The Door

“Door? What door?” K. thought to himself. He waited until he was sure that the man’s light could no longer be seen, nor his footsteps heard. “I should find the woman, and retrace the mans directions. A door leads somewhere, and I’ll be happy if that someplace is out of here.” He walked towards’ the woman’s screams with his hands in front of his face. He was still afraid to turn on his lantern. Soon enough, he saw a faint light coming from the darkness. There were more squeaks and thuds coming from the direction of the woman.

“Oh no you don’t!” he heard a woman’s voice reply. “I’ll, why I’ll, I’ll kill you I will! I swear!” K. smiled as he realized that she had not yet noticed him and was instead talking to the rats. She screamed every time her foot successfully hit one. She looked up and screamed. “Shush, shush,” said K. calmly. He approached her to find that she was behind bars. He reached for her as to calm her. This startled her more so. Her fear of K. combined with the confusion of the rats, made the woman cry. K. realized that the woman was behind bars.

K. whispered to her, “Shush, it’s alright. Don’t cry. I’ll get you out of here, and we can escape together.”

“Who are you?” she sobbed. Her voice trembled though she tried to sound stern. The sound of fear was evident in her shaky voice. “Who are you, show yourself!”

“Shush, shush!” said K. “I will get you out of here, you can escape. I know how to get out of this labyrinth. That man mumbled a way out of here. I heard everything. Do you know where the man keeps the keys so that I can release you?”

“You, release me? Who are you? Are you a guard, an official? Who are you!” Her voice grew louder with her uncertainty.

“I am a friend.” replied K.

“What? A friend? More like a fellow prisoner. How do I know you are not responsible for your punishment? How did you escape? Talk to me! How did you escape? No, If you are what you say you are, you need to go back to your cell. They will know you are gone and come looking for you. They will find you! Go away! Leave! I will call the guards and distract them so that you can go back to your cell;  –guard! Guard!”

K. lit his lantern off of the one outside the woman’s cell. He realized that there was no use in trying to calm the woman, she was hysterical. In his fear, he made a run for it.

He ran, retracing the directions the guard had muttered. From a distance, K. saw a crack of light. As he got closer, he saw that this light outlined a door. K. dropped the lantern and ran as fast as he could towards the door. He turned the knob and slammed it behind him.

K. was blinded by the bright light. As his eyes adjusted to the change in light, he realized that he was familiar with his surroundings. K. was in the courthouse. K. turned around to look at the door he was now breathlessly standing in front of. On the door was a bronze inscription that read:

-Examining Magistrate-

K. slowly backed away from the ominous door, half expecting the man he saw to come bursting out of it. He needed to leave the courthouse. He buttoned his coat, wrapped his scarf around his face to deflect the anticipated cold, and put his gloves on his dry hands. He opened the door to outside, and did not look back until he returned home.