The door to my life

The note that was left under my door this morning was cryptic as it was obscure.  It was left under my door in a plain white envelope with my name printed in bold dark letters.  The note simply read:

Your life will be guided by the door you choose

One door will lead to success

One door will lead to your eventual doom

Be careful what door you choose

There was no signature and I did not know why I should have even received it.  I had no known enemies and few friends.  I lived a simple life as a carpenter for a local construction company.  So my first thought was that this was some kind of hoax and started to discard it into the kitchen trash receptacle.

But as I extended my arm to release the note, I felt cold air sweeping through my entire body.  It was almost as if the note were daring me to “just try and discard me”.

This is ridiculous, I thought to myself.  I am a grown man and I don’t believe in anything but what I can see for myself.  Whoever left me the note will make him or herself known and we will either have a good laugh or I’ll just leave it on the kitchen table where it will lose itself in the pile of other papers waiting to be disposed of.

I gave the note no further thought until the next morning.  It was than that I found another note, in the same handwriting underneath my door.   I opened the envelope with a sense of deeper curiosity only to read another odd message.  This message read as follows:

Take a walk along the white sandy beaches of Gargoyle

And you will sure to come across an empty edifice at the end of the walkway

Turn into that building and stop when you see portals before you

These are the portals that you must choose to determine your destiny

I will be there to greet you and become your guide

When the clock strikes midnight tonight

The note excited me, and I was determined to follow the instructions left by its owner.  I only lived about ten minutes from the beaches of Gargoyle so I left myself a good fifteen minutes before I took off on this journey.

When I arrived at the end of the walkway, I indeed saw a building that I had never noticed before.  The building was made of granite and stone.  I shivered as I stood in front.  Why had I never noticed this building before.  I have lived here since childhood.  Why didn’t I recognize it.  (Oh well, I thought, I am here now so I might as well enter its halls.  I know that I will not be alone and I will be able to meet my guide.

I stopped abruptly when I saw to plain doors before me.  Each was painted white; each had a knob centered in the middle of the door. There was no indication what waited for me behind the doors.

I stood there and studied the doors mentally for about fifteen minutes when I lightly placed my hand on the door to my right.  Was this the right door, and where was my guide.  There was nobody in sight.  There was not even the slightest breeze.

I entered the door and saw before me a long hallway.  The floors in the hallway were oak colored and shone like they had recently been treated with wax and had a fresh lemon scent.  To my right, was a door that led to a huge  library.  The books on the shelves were neatly arranged and boasted the titles of books that I had read in my past; and then I noted a group of books that I had wanted to read but never succeeded in finding.

The floor of this room was similar to the hallway of the entrance and was furnished with oak tables, a swivel chair and ottoman designed for comfort and enough light to read by at any hour of the day.  (Strangely, there were no windows or light fixtures in the ceiling, yet I knew that any lighting in this room would be favorable to any type of reading).

I felt footsteps behind me, but when I turned to see if my guide had walked in behind me, saw nobody.  Was my guide a spirit after all; someone that would only manifest himself in my dreams?  

As I crossed the room I saw another door that lead to a garden scene with a white picket fence.  The garden included a vegetable garden.  I smiled when I thought of all the vegetables that I could plant to fit my vegan lifestyle.  The honeysuckle trees that surrounded the garden in its entirety reached my nostrils almost immediately.  Finally, I noticed the swing set and trampoline tucked in the corner and I knew that my dream of having a family were not far off.

As I walked through each door, I realized that this was a visit to my future.  I was pleased with everything I saw until I walked into a very dark room, with a casket resting in the middle of a chapel.  I trudged carefully forward, fearing that I would see my own body laying in that coffin.  It was occupied by a very old man.  The man did not look like anyone I knew, but somehow I knew it had to me.  I suddenly felt a hand fall lightly on my shoulder and knew the answer.  Of course it would have to be my own mortality that I was observing.  

I am not sure how much time had passed since I entered that portal, but that was not important.  I woke up a few hours later to find another note that had been pushed under my door.  This time the note was longer and I felt a tear rolling down my face as I read what was written.  

You have seen your future

You know where your life will lead

I will always be there by your side to celebrate your trials and 

tribulations 

But there were two doors that you might have entered

Let me remind you of the words of Robert Frost --

The Road Less Taken

You chose the door on the right

And you will never know where the door to the left

Would have shown you

And that should make you wonder what have lain before you

I never had a second thought about what I saw that night and never wanted to know what the second door would have shown me.