The door submission

"Any time I wish?" I say back to the door. There was no answer, not that I could hear it over the drowning sound of my own heartbeat filling my head. I stared at the faint blue light emanating from under the door as I scrunched the bed sheets in my fist, sweat starting to bead on my forehead.

What time would I even visit? A prehistoric realm clamoring with dinosaurs and primordial beasts? Ancient civilizations laying the foundation for modern humanity? The recent past, a society reinventing itself upon the introduction of the Internet? So many possibilities, so many outcomes, but where to? Should I even go at all?

I carefully slide out of bed and approach the door. My legs shakily stand before it, threatening to give out if I don't calm down. I steady my breathing, but the door stood over me ominously as if to consume me entirely in its inky blackness. A silver handle glinted in faded light, a crooked promise to a distant world. I could hear a faint heartbeat from the door, my own intertwining with it to create a demonic symphony, one that startled me to my core.

"I want-" I choked the words out, but my voice shriveled before I could finish. The door waited.

"I want September 8, 2001".

The door did nothing.

"I said-"

The door began to creak open, unveiling a soft blue portal behind its frame. It shone brilliantly, illuminating the whole room as if painting a portrait of the sky. I drew closer, mesmerized by the sight until it was no longer there. Instead, I was in my room again. But it was not my room. My desk was no longer there, instead replaced by a soccer ball and a pile of dirty laundry strewn across the floor. The clock was replaced by posters of my favorite bands, or at least ones I would rock out to when I was younger. The morning sun shone through the window, its rays revealing my childhood bedroom. I could barely move a muscle. It worked. It had actually worked. I got one more shot. I could still save her.

And that's when the door disappeared.