The Escape

My older sister has always been my rock. She is my role model, my idol. She always looked out for me when we were growing up and she has continued that into our adulthood. We have never kept secrets from each other. We have always told each other everything. We talked about our annoying parents, boyfriends, peer pressure and even politics. There was nothing I wouldn't tell her. So when she started acting differently, I was really hurt that she wouldn't tell me what was going on.

She didn't act sad or angry. She was just... different. She seemed to want seclusion. She had never been a loner. She was always with friends and loved social outings. It started at one of our family dinners. We always tried to have family dinners on Sundays and everyone took turns hosting. This particular Sunday was her turn to host. Throughout the lovely meal she had prepared for everyone, she just stared at her plate and moved food around with her fork. She kept looking at the basement door. It was so odd, but no one except me seemed to notice.

My sister has a beautiful old house. It was built in the 1920's and still had a lot of the original design. It had ornate crown molding, big spacious windows and a stone porch that wrapped around the front of her house. My sister loved old houses. She thought that they contained history and mystery. We shared that. Old homes always had so much more character than newer builds. Moving into an old home felt more like adopting a new family member, one who needed love and care.

I didn't bring up how strange she was acting at the family dinner. My sister would have told me if something was wrong. We always did. But when she started turning me down for shopping days or restaurant lunches, I knew something was up. She had never been a depressed person before. Every time I brought it up she just said "I don't feel like leaving today." She always wanted to go out. She even stopped coming to our family dinners. Was she on drugs? Was she experiencing some sort of health crisis? I didn't understand why she was being so aloof. Even to me, her best friend and sister.

I wasn't planning on spying on her, but something was wrong. I needed to find out. What if she needed help? I wanted to be there for her. There was nothing I wouldn't help her with. Even if she needed to get rid of a body I would help. I had even wondered if that was the case. I had needed to find out. No matter what was wrong, I needed to help her. She would do it for me.

It was a Friday evening and I told myself not to spy on her, but I found myself parked in front of her house. The lights were on and she was home. I wasn't sure at the time if I should just ring the doorbell or if I should just watch. I chose the latter. I watched from my car but even though I knew she was there, it seemed like no one was home. Her car was there, lights were on, but there was no movement in the house. Before I could stop myself I was walking around the perimeter of her house. I peeked in the windows. She wasn't anywhere. That was when I remembered that dinner where she kept looking at the basement door.

I know I shouldn't have done it, but I jumped her fence and went around to her backyard where I knew the basement windows were. I got on my hands and knees in the dirt and I think I even crushed some of her flowers and peered in. I remember thinking that I didn't know what I was looking at.

Her basement was dark but there was a bright light coming from the far corner of the basement. I had been all through my sister's house many times. I know there is not a light in that area. It was a bright warm glow that I had to squint my eyes to look at. That was when I saw the smoke. My sister didn't smoke, never has. But from the warm glow a stream of smoke, like what would come off burning incense, was flowing. That's when I started to panic. Was her house on fire?

I jumped the fence and sprinted around to the front of house. I had a spare key to my sister's house but I never used it before. It was only for emergencies, but I used it this time. If her house had a basement fire that was definitely an emergency. I had hurried through the front door. I paused briefly when I walked in. Everything seemed fine. The house smelled warm and welcoming, music played from the kitchen and everything was clean. I walked to the basement door.

When I had opened the basement door, I stood at the top of the stairs and yelled my sister's name. She didn't answer. I could see that glow I saw from the window. It wasn't moving like the light from a fire would. I slowly crept down the stairs. It wasn't a fire. It was an opening. Not a door. More like a portal, but portals weren't real. I approached the glow and the closer I got, the better I felt. I felt drawn to it. My body felt light and airy. My vision sparkled. The closer I got, the glow got brighter but my eyes didn't hurt.

When I was right in front of the glow I reached my hand in. My hand went in. This was supposed to be wall. I should've been scared, but I wasn't. I moved my hand around and it was like dipping my fingers into warm stream. I decided to step completely inside.

When I stepped in, I was felt my stomach jump like I was on an elevator and then I was through. I was in another world. I was outside, surrounded by meadows and wildflowers. There was no breeze, no bugs, not even a sign of weather. A rich blue sky with no clouds, it was bright, but there was no sun. It didn't feel real, like a dream. When I looked around, the meadows seemed to have no end. It was a vast beautiful flatness. Then I saw my sister. She was several feet away and just sitting. It was quiet but I could hear her humming. She was sitting on the ground, her legs stretched in front of her and bopping her a bit as she hummed.

I stepped backward through the portal and I was back in my sister's basement. My body lurched as I stepped back through and I felt the way I did before. Anxious, scared and I even had a bit of headache that I didn't notice I had earlier. I was very aware of the aches and pains in my body that before now I had just gotten used to. I wanted to back through the portal. I wanted to feel that peace and calmness again. Instead, I left. I went to my car and I left. As I drove home, I felt this anger at my sister. Nothing was wrong. She just didn't want to share. I don't know if I'm going to tell her I know her secret. It's her place, her escape. Isn't she allowed to have it?

Later that night, she had texted me. She just wanted to see how I was doing. I ignored it.