How to Outlast a Door

Several days later Steve returned to the door. It was still golden and spotless. He felt just as unsure of his next action as he had at last visit, and quite sure that he would be unsure if he waited another day or week or year for some kind of indication of what to do. The door was going to outlast him. He sat down on a step facing the door to ponder this problem.

He thought of being young, perhaps eight or nine, hunting with his father. It did not seem to matter what they were hunting, his father's most common words were: "Don't wait for the moment, create it." And the old man would pull the trigger, sometimes in quick succession, to the horror of Steve's ears. He wanted to run when that happened. He thought of running now, but the door was quiet and motionless.