The Adventures of the Not so Lost Girl
an excerpt

The door was like no door Adrianna had ever seen before. When she came through it, she didn’t really take good notice of it. The blinding pain in her face and the stinging sun in her eyes made short work of that. But now, staring up at it, she noticed how pretty it was. The door looked ancient. It was made out of a single piece of wood, or so she thought. Ornate carvings of mystical creatures, flowers, vines and patterns covered its surface. There were brass plates attached to it with brass fixings. There was only one thing missing from it… a handle. Adrianna remember that she had to push it very hard from the other side in order to open it. It defied all logic that it had no handle, so she searched the entire surface over again, just in case she missed it. Nothing. There was a very pretty knocker, similar to those on the tree houses scattered in the forest, but much larger. It was in the shape of a large, fully bloomed rose. It was very far off the ground, much higher than either of the three could reach.

“How does it open?” asked Adrianna in a soft voice, more to herself than to the others.

“I don’t have a clue.” answered Wunny, not noticing that Adrianna was talking to herself.

“How did you open it when you came here?” asked Edain.

“I had to push, very hard. But, there is no handle on this side. There was one on the other side, but still I had to push. Very strange.” said Adrianna, looking at and speaking to her two friends this time.

“Well, try pushing again.” said Wunny.

Adrianna walked to the far right hand side of the door and placed her hand on the cold surface. It felt as though it were made of metal. She remembered this about the door upon entering Phookland. She pushed, lightly at first, then harder. She placed her other hand on the door too, and braced herself to push much harder. It did not budge. Finally, she threw the weight of her body against the door but nothing, not even a creaking sound.

“Let’s try and help her.” said Wunny. So Edain, Adrianna and Wunny put their backs up against the door and heaved with all their might. It still did not move.

“We could try the other side.” suggested Edain. So the three of them went to the left and, with their backs pressed to the door, they pushed and heaved for a good minute. Still nothing. They were all confounded and stepped back from their obstacle only to gaze at it in bewilderment.