The Wrong Door
349 Words
At school, I always held it in instead of going to the bathroom.
Not out of embarrassment.
For another reason.
It all started one day in high school. I had left class late and the hallways were almost empty. I urgently needed to use the bathroom, but the boys’ restroom was closed for maintenance.
The only one nearby was the girls’ restroom.
I looked down the hallway.
No one was there.
“Just a minute,” I thought.
I pushed the door open slowly.
The bathroom was silent.
Too silent.
The white lights flickered slightly, and the echo of my footsteps sounded louder than usual.
I went into the first stall.
When I finished and opened the door… I heard something.
A whisper.
Very soft.
It came from one of the stalls at the back.
“Hello?” I said.
No one answered.
I thought maybe a girl was in there and I had scared her.
“Sorry,” I murmured. “I’m leaving.”
I walked over to the sink.
Then I heard a bang.
One of the stalls slammed shut.
I jumped in fright.
“Is someone there?”
Silence.
The stall at the back was closed.
But something was strange.
Under the door… there were no feet.
No one was standing inside.
I felt a knot in my stomach.
I stepped a little closer.
“Hello?”
Then I heard something inside the stall.
A wet sound.
Like someone breathing very close to the floor.
I took a step back.
The light went out for a second.
I ran to the door.
But when I tried to open it… it didn’t move.
The door was locked.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Is anyone there?!”
The hallway was silent.
Behind me I heard the stall slowly open.
A long creak.
I didn’t want to look.
But I did.
The stall was open.
And there was no one inside.
Just the toilet.
And something written on the bathroom mirror that hadn’t been there when I came in.
It said:
“Boys shouldn’t come in here.”
- Writer
