Title: Meeting Janus.
By Mary McLoughlin.
She just vanished as the year was ending, three minutes to midnight and Janet had done it, she turned the key and entered through the forbidden doorway.
Janet thought as she closed the door and stood inside the passage on the other side of the door, with the sign in big bold letters: "Do not enter Forbidden access.” What have I done? It is cold, dark, and gloomy in here.” She turned to re-open the door, but she could not; there was no handle; in fact, the door had disappeared.
Standing inside, she remembered what all her friends had said: "Janet you are obsessed with the Roman God Janus.”
She was fascinated by him, he was a statue in the museum where she worked as an assistant, she loved the white marble statue with his two faces one looking to the front facing the future, the other looking backwards able to see the past.
Last week, she found a key tied with a piece of string around the foot of the statue. It had a label attached to it that said, “Key to the forbidden door.” She picked it up and put it into her pocket. She turned around to look at the door next to the statue and thought, “I will find out about that door and why you are not allowed to go in when I am not on duty.”
After taking the key from her pocket she saw that the other side of the label had instructions on it, that evening at home she read the instructions using a magnifying glass as they were written in ridiculously small print.
It said: “To enter in you must turn the key before the year is out, the door will only open just before midnight before the new year, be sure you want to enter before proceeding with this task once done there is no going back.”
This is intriguing thought Janet; it was only two days before the New Year, she planned how she would stay behind on New Year's Eve, she was going to do this she decided, her friends wanted her to go to a New Year's Eve party which she was going to go to as her ex-boyfriend would not be there, but no this was much more exciting. She phoned Fiona her best friend and told her she was going home to her family on New Year's Eve so would not be coming to the party.
The next day she asked her boss if it was all right to work until the museum closed at five o clock on New Year's Eve, most of the staff were finishing at two o clock. He agreed so she made her plan to hide in the washroom and then undertake the task to enter through the forbidden door, she was excited.
So here she was in a dark and gloomy passage and the door had disappeared, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a torch switched it on and looked at the time on her watch it was one minute to midnight, on the stroke of midnight, the passage was illuminated the light dazzling Janet, she walked down the passage and as she reached the bottom she saw two doors one Red and one Green.
The Red door had the word BACK written on it; the Green Door had the word FRONT which one should she enter, she decided she would be a coward and go in the red door as that might take her back because the door she came through had disappeared.
She turned the handle the door was locked, Oh No! then she remembered the key which she had put into her pocket, she inserted it, and it turned letting her in.
Janet entered a warm well lite and comfortable sitting room with a big log fire burning in the fireplace, the room had in the left-hand corner a large white screen next to it was a computer which was switched on and on the monitor, it said play me, she pressed the play switch and then sat down on the comfortable couch to see what would happen.
The screen then played a video, it started by saying:” Welcome Janet, we are now going to look back on your past year.”
Janet could not believe it, she sat and watched her past year unfold, firstly it showed her at her niece’s Christening at the start of the year with all her family, her boyfriend Jake was with her they all looked happy, then it moved onto her Grandmother's ninetieth birthday again a lovely family get together, it showed her talking alone with her Grandmother who said to her “Is Jake the right one for you?”
Her grandmother was so astute, Janet knew that she was not happy with Jake, and she would have to tell him, it then showed her splitting up with Jake who took it very badly, but she knew she had done the right thing.
It carried on looking at all the highlights of the past year the good times and the not-so-good ones and the support she got from her circle of friends, it then moved to four weeks ago when her boss had told her about the secondment for six months to the national history museum, in New York which she had accepted, although she had not told anyone yet it was not until April. Then it showed her opening the forbidden door and entering this room and right up to her now sitting on the couch. The Screen then displayed a message: “You should now move to the Front door if you dare, Will you?”
Janet could hardly believe what was happening, how could that video have been made, she rose from the couch and made her way back to the door, she was glad it had not disappeared. The door opened easily she went through it and walked up to the Green Door, again it was locked, she got out the key and it opened the door.
Again, the room she entered was very warm and cosy with a big log fire burning in the fireplace, however, it was different from the other room as there was a large window that looked out onto a beautiful countryside scene, which was covered in snow, it looked very picture square, she could not see a screen or a computer but the couch was facing the warm fire and the window, and on the coffee table was a cup of steaming hot coffee, just how she liked it, so she sat down and drunk the coffee, wandering what would happen now.
Janet sipped her coffee, looking out of the window into the bright sunshine, glinting on the snow-covered trees, making rainbow colours it was incredibly beautiful, she blinked again and then saw herself making a snowman outside, she was with someone she did not know, it was a woman about her own age of twenty-six, and they were laughing and having fun in the snow.
The scene then changed and it showed Janet at the airport just before boarding the aeroplane which was destined for John F Kennedy Airport in New York. Janet was fascinated; she realised the window was showing her scenes from her future. She wondered who the other woman was, maybe it was someone she would meet in America she did not know, she was pleased she really wanted to do this secondment, see New York, and make new friends.
The scene then shifted, and she saw her best friend, Fiona who was holding hands with Janet’s ex-boyfriend Jake, they looked very much in love and so happy together, and then she saw herself giving them both a hug, they had come to the airport to say good-bye. Well, who would have believed that, thought Janet, however, she was pleased Fiona was a dear friend and Jake was a nice man, he had Fiona would be good together.
The window blinds then closed on the window, she saw a picture of the Roman god Janus underneath it was written: “The month of January is named after Janus the Roman god of beginnings, endings, transition, and doorways. Janus is often portrayed with two faces one looking forward and one looking backwards to represent his ability to see both past and future that is what he has just shown you.”
Janet was amazed, she had met Janus the Roman god; she sat back on the couch and fell fast asleep.
She awoke to beautiful sunshine shining on her face through her bedroom window, she jumped up and looked at the clock it was nine o clock on the first of January, her mobile phone rang it was Fiona her best friend, she wanted to tell Janet that Jake had come to the New Year party and had taken her home she really liked him but wanted Janet to know. That is fine Fiona, Happy New Year to both of you. After she hung up Janet thought was it a dream? How did I get back in my bed? If it was a dream, it was lucid, she then put her hand into the pocket of her pyjamas and found the Key to the forbidden door.
The End
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