Sophie was bored, Sophie was always bored. Ever since her mum and dad had moved from the bustling city to a big old boring Victorian house in the middle of nowhere with Sophie and her annoying but cute baby brother. Sophie had no friends anymore and nothing to do.
"Can't you see I'm busy feeding Archie and then I've got a mountain of washing and ironing to do, go and find something interesting to do in the garden" sighed Sophie's very tired mum.
"I wish we hadn't moved, I miss my friends!" Wailed Sophie as she slammed the door shut behind her.
Kick... SMASH. A flower pot shattered as the football that Sophie kicked in temper hit it, Sophie would be in trouble AGAIN! "I'd better find that ball and break a few more as I'm going to be shouted at anyway", thought Sophies, and off she went to the crumbling wall at the bottom of the garden to retrieve it. "Where is it? It must be here somewhere" moaned Sophie as she pulled away the thorn branches and twisted creepers that covered the garden wall.
Suddenly Sophie realised there was a door hiding behind the bush. "I've not seen that before, I wonder where it leads to. Today might not be so boring after all" Sophie whispered to herself. She pulled a few more branches away and could see that the door was slightly open, where the football had hit it, and was wedged in the gap. Maybe if she could get closer and push hard enough she would be able to squeeze through the gap and see what was on the other side.
Sophie flattened down a patch of prickly stinging nettles with her foot, then took a step forward. "Ouch!" A thorny branch scraped at her cheek and tangled into her long, brown, curly hair. The pain made her eyes water and she could feel a hot, wet trickle down her cheek, she looked down at her shoes and through blurry, tear-filled eyes saw tiny scarlet splats on her toes, she was bleeding. The door would have to wait until later, Sophie needed to get untangled and get cleaned up.
She took a small step back and with one hand started to untangle the branch from her curls while steadying herself with her other hand by leaning on the door. As she concentrated on freeing herself, she was unaware that she was no longer alone. A small, dirty, wide-eyed face peered through the gap between the wall and the door at Sophie. Suddenly Sophie felt another hand touch hers, the shock made her snatch her hand away and she fell backwards into the patch of nettles, but as she fell she could a glimpse of the stranger's face behind the door. Both Sophie and the stranger let out a scream and Sophie picked herself up and ran as fast as she could back up the garden and into the kitchen.
"Mum, Mum, Mum! There's a door in the garden and..."
"Calm down and take a deep breath." Sophie's mum told her. Then she started to dab at her bleeding cheek with a kitchen towel. "What on earth have you been up to?" She asked. Sophie had started to calm down enough to tell her mum about the door in the wall at the bottom of the garden, then she came to the part about the hand on hers. "Don't be silly, you have such a vivid imagination." Scorned her mum.
"But I'm telling the truth, come and see for yourself!" wailed an exasperated Sophie, she grabbed her mum's hand then headed outside, walking briskly to the bottom of the garden and the wall. "See, see – it's here behind the bush, uh... I don't understand?!" Sophie was flummoxed and her mum was cross, again!
"I told you not to make up storied and this one is even more ridiculous that ever" her mum said, "how could someone come through that door? It's not even real and it looks very like it was painted on the wall a very, very long time ago, if the flaking, peeling, faded paint is anything to go by. Get back up to the house now and get ready for bed – you need a very early night young lady!" Stunned, Sophie back-tracked up the garden with her mum and headed back inside in disgrace. As she stomped off up the stairs to get ready for bed all Sophie could think of was that face from behind the door, that dirty, wide-eyed, scared face that stared back at her looked exactly like her face – how could that be? And where had the real door gone now, that was a real mystery!