The Blue Door Read Online Free Page A

angels.”
    “And what is an angel
supposed
to look like?”
    The sound of footsteps came from the back room, and Prissie’s mouth snapped shut as her brother and the mailman returned. “Sorry it took us so long; I managed to drop a box, and it took a while to pick up everything,” Milo said sheepishly. “Did we take too long?”
    He and Harken exchanged a long look, and Prissie saw her chance to escape. She needed a little room to think. “I’ll take one,” she offered.
    “Me and Milo can handle these, Priss,” Beau said.
    “Milo
and I
,” she corrected. “I’m here to help, so I’ll help, too.”
    Prissie lifted the box, which was really quite heavy for its size, and headed into the back room, which was another warren of shelves. Cartons and stacks of boxes were everywhere, and against the far wall were two doors, one green and one blue. As she stood contemplating her options, Beau nearly bumped into her, his arms manfully weighed down by two boxes. “Which door do we use?” she asked.
    Her brother gave her a strange look. “Is that supposed to be some kind of trick question?”
    Prissie huffed. “There’s no reason to be rude. I was only asking!”
    “There’s only
one
door, Priss,” he said sarcastically. “Use it.” She gawked after him as he trudged across the room and turned to push open the green door with his hip. Cocking a brow at her, he disappeared into the late summer sunlight.
    For a long moment, she stood still, but then she set her box on the corner of a desk and tiptoed to the blue door. It looked old — partly because the color had faded to a milkier hue in spots, and partly because people just didn’t make doors like this one anymore. The entire surface had beenintricately carved. Leaves, fruit, and flowers nestled among crisscrossing vines in an ornate border. Two trees stood in the center, their uppermost branches twined together.
    The doorknob shone like a luminous crystal; flashes of different colors lurked beneath its smooth surface. When she took hold it hummed beneath her palm, sending an almost musical note through her body, right down to the soles of her feet. “First an invisible boy, now an invisible door?” she murmured.
    “So you can see this as well,” Harken remarked. Milo strode past with another couple of boxes in his arms, but not without giving her an encouraging grin. Koji padded into the room on bare feet and brightened.
    “Where does it lead?” Prissie asked.
    “That’s an interesting question,” the shopkeeper replied. “In one sense, it leads nowhere; in another sense, it leads us toward heaven. Since you’re capable of
seeing
the door, let’s see if you can step through it.”
    Koji’s dark eyes sparkled. “I hope so!”
    His excitement lessened Prissie’s nervousness enough for her to try. The knob turned easily, its latch clicked softly, and a warm glow seeped through the narrow opening she’d created. She hesitated on the threshold, looking back at Harken for permission to proceed. “By all means,” he urged. “There’s nothing to fear beyond this door.”
    Taking a deep breath, Prissie gave the door a push; it swung outward, and she stepped through … and into a garden. There were trees all around, so it felt as if they were within a forest glade, but that was impossible. “This isn’t what’s behind the shop,” she said, turning around to take in the scenery. There was supposed to be a parking lot, a storageshed, her brother, and a bright, sunny summer afternoon. “What’s wrong with the sky?”
    “That is how
this
sky appears,” Harken answered. “Tell me what you see.”
    “Grass, trees, and the sky looks like water,” she replied.
    “It does, doesn’t it,” the old man calmly agreed.
    “Is it water?”
    “No. That’s merely a trick of the light.”
    “Nothing else?” asked Koji, his gaze directed at a spot just past her shoulder.
    She slowly turned once more, but finally answered, “That’s all. Where are