Four year old Mandy stood quietly, watching the automatic doors slide open and closed. Open and close, open and close – so rhythmic, so magical. “I wonder how they do that?” she thought.
She watched as a lady with an empty cart walked through them. “Where did she go?” Mandy wondered after the doors closed. Suddenly they didn’t seem so magical; they were downright scary!
Her mother walked up with the cart. “Come, Mandy.” She gripped her mother’s hand tightly as they strolled towards the doors. As they got closer, she pulled back and stopped.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? Come, we don’t have a lot of time.”
“We can’t go in there, Mommy.”
“Why not?”
“It’s scary. I don’t like it.”
“Mandy, we come here every week. You have been through those doors since before you could walk. Why are they scary now?”
“That lady went in and when the doors closed, she disappeared. They ate her up!” Mandy looked at her mother. “I don’t want to be eaten too.”
“I understand,” said Mother, “they do look a bit scary.” She knew her daughter had a wild and very active imagination. “How about if we play a game while we shop? Would that help?”
“Which game, Mommy?”
“Well, let’s pretend that the shop is really a magic garden and you can be the princess.”
Mandy loved princesses so it wasn’t hard to convince her to play the game. She held her mother’s hand tightly and closed her eyes while they walked through the doors. Once inside, Mandy looked around. This wasn’t the grocery store – where was she?
The walls were stone, as were the floors. The ceiling was so high she could hardly see it. On one side of the dark room, some lights twinkled. Mandy walked closer and watched as the lights grew until, to her delight, a beautiful girl appeared in front of her.
“Who are you?” Mandy inquired.
“I’m Sparkle, a fairy.”
“You’re a fairy? I though fairies were tiny.”
“We can change size when we want to. I chose to be your size so we can play together easier. Come, let’s go play outside.”
Sparkle held Mandy’s hand and together they ran to the doors, which opened on their own. Outside was a huge garden with the greenest grass and the prettiest flowers Mandy had ever seen. They passed the time picking flowers, rolling in the grass, chasing butterflies and dancing. Mandy also discovered that anything she touched would sparkle and light up.
After a while, Sparkle said it was time for Mandy to go home.
“Will I see you again?”
“Of course you will,” smiled Sparkle. “Every time you visit the grocery store.” They walked towards the huge doors, then Sparkle waved and disappeared. Mandy closed her eyes as she walked through the doors that opened on their own. When she opened them, she was outside the shop again, walking with her mommy.
“Did you have fun?” asked Mother.
“Lots! I can’t wait to come shopping again so I can visit with Sparkle.”
Mother smiled to herself and took a deep breath. This had been the easiest shopping trip ever, thanks to Sparkle.
This fiction piece was written in response to the prompt below from Story Dam.
Dam Burst Prompt:
Write fiction or non-fiction, tell us what lies on the other side of the door. Will you take door number two or door number one? What magical wonders are just waiting for you to step through?
P.S. While writing this I was thinking of recently when my 4 year old son freaked out when I tried to get him on an elevator. He was terrified and sadly, nothing could convince him that is was safe to go on, so we had to walk down four flights of stairs at the mall. Did I mention that I had my two girls with me? Not fun.
P.P.S. The doors I had in mind were not elevator doors but those large automatic doors most grocery stores have.
Days, Life, Dreams 
Tara R.
/ May 6, 2012This was a cute story. I like that the mother wasn't angry her daughter wouldn't get on the elevator, but tried to make the experience fun for her.