Cats and Doors

Madeline. The girl who lives several lives and yet there was only one of her.

A lot of girls are called Madeline in this world and in the other worlds. But there is only one Madeline of San Lorenzo. She is different not because of her looks which is pretty average. Brown hair, brown eyes, pink lips that always seems to smile, and average height. She is different not because of hidden talent or skill, nor is she even a genius. She is an average Madeline. But still, she is different and that is why she gets to pick a life everyday. 

Everybody else, except Madeline, had other selves living in a different dimension or realm. These other worlds are similar, somehow, to her own and yet things happen differently. In one dimension, she was a ballet dancer with a drunk father (that was constant) living in the midsection of town (another constant in her worlds). In another dimension, she is a loner and emotion teen with father issues (still another constant) and trying so hard to disappear from everyone's eyesight. Everyday, she gets a chance to be someone different in her other worlds, and there are thousands. These other worlds are similar, somehow, to her own and yet things happen differently.  A thousand different lives she could pick at her leisure. A thousand different choices. It was maddening.

She was sixteen when she discovered that there really was an alternate universe. She never really gave it a thought. She was just living her life, her one and only life and that was enough for her. But then, a change came in one night in a form of a cat. It was pretty scary really. It appeared suddenly on her open window and said good evening. It had a British accent and for some reason that she dare not delve into, it added to the eeriness and strangeness of the situation. At first, she thought that she was just drunk. She had just gotten home from a friend's party and although she didn't drink any liquor that was served, one really cannot be sure of these things especially in a party not supervised by any responsible adult. And so, there was this black cat staring darkly at Madeline speaking something gibberish. She couldn't understand it at first. The cat had a really thick British accent.

"In short, your other lives had died untimely and so I'm going to give you this key so you can live the other lives and your life will continue on as it should." Then it was gone.

Madeline was staring at the space where the cat once sat. She blinked once and then twice and then thrice. She was seriously contemplating now if there had been more than just liquors on her drink. She shook her head and looked at the direction where the cat left the key. It was still there. Solid and real.

She never really understood how it would work and when the next morning the door appeared she was at a loss as to how she would go on about it. She tried hysterics but nobody seemed to hear her. She tried banging her head on the wall but it only gave her a headache. She tried going back to sleep but with the huge oak door looming behind her, it was hard. Finally with a nervous sigh, she got up, got the key and opened the door. The next thing she knew she was at a corridor which went on for forever. It was really disconcerting. There were similar oak doors lined neatly side by side on the left side wall of the corridor with her name written at a small board hanging by the doorknobs. They were her other lives. Before she could open the one in front of her, the cat suddenly appeared on her feet purring loudly. Madeline jumped and almost run back to her door at the apparition.

"That is your life, Madeline," it said in its purring tone. No British accent this time. "You can choose another door if you like. But be warned that once you open a door, you're bound to that life for the rest of the day. You cannot get out from it." Then once again without further ado, it vanished.

Madeline was once again left staring down at the space where the cat once was.

She wondered how all her other selves died and how was she suppose to live her other lives. There were tons and tons of questions forming and reforming on Madeline's head and all of which were unanswered and would probably remain unanswered for the rest of the day. With a stubbornness that was inherent in her nature, Madeline took one step to the side of her original door and opened the one next to it. At first, she thought that she had just woken up from her dream or nightmare, whichever it was. But then she realized that there was something different. The house smelled clean. For the first time since her mother died, the house smelled clean. On further inspection, it was actually really clean. Madeline giggled and wondered if she was in her past. She rushed to a mirror and found that nothing had changed. So, it was present and she was still the sixteen year old freckled faced Madeline. Did she dare wish her mother is alive? There was a knock on the door and Madeline jumped off her bed and rushed to whoever it was on the other side hoping against hope that it was who she wished it to be. But sadly, hope was uncooperative even in another universe. Maybe it was telling her that she already get to live several lives. It was enough and what she was hoping for was too much. She looked up into her father's surprised gaze and smiled reluctantly. He awkwardly patted her head just like he always do every morning and points towards the clock. She was late again.

At school, everything was the same. No flying cars, talking cats and one eyed professors with flying brooms. She wondered further if everything was just a dream. But unexpectedly, there was a tap on her shoulder and when she turned she was face to face with a smiling Carrie. Carrie is not only the Miss Popular at school but also the top ranking student. Everybody looked up to her like she was some Goddess or something. She sometimes wished she could be her but she knew she couldn't be, even in her other lives. Madeline sighed and was about to live but Carrie held up her hand and motioned for her to sit beside her. She was smiling all the time and it was getting a bit freakish. It was then that she realized the difference. Everything was silent. There was no sound. But, a sign like a big balloon with words written on it were everywhere. Just like in the comics. She now remembered the word KNOCK which glowed yellow on her door. Madeline gasped and screamed and screamed but there was no sound. Only words that pops up above her head.

At first, it was fascinating. Imagine not having to hear the usual city noises. But later on that day, the pressure of not using her ears was getting to her. In her room, her ears were straining for the tiniest of sounds but of course there were none.

At the appearance of the door and the key as well as the cat the next day, she immediately jumped at it and run out heading for the next door.

Every door was different. And the farther the door was to her door, the lesser were the similarities to her own world. She enjoyed most of them. She enjoyed having to live different lives. She enjoyed not having the monotonous routine of her normal life. She was also happy to be her different selves in every universe.

But, unknown to her was the consequences of her other lives to her own. What she didn't hear when the cat was explaining was how her actions affects all of her other lives. That it was no use being different in her other lives because she was still the Madeline from San Lorenzo and there were no other Madeline's anymore. All her actions were being imitated by her sub copies that lived her other lives for her.

It was complicated for sure and even though she knew it, she wouldn't have been able to grasp its meaning.

One day – five years since she was visited by the talking cat –, tired as she was with her other lives and missing her own, she turned the knob of her own door. At first, she couldn't open it. It might have been a warning, or her door was just rusty from disuse. When it finally opened, she was stunned at what she saw. There were all sorts of mess on her room. On the wall behind her bed, was a large painting she stole when she was a superhero. It hung crookedly and had slashes on them. Her normal door was hanging on its hinges ready to fall over. Somebody was yelling from the outside.

She couldn't figure out who it was and what it was all about. She ignored it and inspected her room instead. There was a whirlpool of knickknacks that were similar but not quite with the things her other selves cherish the most. A dancing ballerina figurine but with a grotesquely deformed feet. A guitar with cut wires and holes in the body. A picture of Madeline's mother with black ink splattered on the mother's face. Madeline blinked and blinked again. A thought struck her and she immediately went downstairs to look for her father. He was not to be found. At least not in the house. He left just as he had left in the other universe a few months back. It was also for the same reasons. He couldn't stand the sight of his daughter slipping drastically away from sanity. So he left just like his wife did and for the same reasons.

Then, there were cops all over the place. They rushed in like a hurricane destroying everything in their path and bringing along with them Madeline. A silent and fearful Madeline.

Suddenly, there were no doors and talking cats with British accents. There was only the dark room where she slept long and hard until she could wake up with the huge oak door looming behind her and a cat with its British accent with the key in its paws.

The End #