Driving down the road. Top down. Wind whipping through his hair. This was Ryan’s favorite time of day. Twilight, just as the last of the light leaks off the horizon. The engine of his 1970’s corvette humming along was the perfect sound at the perfect time of day. The only thought in his mind was on the drink he would be making once he got home. His week had been a nightmare and now it was three days of doing absolutely nothing. At least that was the plan. Rounding the next corner, Ryan almost slammed on the brakes. Just off the right side of the road he saw one of those telephone boxes, like in London. “What the actual F…” he almost said, there just wasn’t anything like that in the small Californian coastal town he lived in.

Just as he was passing the “telephone box” and ominous red glow emanated from inside. This did cause him to slam on the breaks and say “What the hell?” Looking over his shoulder he realized he had just enough room on the shoulder to turn around and face the glowing box. “Damn the turn radius on these things” he muttered as the wheels came uncomfortably close to the steep hillside. Just as he got his car lined up with the mysterious box. The red light inside the box began to pulse and deepen in hue. What started off a bright cherry red deepened to a sinister vermilion. “Um…ok?!” Ryan said to himself. Pinching himself to make sure this wasn’t a trippy dream as a result of too many gin and tonics. Ryan stealed himself to get out of the car.

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_This can’t really be happening, can it? _

__ Popping the latch, he stuck one leg out the door. _This is the part of those stupid horror films where the unsuspecting victim checks out the creepy thing and then dies. _Ryan thought mockingly.

As Ryan approached, he noticed that this wasn’t one of those telephone boxes like in London. There was no phone inside. It was just three wall of slatted windows and a solid glass door with a simple black handle on it. The word, “pull” in some standard corporate font that everyone used and simultaneously hated.

In the next moment several things happened all at once.

Ryan thought _This is so dumb I should just go home. _He pulled the door open and the red light from inside bathed him in that same creepy red glow. He started to smell the tang of ozone, as a mechanical whirr began to wind up.

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With a loud pop and fizzle, Ryan blinked and was no longer in front of the weird not-telephone box. He was no longer standing on the top of a steep hill overlooking his small coastal town. He was standing in front of, well he didn’t quite know how to describe it. But his first thought was, How am I suppposed to go home now? He then realized he was still holding onto the door to the not-telephone box, but it was not attached to anything. __

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