Everyone in Bramblewick knew that the hill was bare.

Children rolled down its grassy slope in spring, peaceful animals wandered over it in summer, and in winter the same people who rolled down it during summer were found sledding across its steep slope. No one built on it. No one dug there. It was a sacred place for children to play and enjoy their childhood. That was simply how it had always been.

Lisa discovered the door by tripping over it.

Later, she would insist that this detail mattered.

It was early morning, the kind where the world almost feels unfinished. A thick mist hovered over the ground, and the sun hadn’t yet decided to rise. Lisa was already halfway up the hill, playfully chasing after an oddly colored rabbit that was far from home, when suddenly the earth beneath her foot rang - like a hollow plate of metal struck with a stone.

She froze.

Carefully, she brushed away the dirt and moss that concealed the object underneath. Beneath it lay a narrow door that was set directly into the hillside, its surface dark and smooth, etched with faint symbols that shifted when she tried to focus on them. There was no handle. No lock. Just a shallow mark shaped like an open hand.

Lisa’s pulse quickened.

The sensible thing would have been to cover it back up and tell someone that was older. Someone that was wiser.

She did neither.

Instead, she pressed her palm against the dark mark.

The hill breathed.

That was the only way she could describe it - a deep, slow exhale that trembled through the ground. The door offered her hand a warm sensation, almost welcoming her, and with the sound of a moving stone and a satisfying click, it opened inward.

Darkness waited beyond the door.

Not empty darkness, though. It shimmered, speckled with faint points of light, as if a night sky full of stars had been folded into a narrow space. Cool air spilled out, carrying the scent of rain, ash, and something old enough to have a name that no one remembered.

From somewhere far below, a voice spoke her name.

"Lisa."

Lisa pulled her hand back, her heart racing even faster.

She had never been a very special person. To her, she was just a girl standing on a quiet hill, staring into a mysterious door that should not even exist. But then she realized that she was special, and had a very important role to fill.

"Lisa."

Behind her, the village bells began to ring.

In front of her, the darkness shifted, like it was waiting for a response.

Waiting for a final decision to be made.

Lisa breathed deeply, took one step forward-

-and the hill closed behind her.

Lisa less stepped out into the darkness and more fell, the world swinging around her before she landed on the ground. She sat up, trying to focus on anything around her. It was all dark, the shimmering the only thing helping her navigate her way. She planted her hands in the grass to push herself up, feeling the grass stick to her skin and coil around her fingers. The grass clung to her clothes, tugging on them as if it wanted to keep her there or drag her down. Each step down the hill was slow and draining, the grass refusing to let her move without a fight.

There was a pulsing light in the distance, and Lisa was trying to make her way to it.

The voice had gone silent since her arrival, perhaps she scared it away, or maybe it had gone further where she needed to go.

She focused on walking, trying to make her way closer to the light, hoping that was the way she needed to go, or at least, the grass wouldn't be there. It wasn't long before her feet connected with something soft in a different way. It pulsed beneath her feet, but it didn't latch onto her. She walked along it, feeling the light wash over her, buildings around her appeared in the light before they faded as the light fled.

She should have recognised the buildings sooner. But the rush of this adventure had her distracted. It was only when she passed the house nearly identical in structure to her home that it clicked she was in her village, or well. She was in another version of her village.

She walked more confidently, knowing her way around. She came to the building with the light, the old bell tower in the real version of everything.

"Lisa."

She jumped and spun around, looking for the source of the voice. There was a long silence before she heard footsteps, she ran after them. They came to a stop near this version of the village meeting ground, meters from the statue of the founder.

The light stopped then, and Lisa found herself shrouded in the shimmering darkness. It was then that she remembered the warning her mother always told her.

"All ways return at the bell, no matter what. It keeps the dark at bay."

It was an old folk tale, but as she stood in the pitch black she wondered if it might be true.

"Lisa."

She didn't turn, hearing the grinding of stone. She could sense the statue moving behind her, and as she looked up she found it looking down at her.

She didn't move for a long second before running.