Kanhai Vaidya, 13

Kanhai is an avid reader from Aargau who loves to write, draw, bake and cook, be creative and play (including singing), listen to and compose music.

Continued from Part 1: A Unique Christmas – The Christmas Star

“What are we going to do?”, Violet asked.

Rose glanced down at her sister, and then at the gateway in front of her, thinking hard. The staircase led to darkness, only lit slightly by the light in the attic bedroom. Violet was staring at the open doors, which had just appeared on the wall of her older sister’s room. Her mouth was slightly open. Illuminated by the golden light, she looked up.

“Rose?”, Violet repeated.

Rose hesitated. She was tired of her boring life, so tired that she positively craved adventure. And here it was, right in front of her. If she was alone, she’d have gone in without giving it a second thought. But Violet was with her, and if this turned out to be dangerous – well, Rose definitely couldn’t afford that. Her sister was more than willing to go. The plea was apparent in her eyes. Violet longed for adventure as much as Rose did herself. But Rose had to decide: should she be the sensible older sister or the risk-taking best friend? Her eyes darted from the stairway to her sister. Taking a deep breath, she decided: “We’re going in.”

Rose turned to take her sister’s hand, but only spotted two jellybeans on the floor. They were part of the stash that Vi had hid in her jacket pocket. She called it her ‘Just in case pocket, just in case’, having named it after her favorite television show. Rose panicked. She screamed her sister’s name.

A meek reply came from beyond the blinding lights, “In here. Come on Rosie”. Rose started to descend the staircase, one step at a time. She could hear metallic clangs, presumably from Violet’s boots further down. Her own legs were shaking.

Who knew what would show up beyond this?

What kind of surprises, adventures and experiences awaited them?

Would they all be good?

Was this risk worth taking? She could still back out.

She snapped out of her reverie when she could no longer hear the metallic clanging. Her younger sister was too far away. She had to go after her.

Rose found her sister at the bottom of the staircase. She was panting, slightly out of breath because she had been bolting down the steps. Violet was standing on a floor as golden as the stairs behind them. The older sibling approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. “Vi? What’s goi-” Wordlessly, Violet pointed at something in front of her. In front of them was another gate. It was like a miniature version of the gateway that had appeared upstairs. But each gate was a different size. It was almost as if it had been carved to their exact heights. Just big enough to fit the girls. The other difference? It had no lock. The two sisters looked at each other and took a deep breath.

In silent agreement, each pushed open one side of the door.

A bright light filled the space, leaving them temporarily blinded. And what they saw on the other side took their breath away.

TO BE CONTINUED

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