Lena finds a tiny hidden door in her room. When she opens it, she steps into a glowing world full of strange creatures, bright plants, and a silver shadow coming closer.
Lena was seven, and she noticed everything.
On a rainy afternoon, while drops tapped softly at the window, she was pushing toy animals into a line beside her bed when she heard it again: a faint buzzing sound from behind the big wardrobe.
Lena froze. She set down her toy rabbit and looked at the wall.
There, where there had only been plain wallpaper before, was a tiny blue door.
It had shining stars on it and a round silver handle. Lena stared so hard she forgot to blink.
"Have you been there all along?" she whispered.
No one answered. The buzzing grew a little louder.
Lena reached out and turned the handle.
The door opened with a soft click. Warm light spilled out, golden and bright, and a gentle breeze touched her cheeks. Lena peered inside.
Beyond the door was not her house at all. It was a world that shimmered and glowed. Little lights floated through the air like sleepy fireflies. Bright mushrooms bobbed along the ground. Tall trees sparkled as if someone had dusted them with glitter, and the path below them shimmered in rainbow colours.
A small pink creature hovered in front of her. It had tiny wings and eyes like beads of glass.
"Lena!" it called in a thin, quick voice. "Come fast. You must see something important."
Lena took one careful step forward. Soft petals pressed under her shoes, and somewhere far away she heard strange laughter, light and chiming.
Then the glowing world went still.
The floating lights stopped. The mushrooms stopped bouncing. Even the pink creature gasped and flew back.
A huge silver shadow slid across the rainbow path, and slowly, very slowly, it began to move toward Lena.