Keys to the KingdomBy Nathan Elrod

You arrive at the gates one minute early. All the letter that you received said was to come to the gates of the Magic Kingdom at Disney World at midnight and your wondering why there isn’t anyone there to meet you. It’s dark,

quiet and the place is closed. No lights, no music, no people. You’re beginning to wonder why you came at all. You go to check the time and watch 11:59 turn to !2:00. At exactly this moment you see the light at one of the ticket

windows switch on. You walk over to the vendor and see a man behind the counter. “Hi I’m here because I..”

“Received a letter? Yes we’ve been expecting you. May I see it please?” The man interrupts you and outstretches his hand. You hand him your letter and he looks it over. “Yes everything seems to be in order. Here you will be

needing this.” He hands you a large ornate golden key. You look at him puzzle and begin to ask

“I don’t understand. What do you want me to do? I don’t even know why I’m here.”

“Just go through the doors, that’s what they always do.” You look back down at the key and notice that the ticket light switched off. When you look back up the ticket window is dark and empty just like the rest. Puzzled, you quickly look around for the man but see no one. Warily, you put the key in your pocket and walk towards the

entrance.

You enter the park and walk forward into a large ring surrounding you are large doors, each with sign above it a different sign above it and a keyhole but no handle. You take the key out of your pocket and decide to pick a path.

Enter

Liberty SquareFantasyland(Not Ready)

Tomorrowland(Not Ready)

Adventureland

Adventureland

Liberty SquareFantasyland(Not Ready)

Tomorrowland(Not Ready)

Castle

You walk up to the door that says Adventureland. When you put the key in the door opens and a bright light erupts from the doorway. You shield your eyes with your arm and take a step forward. When the light dissipates you find that, to your amazement, you are somewhere else entirely. The first thing you notice is the strong smell of smoke.

You look around to see a town on fire and people running in various directions. A loud sound booms from somewhere close by and you turn to see a dock. You then spot the originator of the sound as two more booms sound, a pirate ship. The pirate ship comes up to the dock and pirate after pirate jumps off. While watching the scene around you in amazement and horror, you notice something that doesn’t fit. On the deck of the ship is a

door identical to the one you came in from. You decide that that must be the way out and run towards the ship. Most of the pirates have gone to pillage the town and you get to the ship without resistance. As you climb the

ladder up to the deck another cannon fires, making you almost lose your balance. You make your way to the top and see the door ahead. You run to the door and shove the key in. The door doesn’t open immediately like the last

time but a small green jewel comes out instead. The jewel hovers for a moment then plants itself in the key. The door then opens and you run through to the other side.

Back

You walk up to the door that says Liberty Square. When you put the key in the door opens and a bright light erupts from the doorway. You shield your eyes with your arm and take a step forward. When the light dissipates you find that, to your amazement, you are

somewhere else entirely. You feel the air drop to a cool chill and notice fog on the ground around you. You look around and notice an old mansion. AS you walk towards it you notice small wooden sign “Beware of hitchhiking ghosts!” You give the sign a confused look

and continue along the path. When you reach the door you decide to knock. When there is no answer you notice a man sitting on the porch a short distance from you. You walk up to the man who has a sign that reads “Looking for a home.”

“Do you know if anyone lives here?” you ask. The man looks up at you and smiles.

“Why don’t you go in and find out.” he says with a chuckle. You look back at the house hesitantly. When you look back the man is gone without a trace. You go up to the door and open it. You take a step in and the door slams shut behind you.

“Run!” You recognize the mans voice from the porch but have no time to look for him. You run up the large staircase as the house begins to shake and rattle around you. You hear screams coming from varying directions and the doors to all the rooms open and

slam shut on their own. You run into a large dining hall and at the other side you see an identical door to the one you came in from. As you enter the hall it fills with transparent figures dancing and eating as if at a party. You run to the door and shove the key in. The

door doesn’t open immediately like the last time but a small black jewel comes out instead. The jewel hovers for a moment then plants itself in the key. The door then opens and you run through to the other side. Once back in the circular area you hear the man’s

voice again.

“So where we going next?”

Back

You walk up to the door that says Fantasyland. When you put the key in the door opens and a bright light erupts from the doorway. You shield your eyes with your arm and take a step forward. When the light

dissipates you find that, to your amazement, you are somewhere else entirely. The first thing you notice is that you are in a small room there are no doors and no windows. In the middle of the room you notice a

large hole. Cautiously you step to the edge of the hole and look down. Surprised, you notice that the hole seems to go on forever. From behind, you hear a frantic voice.

“I’m late! I’m late!” as you go to turn around the originator of the voice comes upon you and knocks you down the hole…………

You run to the door and shove the key in. The door doesn’t open immediately like the last time but a small green jewel comes out instead. The jewel hovers for a moment then plants itself in the key. The door then

opens and you run through to the other side.

You walk up to the door that says Castle. When you put the key in the door opens and a bright light erupts from the doorway. You shield your eyes with your arm and take a step forward. You find

yourself next in the great hall of a castle. The only way forward is a doorway at the top of a large staircase. You walk up the stairs, tired from the night’s events and reach the door. You open it and enter a large throne room. Sitting in the throne on the other side of the room is the man from the

ticket counter.

“Bravo! You’ve finally made it to the end!” The man gets up from his chair and starts to applaude. “I bet you are wondering what this has all been about. Well let me make it very simple. Give me the

key.” You hand him the key and he takes the jewel out. “I am the magic of this place. You see, I am a sorcerer and they took my magic to give this park its powers. There is one of these jewels in each of

the different sections of this place and each jewel is a portion of my power. I needed help to get these back and that is why I called you here. Thank you for returning my power to me.” The man

waves his hand and another door appears next to you. He hands you back the key with a smile. “This door is the next place you need to go.” You take the key from him and enter the door.

You wake up back at your home in bed. You quickly question the reality of everything that just happened and look around. You don’t see the man or anything out of the ordinary until you look at

your desk. Lying on top is a golden key.

END