Author's Note: This is my first piece on FictionPress. I wrote this after getting the first sentence from a sentence generator and this is the result. It's rather pointless except maybe as an example of the foolishness of curiosity, or perhaps the usefulness of a thesaurus. In any case, please read and if you wish, review. All criticism will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The Locked Door

The locked door fascinated and puzzled her. There is nothing as tempting as a locked door. Natalie stood before the door, pondering the best course of action. She should leave; it would be the right thing to do. But, there was something about this door. Something that screamed in Natalie's mind to open it and reveal what lie behind it's peeling paint.

Her eye's darted about the ancient house. It was empty. She reached a trembling hand forward to touch the brass knob, but jerked it back. This was wrong. She shouldn't even be in this house. She was already breaking the law, for Christ's sake! She should leave while she still could, before a suspicious neighbor called the cops on her. Opening the door would be stupid. Letting her curiosity get the better of her again was something she could not afford.

She turned slowly and began walking to the broken window that she had climbed through. With every step she took, her body grew heavier and more resistant. Would it really matter if she opened the door? She was already well past the legal boundary, another broken rule would hardly make a difference. She could pick the lock in seconds and be out of the crumbling building in minutes. It would be so easy...

Her mind made up, Natalie spun on her heel and raced to the mysterious door. She slipped a length of wire from her pocket and inserted it in the old-fashioned lock. She jiggled it carefully and heard a soft click. She sucked in a breath and straightened. Extending her small hand, she grasped the knob in her hand and turned.

The door swung open silently. Natalie was rather surprised. She thought that the door would creak loudly. It made sense that everything in the decrepit house would be in disrepair, but closer inspection of the door hinges revealed a startling lack of rust. A sense of unease grew in Natalie's gut, but she ignored it and pulled a flashlight out of the pocket in her worn jeans. She flicked it on and shone it into the shadowy depths of the room behind the door. A long corridor stretched before her feet. She hesitantly stepped over the threshold.

She began walking slowly down the hall. The walls were bare, painted a faded purple.

The floor was covered in dust that billowed into small clouds with the tread of her scuffed sneakers. It was silent in the hall, a watchful silence that produced the ridiculous thought that the walls had eyes that were watching her every step. Natalie shook her head at the childish thought, but the growing feeling of dread refused to be silenced.

The corridor seemed to stretch on for eternity, never growing shorter. The feeling of being watched increased with every footfall and Natalie began to be afraid. A notion of barely concealed hostility arose in Natalie's mind. She began to regret that she had ever entered the abandoned building. She wanted to turn around and leave the disturbing corridor, but an external force compelled her to continue. Natalie vaguely heard a rasping sound, the scratching whisper that her breathing had become. The walls seemed to close in behind her, preventing her escape. Panic welled in her chest as she fought with the pressure to continue down the hallway. Tears fell from her eyes, tracing pathways down her cold cheekbones before dropping to the dust-covered floor.

She began sobbing in earnest, silently screaming at her feet to stop traveling down the corridor. She stumbled and dropped to her knees. Shakily, she picked herself up and ran back the way she had come. Her heart pounded a staccato beat in her chest as she fled down the hall and through the door. She whirled and slammed the door shut, dimly hearing the lock click. She clambered through the broken window, scratching her bare arms on the knifelike glass. She fell, picked herself up, and staggered down the deserted alley.

In the empty and silent house, the locked door whispered it's tantalizing entreaty.