Chapter 2

Doors and Dancing

Drip. The sound filled Catherine’s ears as a cough shook her body. She coughed again, causing water to flow out of her delicate mouth, clearing her lungs of the painful liquid. She took in a breath causing her lungs to sting. Unwillingly, she breathed yet another breath and opened her throbbing eyes. Wherever she was, it wasn’t well lit. But Catherine could easily see her surroundings once the pain in her eyes eased. Carefully Catherine lifted herself from the cold marble floor and glanced around. She was in a circular room with black marble flooring. The curious thing though was that there were ten doors lining the rounded walls of the room.

Catherine caught a glimpse of her reflection in the clean marble. Water had collected on the floor from her dripping hair. Her face was pale but overcome with a bluish gray tint. Purple lines were brought out on her once charming face. Drip. In horror, Catherine looked away and focused instead on one of the white doors. “Where am I,” her voice echoed around the room. She called again, “Elizabeth?! George?!” There was no answer. In a panic, Catherine fumbled for her radio. She snapped the device into the talk position and began calling, “Elizabeth! George!” Again there was no response. She flipped the channel I hopes of better results. “Mayday, mayday! This is Catherine Shaw from the ship Gracious Blue! I can’t seem to pinpoint my position or my ship! I believe myself to be injured! Mayday!”

After flipping the radio into a receiving position, it crackled and fell dead in her hands. With the strength she could muster, Catherine hurled the thing across the room. Strength wasn’t something Catherine had a lot of at that point, so after this display of anger, she couldn’t do much but pull herself up against the wall and relax. Her lungs still burnt from being filled with salt water. But she managed to painlessly hum Fred Astair’s  “Cheek to Cheek”. This act of familiarity calmed her and lulled her to sleep.

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Catherine’s eyes fluttered open. Her mind was filled with the sound of a record player, playing out the song she had been humming earlier. She looked around, but there was no record player anywhere. There was a young couple dressed in 40’s style outfits dancing around the marble floor. Catherine had a bit of a headache but she could see the scene clearly. “Hello,” she called kindly.

The couple took no notice of her and continued dancing. “I have to be dreaming,” Catherine attempted to calm herself. The young man wore an army uniform and had a dark scar on his cheek but it was offset by his bright smile. The young woman pulled herself into the arms of the young man as the song changed to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. She was pretty with her hair swept off her shoulders and tucked into the young army man’s arms. Catherine watched them dance until the song ended. At the end of the song, the young man took the girls hand and led her to an open door near Catherine.

As he opened the door, music filled the room. Catherine recognized the song coming from the room as Frank Sinatra’s “Way You Look Tonight”. She moved as quickly as she could into the room. The door swung closed behind her.

She looked around the room. Everything was black and white. She turned to her left and glanced at herself in a beautiful mirror. Catherine herself was in black and white. She was adorned in a striped black and white high waist dress. Her damp hair had been dried. It had been pulled around the top of her head and curls spilling out from her hair tie. She marveled at the change she had gone through.

When she was little, Catherine’s mother used to play her and Elizabeth 40’s music. Catherine loved everything about the era. She was the odd duck at school for she wore swing dresses, forties hair styles, shoes, and hats. Here she felt perfect.

A young man, also in an army uniform, approached Catherine. He introduced himself, “Hello miss. My name is Andrew Bell.”

Catherine extended her hand and introduced herself, “My name is Catherine Shaw.”

“Hello Catherine. I know we just met, but gee you’re just so pretty, I wondered if you’d like to dance.”

The song shifted to Edda James’ “At Last”. It was a song Catherine could not resist. She nodded and took the young man’s hand. Andrew was light on his feet, dancing with him was like being a feather. Catherine was twirled around the dance floor. She could not remember a time when she had enjoyed herself more. The pain and fear of earlier had disappeared in his arms. They continued to dance for three songs. At that moment, life was perfect in Catherine’s eyes.

At the beginning of Louis Prima’s “Just a Gigolo”, the couple left the dance floor for the refreshment table. Catherine turned to Andrew with a question, “So where are we?”

Andrew responded somewhat dreamily, “I don’t know exactly. I woke up in that dark room, after a battle, and I heard the music. So I came in.”

“So this is heaven?”

“It’s very possible, that or a dream.”

“Do you sleep?”

“Periodically, people doze off in chairs. How long have you been here?”

Catherine smoothed her dress as she spoke, “I just got here actually.”

“Come let’s dance again.” The couple re-entered the dance floor. Again, within seconds Catherine forgot all her worries. She was lost in the music and Andrew’s arms.

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Catherine had lost track of time. She could have been dancing for hours, days, weeks, it really didn’t matter. She had grown accustom to life wherever she was. Catherine made friends and Andrew taught her different dances. But things could not be forgotten that easily.

One day at the end of Archie Crown Orchestra’s “Sing, Sing, Sing”, Catherine came off the dance floor laughing and panting. She was clutching Andrew’s arm to keep herself up straight.

Andrew sat her at a small table. He continued to laugh, “Maybe we should work on balance next time.”

Catherine laughed too, “Gee Whiz Andrew, do you expect me to be perfect?”

“I’ll go get us some lemonade.”

“Thank you Andrew.” Catherine swiveled in her chair to face the table. She caught a glimpse of a door.

Andrew returned with the lemonades, “What are you looking at Catherine?”

“The door. There were other doors out there. Do you know where they lead?”

“I haven’t a clue. Shall we dance?”

“I want to know.”

“Know what?”

“I want to know what’s behind the other doors.”

“You’re not going to leave now are you?”

“I’ll be back. I just want to know.”

The two sat in silence for a moment. Andrew got up and pulled Catherine’s chair out for her. He bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Return to me soon, Catherine.” They walked to the door together. Andrew kissed her cheek once more and then Catherine was alone again.

Catherine looked around at the doors around her. There were nine doors she hadn’t explored yet. Before she even had time to decide which door to take, she heard a noisy confrontation behind one of then. That door was open fiercely, and a figure went flying out into the circular room.