The Little Yellow Door

My college recently held a creative writing contest. I was super proud of my piece (I got 2nd place!) so I want to post it here on my professional blog. My entry was a fairytale about two children discovering a secret door.

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Molly, a polite and curious little girl, has just discovered something hidden in the back of the Blackwood Manor library. In a cabinet down by the floor was a little yellow door. This wouldn’t be so strange, as Blackwood Manor held all kinds of secrets, but it was the door that was strange. It was nothing like any of the other doors in Blackwood Manor, the wood was splintering and the paint chipping.

This little yellow door, Molly noted, was a true find.

“Excuse me?” said a pert and irritating voice, “Why do you have your head in a cabinet?”

Molly pulled her head from the cabinet, where she found Peter Blackwood looking down at her, his arms crossed and brows furrowed.

  “None of your business,” Molly sniffed, as she didn’t like Peter very much. He was a rude little boy who seemed to be under the impression that he deserved everything.

“None of my business!” Peter parroted. “I am Peter Blackwood!” he declared, waving a finger in Molly’s face. “You are supposed to obey me!” As if to make his point, Peter stamped his foot.

Molly could feel her cheeks blushing. “W-well,” she stuttered, “for someone so important, you’re an idiot!”

Peter’s jaw dropped, and he stood there stunned. Then, as if to explode, he started stomping his foot and raising his arms around, yelling, “Tell me why!”

Not wanting to get in trouble for upsetting Peter, Molly quickly shushed him. “I found a little yellow door in the cabinet,” Molly explained, thankful that it made Peter quiet down.

“A door?” Peter asked, looking at Molly as if she’d lost her mind. Then he started throwing his head back, laughing, “You silly little girl! There are no yellow doors in Blackwood Manor!”

“There is, too!” Molly huffed and glared at Peter.

Peter’s laughter ceased, and he glared back at Molly. “No! There! Isn’t!” he yelled, stomping his foot. “I know all the secrets of Blackwood Manor! And there are no little yellow doors!”

“Not all the secrets,” Molly sniffed, “because I just found one!”

“Fine!” Peter snapped upon seeing Molly’s smile, “Prove it!”

Molly scooted away from the cabinet’s entrance and gestured for Peter to look inside. Peter gave Molly a skeptical look but crouched down anyway. When Peter gasped, Molly could no longer hold onto her laughter, and fits of giggles poured from her lips. It was when she heard the sound of an iron latch releasing that her laughter ceased. “Peter!” she gasped, realizing that Peter had opened the little yellow door. “It’s my secret! Let me see!”

“Wait your turn!” Peter snapped.

Upset, Molly shoved Peter into the cabinet and through the little yellow door.

As Peter groaned on the floor, Molly’s own jaw dropped. On the other side of the door was a teeny little cabin.

Molly followed Peter, who was now sitting upright, through the little yellow door. The owner of the cabin stood in the middle of the room, a teacup in one hand. The owner himself was quite strange; he looked like a hare, with small antlers protruding from his head.

“You’re a jackalope!” Peter gasped, pointing at the owner of the cabin.

“Peter!” Molly hissed, “Don’t point at people!”

Peter rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Molly. The Jackalope, grimacing, offered them a cup of tea, which Molly and Peter took gratefully.

  “Now, children,” the Jackalope said after a moment, “How did you get here?”

“Through the little yellow door,” Molly answered. Peter seemed to be distracted by the window.

“The door?” The Jackalope hummed, “The one that goes to the closet?”

“That’s the one!” Molly chirped.

The Jackalope’s eyes snapped to Peter, who was trying to peek out of a window. “Little boy!” The Jackalope gasped, “Get away from there!”

Peter huffed and crossed his arms. “I want to see outside!” he said, stomping his foot.

“Peter, you’re so rude,” Molly hissed.

Peter left the window with his face blooming red.

“No one can see you, children! this place is dangerous!” said the Jackalope.

“Dangerous?” Peter asked.

  “Incredibly,” The Jackalope answered, “If you are caught, you’ll be taken to the Queen.”

“A queen?” Molly gasped. She had never seen a queen before.

“Not a nice queen,” The Jackalope clarified. “A mean one! That will keep you from your family forever!”

At these words, Molly and Peter began to cry. “How will we ever get home!” she wailed.

The Jackalope pawed at his face. “Why not try going the way you came?” asked the Jackalope.

“Would that even work?” hiccuped Peter.

“Only one way to know for sure,” said the Jackalope as he set his teacup aside.

Molly and Peter looked at one another.

  Both came to the silent agreement that Molly was the braver of the two, something she accepted with a roll of her tear-stained eyes.

Molly opened the latch, and the door swung open. 

A dark little room stood before them, and Molly was greatly disappointed. She would never see her mother, and worst of all, she was stuck here with Peter.

“It worked!” Peter bellowed and zipped past Molly, into the teeny dark room and a much grander space beyond. It was then that Molly saw polished wood.

Blackwood Manor.

“Thank you,” said Molly to the Jackalope. “How will we ever repay you?”

The Jackalope smiled, his nose twitching, “Don’t worry, child, you will always be able to return.”

Molly frowned, though she didn’t question the Jackalope further.

When Molly exited the cabinet into Blackwood Manor, Peter was standing just outside.

“Do you really think I’m rude?” Peter murmured, his voice small.

“A little,” Molly admitted.

“Well,” Peter gulped, “I’ll be nicer from now on!”

“Really?” Molly blinked, hardly able to believe it.

“Yes!” Peter said, “But only if you be my friend.”

“Alright. I’ll be your friend,” Molly said.

Peter’s face erupted into a smile. They were friends, and their adventure beyond the little yellow door was only beginning.