On the Other Side of the Door

She came back home from a morning class

And she thought to find him there,

She called for him in the morning room

And she climbed the wooden stair,

She called him up on her mobile phone

And she said, ‘Where are you, Sam?’

His voice came nervously, in reply:

‘I don’t know where I am!’

 

The signal crackled, then faded out

And it came back in again,

She heard him mutter and try to shout,

His words reflected pain,

‘I don’t know how to get back,’ he cried,

‘That door down by the stair,

It opened up and it shut me out,

When I looked, it wasn’t there!’

 

‘There isn’t a door by the stair,’ she said,

‘There isn’t a door at all,

You must have fallen and hit your head,

There’s blood on the stairway wall.’

‘It’s true that I must have cut myself

When the door had swung ajar,

But the house has gone, I’ve moved along,

And I don’t know where you are.’

 

‘Well tell me how I can find you, and

I’ll get some help to search,

I might have to call an ambulance

If you’ve fallen off your perch.’

‘This isn’t a joke, I’m not insane,

But my world has turned about,

I tell you the door just disappeared

When it closed, and shut me out.’

 

‘I’m out in the woods, beside a stream

With a girl that looks like you,

I know she’s not, but she says she is,

And her name is Mary, too!

She swears that she’s the original

And that you must be a clone,

She told me about the guy you meet

When you’re safely on your own.’

 

Then Mary shook and she went quite pale

And she said, ‘It isn’t true!

There was a fellow that came my way

But I swear, he looked like you.

He had me fooled for a moment there

But I knew it when we kissed,

And then I thrust him away, and said

‘Your lips don’t taste like this!’’

 

He breathed a sigh as she wiped her eye

And he heard her cry on the phone,

‘I shouldn’t have doubted you, my dear,

But I’ve been so long alone.

Our lives had drifted apart, so much

That I wondered if you cared,

We allowed ourselves to be led, instead of

The love that we should have shared.’

 

‘Look for the door by the bottom stair,

When it opens, come to me,

Then we can be together again

As good as it used to be,

We’ll live the life that we should have lived

Before, when our love was true!’

‘Don’t ever question my love,’ she said,

My only love is you!’

 

A door came shimmering into view

At the bottom of the stair,

And swung out wide, on the other side

Was her twin, she would declare,

She pushed on through, and into the house

As Mary went through the door,

And turned to look, as the building shook

And sank to the forest floor.

 

Then Sam had taken her in his arms

As he had, when they were young,

And spun her dancing between the trees

As she laughed, her eyes had shone,

While up in the house, the clones had stared

For their love had been a sham,

‘We’re not going to make it now,’ he said,

‘I don’t know where I am!’

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[R Smith]

marvelous David, your imagination seems boundless and as always a pleasure to read, this one is both funny and has a wisdom just beneath the surface as the lovers seemed to lose each other but true love won in the end, their false selves discarded, as I see it, thank you.

[TL Boehm]

another fascinating story. I sometimes ponder the possibility of multiple levels of existence - different realities, wormholes, - although it makes my brain hurt to do so.

[TPK Stories]

a love told in alternate dimensions. . .great story. . .yet sad. . .

[Avinash]

So many relationships wear out during the course of time. It can be attributed to the fact the love which brought them together is ignored and mundane things take over. We need to reaffirm our love and renew the bond time to time and appreciate each other despite the boredom of continuity. It was a pleasure reading it.

[Woody]

oops. should be enthralling.

[Woody]

love lost and found. what a delightful read, David! inthralling.
always a pleasure to read you.

[Marie]

Oh my. I think these people were getting lost in alvternate dimensions.

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

A classic read that is insightful and telling to the reader - always enjoyable my darling.

[Jennie Baron]

I too certainly have to praise your imagination, and this is a memorable and amazing story. It grabbed me from beginning to end. Wonderful work, David!

[MomzillaNC]

What a wonderful love story. You wove a tale of the struggle to find and stay the course of true love, of the masks we wear that get in the way and the walls we build to protect our hearts; then, finally, we trust and embrace with our hearts and the masks fall off as the walls fall away. You've presented this in such a delightful and fantastical way too! All around wonderful and completely engaging!