The Door

The six of them were cramped into Kabir’s sister’s living room. Coffee mugs sat half-finished on the table, and the older trio—Kabir’s sister Ananya, her best friend Aisha, and their quiet but sharp friend Rishabh—were staring at Kabir, Karan, and Meera with varying levels of disbelief.

Ananya finally folded her arms.

Ananya: “Okay, start from the beginning. Where exactly did you three go?”

Kabir: (hesitant) “We… found this abandoned house.”

Ananya’s eyes narrowed instantly.

Ananya: “Why on earth were you in an abandoned house? Do you guys have a death wish?”

The room went quiet. Kabir coughed, Meera looked down, fiddling with her bracelet. Karan bit his lip, trying to hold back laughter.

Karan: (grinning) “Should I tell them, Kabir?”

Kabir: (warning tone) “Don’t.”

Karan: (bursts out laughing) “Because Kabir wanted to romance Meera in peace!”

Kabir’s face turned scarlet. Meera gasped and slapped Karan’s arm. Ananya’s jaw dropped, then her expression turned into pure sisterly fury.

Ananya: “Are you serious? An abandoned house? For that?”

Aisha almost fell off the couch laughing.

Aisha: “Wow, Kabir. Nothing says ‘romantic’ like rats and broken windows.”

Rishabh: (deadpan) “Five-star review on TripAdvisor: ‘Best haunted makeout spot in town.’”

The room erupted in laughter. Kabir groaned, covering his face with both hands. Meera buried herself in a cushion, while Karan kept laughing so hard he nearly spilled his coffee.

After the teasing died down, Kabir shot Karan a death glare.

Kabir: “Happy now? Can we get back to the point?”

Karan finally composed himself, though his grin lingered.

Karan: “Alright, alright. So—inside the house, there’s this one room. And the door… it’s not normal. We walked through, and suddenly—bam—we weren’t here anymore.”

The older three exchanged skeptical glances.

Meera: (softly) “It wasn’t just a feeling. Everything was… different. The light. The air. The streets outside. Like we’d stepped backward in time.”

Ananya: “So you’re saying this magical door just… sends you to another year?”

Kabir: “We’re not saying. We saw. The first time, we panicked and came back right away. But then…” (he looks at Karan) “…someone decided he wanted to explore.”

Karan shrugged, eyes sparkling with mischief.

Karan: “What? Don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t gonna waste a free trip through a magic door!”

He leaned forward, lowering his voice.

Karan: “That’s when it happened. I wandered into the street and… I met her.”

Aisha: (grinning) “Oh no. Don’t tell me the fearless Karan fell for someone?”

Karan: (dreamily) “She was… unreal. Like she’d walked straight out of a movie set.”

Kabir groaned.

Kabir: “Because she literally was on a movie set. Genius here walked right into a film shoot.”

Everyone laughed again, but Karan kept grinning, unbothered.

Karan: “What can I say? Fate has good taste.”

Kabir: (cutting in) “Except some crew guy ran straight into him, nearly knocking him over. I had to pull him back before he made an even bigger mess.”

Meera nodded, still half-hiding her smile.

Meera: “And the next day, the newspapers said two kids ruined a shot during filming. No names, but we knew it was us.”

Ananya blinked, suddenly serious again.

Ananya: “Wait… newspapers?”

Kabir pulled out the folded, yellowed sheet he had kept. He placed it on the table, pointing to the photo of two blurry boys in the background of a 2005 headline.

The older trio stared in silence. Aisha leaned closer.

Aisha: “No way…”

Ananya swallowed, her denial slipping.

Ananya: “That’s… impossible.”

Rishabh tapped the paper slowly.

Rishabh: “Unless it isn’t.”

The laughter in the room faded, replaced by an uneasy silence. The reality of what the younger three were saying began to settle in.

Ananya finally spoke, her tone firm but low.

Ananya: “If this is real, you’re not handling it alone. You’re kids, and this is bigger than anything you understand. If you’re three… we’ll be five.”

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