A breeze whipped my snow dripped blond hair into my face. I always wondered at how much my hair reminded me of ramen noodles. That’s the real reason I used to chew on my hair in class. Betty my friend who is walking beside me always tried to get me to stop before anyone else noticed. She must have thought I’d be embarrassed. Truth is, I never cared what others thought of my strange habits. Betty on the other hand was always so self conscious. I think it has to do with her insecurities about her cross eye. She used to complain about it all the time but now she just seems to sort have accepted it. That and her dark hair parts just perfectly to cover it.

Violet!

I was just pulling my hair back from my face when Betty shouted at me and made me nearly jump into the street!

What is your problem?

Look at your apartment building….

Yeah it’s brick and boring except for my apartment that has a tiny useless Juliet balcony. What about…

That’s when I noticed it too. A strange bridge that seemed to connect my apartment specifically to the building right next door… a building I have never ever noticed till this moment!

What in the

World…. Betty had a habit of finishing my sentences. That’s what you get for being life long best friends.

We looked at each other for a moment. My violet eyes bulging outta my head and her hazel ones turning a shade greener. Then it clicked for both of us in the same moment.

We raced to my apartment! Without saying a word, we both knew it was time to explore! We took the stairs two at a time and and nearly clawed our way past my door.

Where could that bridge connect?

I looked around and then that’s when I remembered. My closet…. I always knew it seemed to be deeper than was obvious. I ran into my bedroom with Betty close on my heals.

You think it could be in here?

My closet! Remember when I moved in and you said how weird this closet seemed? Like the outside walls go back further than the actually closet?

Yes!

We ripped my clothes off the bar and threw them carelessly on the floor. Before us was a wall. A seemingly ordinary sheet rocked painted wall…. That is strange now that we have seen the bridge. Now that I think of the rest of the walls in my apartment; they are all plaster! All but this one sheet rock wall!

Betty bangs on it and sure enough. Hollow sounding. Then she did something truly crazy. Something very un Betty like. She kicked a hole right through the wall! She kicked it without caring a hoot about consequences or what I’d say. I refused to let her have all the fun. I began kicking away too!

When the wall was finally demolish enough for us to slip inside, all we saw was darkness that seemed to loom on forever. It was creepy. I was first to step inside, one foot in front of the other. Betty had the smarts to turn her phone flashlight on. There only five feet away was a giant old heavy wooden door. It was already open! I opened it wide and had to step back because of the brightness! The bridge we had seen outside from down below was flanked with intricate paned windows on each side. We each shivered as we approached the bridge despite it being surprisingly warm.

I can’t see the other side

I looked and sure enough neither could I. How weird. It’s not like this bridge bends in any way…

I walked across and Betty followed. The bridge seems solid enough. I let out my tightly held breath. Surely the scariest part has passed right?

That’s when we heard it. Whispering. It was coming from one of the three doors covered in shadow ten feet from the bridge. We tip tied up to the door to get a better vantage for hearing.

It was Putin.

Betty and I looked at each other in horror and fear. We heard another voice talk about where they want to bomb next, Kyiv. The final power source for the citizens and military there. Then we heard a cough. We stifled a laugh when we realized we had to be hearing someone’s tv! Well jokes on you Putin. The whole world knows where you plan to bomb next!

Betty and I tried the other two doors since they were completely silent. Only one opened. It was an snort closet. Well it was almost empty. There was an old map folded up. It looked like a crusty old road map. I took it as a souvenir.

That night, Betty and I ordered Chinese and ate it in front of the tv. We were playing games on our phone and watching the local news about dogs gone wild. A dog marathon to help endangered wild life. Finally… putting animals to work so we don’t have to do all the running! Good job Fido…. But then the six o’clock news came on to update us on the Ukrainian plight . Russia had just bombed the final power source in Kyiv. Plans for the military have to drastically change in this moment.

Betty and I froze and slowly turned to one another….we turned to my highly unused kitchen table where the supposed road map sat that I had commandeered earlier.

Betty was faster than me and snatched it right up. Sure enough. It wasn’t a road map. It was a map of the building. No not a blue print… a literal map. It had only one writing on it. All of your answers are here. It covered the area of the empty closet…. This closet too seemed to have a bridge connected to it.

Like in the choose your own adventure, Betty and I had a choice to make. Stay here and pretend nothing ever happened… or go exploring.

In that moment, we could hear a little girl crying. Then we could hear the same girl crying on tv.

Betty ran out of my apartment leaving her favored Chinese behind. I was left alone…. To explore. It really was the only choice for me!