Episode 3

During the first of the snowy days, we had walked down the access trail to the base of the ravine. Built into one of the snow-covered hills was a rusty door. We almost didn't see it, set back and partially covered with overgrown weeds and now the snow. The door seemed like it hadn't been used in years, maybe was a sewer access or something, but it was warm to the touch; not warm enough to give off much heat, but certain not as cold as it was outside.

We had tromped around the ravine for a while, looking at trees and birds and the stream that trickles through one part of the culvert. Besides the strange door, nothing was really out of the ordinary.

By the next afternoon, the snow had stopped.

I went back to the ravine later, this time alone.
Most of our footprints had been covered up as the snow had continued to fall after our first excursion. In the small valley were more footprints. Fresh footprints. Footprints coming from the door.

After looking around, I walked up to the door. From the marks in the snow, the door needed to open inward. The footprints led out from the doorway and continued up the access trail, heading the way I had come. The door's hinges were hidden inside the door and only the smallest crack showed where the door was separated from the frame.

I tugged off my gloves and dug my keys out of my pocket. Using one of the keys, I scraped a small spot near the bottom of the door, in a place I hoped was unnoticeable under casual scrutiny. I scooped up what I had scratched off and held it close to my face. What I had originally assumed to be rust was in reality paint. The door was not rusty, it was painted to look aged.

I looked down at the footprints again and realized that now my footprints stood out in the clearing. I began to walk at random around the area, trying to make it seem as though I had been wandering around and wasn't only checking out the door. After I had convinced myself that the amount and pattern of footprints hid my true intentions, I walked back up the access trail to my house.

I was glad the ice on the parking lot kept me from leaving footprints all the way to my back door.