suddenly, I heard steps approaching from behind. It was time to make my move. I lifted my hand shakily and turned the cold knob. I jerked the door open and took a step forward into the dark abyss that stood before me. I heard a laugh in the distance as the door slammed and all became quiet.

As I stood in the center of a black mass, I tried to focus my eyes. Nothing happened. The room remained pitch black. I felt around me, but it was only air.

“Hello?” I began to scream. “Hello!” The words echoed through the air for what seemed like hours, but no voices returned. My breath began to shake as I fell to the ground. My knees hit first, but only for a second. I landed but was instantly bounced into the air. I hit the ground once more and was jolted slightly by the smooth terrain under me. I grazed my fingers across the surface and instantly knew that I was on rubber. I lied down on my stomach against the rubber and attempted to peer through the substance. The rubber stretched around my face and began to pull me into it. My muffled screams quickly faded as the rubber ripped and I fell. I forced my eyes closed, but slowly opened them once more and was blinded by a blue light. Was this what heaven looked like? Was this the afterlife?

I continued to fall, but the fear subsided. I was surrounded by trees of every height, dwarf and skyscraper. A pool of water lay directly below me. The sky above was black, and I could see the rip from where I came. I looked down again. The water was right below, only a few feet away from my face. I braced myself for the impact.

I hit the ground with a thud. “Agh” I exclaimed as the air was knocked out of me. I stood up and glanced around. The water was fake. As I was taking in my surroundings, an army of individuals marched forward. Clad in dark robes and goggles only worn by snowboarders, these men looked as if they were old enough to have lived during the extinction event of the dinosaurs. Was that during the Jurassic or the Cretaceous period? I thought to myself. It didn’t matter either way.

The men surrounded me and stuck out their arms, in a salute-like manner. I placed my hands out in front of me and attempted to smile. Instantly, the men jumped back and hissed.

“I’m sorry!” I yelled. The circle of men parted slightly as a woman in a bright orange dress skirted past them. She held out her arms in the same manner as the men, but I stood stiff.

“The warrior has arrived.” She said, almost whispering. I peered down at my body. Tattered shoes, kakis pants, noodle arms, and the self-confidence of a bedwetter peered back at me. I stuttered as I began to speak.

“I am…I am… Not a… not a war… warrior, Ma’am.” I replied. She scoffed.

“Did you or did you not pass through the great barrier to rescue our land from the Coated Man?”

“You know the man in the black coat?” I shivered at the name. The woman nodded.

“He has been our biggest provider and our greatest enemy since the beginning of time. Every year he supplies us with a sacrificial offering to gift to the gods. A child unlike any other.” I gulped as the words escaped her lips. I began to back away, but was stopped by the old men.

“These children always choose the door that speaks to them. The door with painted roses and the smell of lavender.”

“Did you exit the blue door?” She asked. I shook my head. Her face dropped. “You are not the sacrifice. The offering enters there.” The woman pointed into the distance. On the opposite side of the forest was a slide; the kind of slide that any child would beg their parents to go down thirty times before leaving a park. “Where then, did you come from?” she asked.

I pointed to the sky, where the hole remained.

“Up there.” I whispered. The army of men gasped and fell to their knees, heads against the ground. The woman took a deep breath and sunk to her knees as well.

“My king.” She coughed. The words rang in my ears and the world began to spin. King? Me, A king?

The men stood, followed by the woman. She began to walk laps around me as she shouted indiscernible words into the sky. Suddenly, I heard a scream in the distance. The crowd of men began to walk across the land, toward the slide.

“The sacrifice is here.” The woman said. “As king, it is your duty to fulfill the act of offering. The gods have chosen you. Through the dark door you appeared, and through the Barrier you have landed.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the slide. The screams became louder as a blob slid down the massive slide unknowingly into its death. The largest old man from the army approached me and placed a sword into my hands. As the blob hit the bottom of the slide, I instantly recognized the child. Christopher.

Before my trek to the two doors, I had been a pediatric surgeon. Christopher had been the only child that I had ever lost. His family refused to take him off of life support, though his health had been wavering for a year. His heart was okay, but his brain had no activity. Car accidents were always the worst. We tell parents each and every day not to let their children ride in the front seat until they are twelve, but they never listen. Christopher’s parents regretted that decision every day afterward. I had finally convinced them that Christopher was never going to come back, and they begrudgingly let me pull the plug on their only child. A little of me died that day.

“King?” I was shaken back from my thoughts. “The gods are waiting for you.” The woman motioned toward the boy, shaking with fear. Tears spilled down his cheeks.

“What did I do wrong?” He pleaded.

“Nothing, son.” I choked. “You did nothing.” I closed my eyes and raised my sword as I took a deep breath. Ending someone’s life is an everyday occurrence in hospice and hospitals. Humans die every 5 seconds, give or take. Taking someone’s life, now that was something different. I took one more deep breath and gripped the sword harder. Before I could bring the sword down, a high-pitched ringing filled the air and everything went black.

****

“Make it stop.” I awoke with a cough as the ringing began to subside. My eyes fluttered open to see nothing but white. My arm was sore.

“He’s awake!” A woman exclaimed. I sat up and immediately recognized the white walls. I looked around as the woman made the ringing of the machine cease.

“Dr. King,” Another voice, deeper voice rang out. “I thought we were going to lose you for a second, there.” My friend, Paul entered the room as a group of individuals wheeled a cart through the doors in the opposite direction.

“What happened?” I asked.

“You had a heart attack after you pulled that little boy off of life support.” He replied. My eyes widened and my chest grew tight.

The man in the black coat had been death. The doors had been a dream, a channel through heaven and hell. I had chosen the wrong door, but I would never do it again.