The Doors (no, not the band)

"Jack, where are we going?"

"Well, Sally, you know how you've been asking me for ages to show you where I found Sandy Claws?"

Sally clapped her hands. "Oh, yes, Jack! Are you finally taking me to see the Christmas town?"

Jack smiled toothily, which was normal for him. "Actually, Sally, I was kind of thinking that you might like to pick the place where you want to go. Because the grove of trees where lies the door to Christmas town is much bigger than even I have discovered, and there are more doors than you could count, to all sorts of fantastical places!"

"Oh my, Jack!" said Sally. "Have you been to any of them?"

"Oh, several," said Jack. "And let me tell you, there were some that scared me out of my bones!" He stopped by one particular tree that bore a green head with bulbous black eyes on its door. "This one, for example has creatures that take on the forms of others, but they do so by cramming themselves in human skin!"

Sally put her hand to her mouth. "That's revolting!"

"That's not the worst of it," said Jack, moving on. "They have terrible flatulence because of that cramming. It's quite horrible. I doubt even our townfolk could stomach that place for long."

"What's it called?"

"Something unpronounceable without significant practice, my dear Sally," said Jack, and for some reason he plucked a rose from the ground and gave it to her, flashing another toothy smile.

They passed several other doors, some of which featured strange machines that Sally couldn't comprehend. One of the machines had a series of letters and numbers across it: NCC-1701. Sally, seeing Jack moving along past it, didn't ask about what it meant.

"What about this one, Jack?" she asked after several minutes. "Why is the word 'honey' misspelled on the honey pot?"

"Oh yes, that place is called the Hundred Acre Wood," said Jack excitedly. It's even bigger than the wood we're in!"

"And who lives there?"

"Just a bear with very little brain," said Jack. "He and his friends. I'm especially fond of the exceptionally gloomy donkey." Jack sighed. "Or I was, anyway. I last came here some time ago, and the little boy that played there had grown up, and the bear, the donkey, and all their friends didn't move anymore."

Sally put her hand on Jack's shoulder, sensing his need for comfort. He covered her hand with his own. "Come on," he said. "There's still a lot to see!"

He led her by the hand now, and they moved through the trees so swiftly that Sally barely had time to register other doors. One of them had a castle that was painted to look as though it were underwater. Sally stifled a giggle as she caught sight of one of the turrets in the shape of a part of human anatomy.

They passed a door bearing a wardrobe, another with a gold compass, and another door bearing a gold ring with intricate writing on it. They slowed down long enough to ponder a door with a complex maze on it. The knob on the door seemed to be a crystal ball with an image of a babe inside it.

"This reminds me of something," said Sally softly, but she couldn't think of what. She looked at Jack. "Have you been this far in before?"

He nodded to her. "There's two just over here that you have to see," he said, smiling his widest smile yet. "They're absolutely marvelous!"

Sally followed his long strides to a pair of trees near the edge of the wood. One tree had nothing on the door, but had a small stream running in front of it. The stream itself seemed to be made of seven different colors of paint.

"A rainbow," she said, bending down to touch the stream. It flowed over her hands like water, and her hands came up much more vivid than before, as though she had been sepia-toned until then.

"Over the rainbow is the wonderful land of Oz," said Jack. "It is a place populated with people possibly merrier than the folk in Christmas town.

Sally looked forward to visiting Oz very much, but she turned first to the other door. On it was what seemed to be the letter z turned part way on its side, or a lightning bolt.

"What land is through there, Jack?" she asked.

"That may be the most magical place I've ever heard of," said Jack. He said it almost reverently. "It's called Hogwarts, and when I say it's magical, I mean that quite literally."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, my dear Sally, is that Hogwarts is a place, a castle, that is actually a school for people to practice magic!" Jack's nonexistent eyes almost seemed to twinkle. "Why, you'll find even people hopping doors to come here. Oh hello, Glinda!"

"Hello Jack," said the woman who had just stepped out of the door to Oz. Sally found her outfit to be rather garish, though charming in its own way. She imagined that nobody else would be quite able to pull off such an ensemble.

"Are you going to Hogwarts to learn magic?" asked Sally.

"Oh no, dear," said Glinda, looking kindly at Sally. "Minerva has kindly requested that I substitute for her Transfiguration class today, and I have happily obliged. My friend Elphaba may be through soon to take over flying lessons. She never has quite gotten over the fact that Rolanda has been the flying instructor since she accidentally set fire to her broom during the interview."

Sally's eyes widened at all of this information. Glinda swept past her without so much as a proper introduction and pushed the door with the lightning bolt open.

Once the door had closed, Jack looked at Sally. "Maybe we should visit Hogwarts another day," he said. "There's only so much I can take of the Good Witch of the North."

"Well, I had the most wonderful time, Jack," said Sally. "Next time, though, let's go a little slower. You've nearly pulled me apart at the seams." And she showed him her shoulder, which was indeed starting to come unstitched again.

Jack only smiled toothily at her. She took his hand, and together they walked back towards Halloween Town, looking forward to Zero greeting them on their return.

---

I had a bit of fun with this one. I hope I stayed true to the characters of Jack and Sally. I've always liked the idea of doors to different worlds, and I think it must have been Tim Burton's masterpiece that introduced that idea to me.

Thanks to the many people that contributed their ideas to this week's story. I am sorry I could not include all of them, but some, I must admit, were too obscure for me to confidently reference. How many places did you recognize?

For next week, tell me what you would want if you were being super courageous. Submit your responses in the comments below, and don't forget to subscribe.