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It started with the girl who fell through the door. Eleanor, they called her. Baby-faced and wide-eyed, she looked like a deer caught in headlights. She wandered the Harbor with ease like she had been here all her life, and had not simply stumbled upon the old door in the forest. She turned corners with no hesitation like she was born for this place. For the constant adventure, never seeing the same room twice within the same day. She walked with the confidence of Theseus, the string he used to find his way out of the labyrinth a joke to the small girl.
For years she wandered the Harbor, exploring the never-ending rooms, reading stories of princesses and princes, of monsters and heroes. She pet every cat she could find, sometimes inviting them to follow her to a ballroom or small rooms hidden behind paintings. Sometimes they do, curling up in a chair while the girl reads, paints, or simply thinks. Sometimes they follow her a few paces and then turn around like they know she will lead them far from where they like to linger.
She grew from a child to a girl in the harbor, then from a girl to a young lady. As the years passed, she began to think of the Harbor as home. A place she finds peace and comfort despite the mystery. She didn't have many friends, but she had the cats, the keeper, and even the painter for a while. She had all the people she needed in the books constantly surrounding her. Friends, lovers, family, enemies even. She never thought she needed much more.
Until him.
She was exploring, as always. Soot filled the air. Dust and pieces of charred paper fell from the roof into her hair with every breath. She was taking a break, sitting against a burnt wall, reading a book she had taken from one of the rooms of the Harbor. She would return it, eventually. Across the room was a door. It was burnt like the rest of the room, but the brass doorknob still managed to shine. She had tried to open it many times, but it never budged. There was never any sign of life. Not a footstep or a mouse scurrying by the thin light that shined from the room behind it. Her imagination ran wild with what could be behind it. Maybe it opened to a palace, with a queen and a king, or a magical castle with dragons and wizards.
She was about to leave the room when she saw it. A footstep under the door. At first, she thought it was a trick of the eye. Her brain mistook a piece of char floating in the air for a movement. But then it happened again, and again. Something was behind the door. Eleanor rushed, pulling a piece of paper from the back of the book she was reading to write a note before whatever was moving left.
Hello.
Is there someone behind this door
or are you a cat?
She signed the paper with a small bunny drawing and slid the note under the door along with the feather quill she used to write it, and waited. She waited for a few moments. Nothing. She waited an hour. Still nothing. Maybe it was just a cat…
8 years later, Eleanor is in the same place. Sitting against the wall of the burnt room. She is reading a different book this time, one that she hasn't ripped a page out of to shove under a door in a childish fit of hope. Over the years she has come to enjoy the burned room. There is, somewhat ironically, a sense of warmth in this room that she has not found in many other places. She is sitting facing the door, the same way she always does. She thinks it foolish, that she always sits facing the door. She closes her book readying herself to leave the comfort of the dark room. A note slides under the door.
I am not a cat
Simon was his name. Simon Keating. From the day that they met, Simon & Eleanor were inseparable. They wreaked havoc on the Harbor together, running through the halls and ballrooms, giggling like schoolchildren so loudly that The Keeper could hear them at his desk, no matter how far they were from him. They danced and sang, and read each other's book recommendations on lush cushions in rooms they doubt people have visited in years. Eleanor never thought she needed a friend, but Simon was different. Simon with his caring eyes and even more caring heart. They were opposites, but the same in the ways that counted. Simon was an introvert while Eleanor was an extrovert. Simon slept through the night, while Eleanor rarely did. Simon would rather read all the books in the Harbor while Eleanor wanted to keep exploring all the doors and rooms, never wanting to stay in the same place for long, but for Simon, she did.
Eleanor itched for an adventure. She craved it like water after walking in the desert for weeks. Eleanor liked Simons' company, she really did, but he wasn't one for adventure the way she was. Yeah, he would go through all the rooms the harbor had to offer but wouldn't go farther. Eleanor wanted to go farther. She needed to.
So they came to a compromise. They knew the time beyond the locked doors was different from the time of the Harbor, so Eleanor was only allowed to leave for a year at a time, which would be merely a few hours for Simon.
“But I want to go for longer this time!” Eleanor whined jokingly, “You act like my father more than The Keeper does”
Simon let out a light chuckle, opening the door to the dusty library where the burnt room door was. “I just care about you, Lenour. I don’t want you to be swallowed up by time and then I never see you again”
Eleanor giggles “You like meee” she teases. Simon simply rolls his eyes with a smile.
“Whatever, sure. Have fun, don't die. I’ll see you soon” Simon pulls her in for a hug, slightly surprised when she embraces him tightly in response.
“See you soon, Sime!” she said lightly before pulling on her bunny mask and stepping into the dark room, closing the door behind her.
Simon will never admit it to Eleanor, for fear of her teasing him, but he does like her. He really likes her, and while she may only be gone a few hours or a day for him, it feels like weeks. He gets a lump in his throat that he cannot explain every time he sees her leave. For a few minutes, he will linger around the library. Pulling books off the shelf to read the back then placing them back. Then, he will wander the halls for a while.
“Eleanor is gone again?” The Keeper asks him with a smirk, “You're alone and moping, which is a telltale sign.”
“Is it that obvious?” Simon asks with a smile
“You really love her, huh?” The Keeper pats him on the back as Simon falls into the chair at his desk. The Keeper doesn't like sitting there anyways,
Simon says nothing, but his silence is enough of an answer for The Keeper. He knows he is in love with Eleanor, but he will not tell her. Not now, not ever, until he knows she feels the same, which will take at least a couple of hours.
When Eleanor eventually returns, she will have more stories than Simon can count, and Simon will sit and listen, taking in every word and little detail she says. Hours later he will ask her questions about things she didn't think he would remember, and she will smile brightly, heart beating out of her chest and wondering why she feels so happy that he remembered. This will repeat over the days or weeks it takes for her to want to explore again, and the cycle will continue.
For months, the cycle continues. Eleanor leaves, Simon gets sad, Eleanor comes back, giddily tells Simon stories, Then will leave again. It isn't until 1 year after that conversation with The Keeper that Simon will tell Eleanor how he truly feels.
Simon and Eleanor are walking to the library with the door to the burnt room once again when it happens. They don't know how or why, but it's become a thing that Eleanor can only leave through that door, and Simon always has to come to say goodbye.
“You just got back like a week ago why do you have to leave again” Simon complains as they walk down the hallway.
“It's been almost a month Sime! Are we sure your concept of time isn't the messed up one?” Eleanor laughs as Simon makes a face.
“I'm just,” Simon huffs. “Nevermind”
Eleanor stops walking and turns to face Simon, but he keeps walking
“Uh-uh come back here,” She runs to keep pace with his suddenly fast walking “What were you gonna say?”
Simon mumbles something incoherently and speeds his walking again.
“You can't run from me, Simon! What's wrong?” Eleanor grabs his hand and Simon swears he feels his heart fall out of his ass.
“It's just, I'm really gonna miss you,” Simon says, looking everywhere in the hallway except for Eleanor's eyes.
“Im gonna miss you too Si-”
“You don't get it Elle” Simon cuts her off. “ I hate when you leave, It may only be for a day for me but it's a year for you, what if you meet someone and decide not to come back to the Harbor, or what if something happens to you? It's all I can think about when you're gone. I hate when you leave because I'm scared you won't come back to me” Tears well in his eyes at the thought. A life without Eleanor, Simon thinks, is a life not worth living.
They stand in silence for a few moments before The Keeper walks past, saying a quick goodbye to Eleanor and nodding to Simon before wandering down the hallway and turning into a room. He definitely heard that, Simon thinks.
They walk the rest of the way to the library in silence. It's not awkward, but Simon wishes Eleanor would say something. He can't tell what she's thinking. He never can, really, and usually it's something he loves, but right now he hates it.
“If you don't want me to go, Simon, I won't,” Eleanor says when they enter the library
“No, It's okay. Just be safe, and” Simon pauses, grabbing Eleanor's hand lightly
“Come back to me, okay?”
Eleanor smiles and nods her head before opening the door. She steps one foot into the dark room but turns around quickly, “I forgot something!” She says quickly when she notices the confused look on Simon's face.
Slowly, Eleanor leans in and connects the gap between Simon and herself. The kiss is soft and sweet. When she pulls away, Simon is smiling.
“Now I can go,” she giggles. “I’ll be back soon, my loverboy”
My Loverboy . Simon can't help but smile at the nickname. He feels like a kid in a candy store. Simon told Eleanor how he felt and she didn't hate him. Simon yearns for Eleanor every time she leaves him, but this time it's different. He longs to hear her voice call him loverboy, to hear her laugh, and feel her lips on his again. Every time she goes, he patiently awaits her return. He knows not to put a time on her. He will love her no matter how long it takes for her to get back to him, he always has, but he will love her even more if she comes back sooner.
Simon's happiness surrounds him like an aura. It's a warmth that radiates from within him, making the cats love him a little more than usual.
“You seem chipper,” The Keeper says as Simon approaches his desk, careful not to step on the cat that keeps circling his legs, “What happened?”
“She kissed me,” Simon says, dazed. “Eleanor kissed me before she left”
The Keeper smiles at him “I should've known. It's all about love, in the end, isn't it?”
Of course it is, Simon thinks. Of course it's all about love, because Simon has been in love with Eleanor since the day they met, and not a minute has gone by since that day that he hasn't thought about it. About her, and her bright smile and her witty comebacks. Her lust for adventure and love for books. Her love for him, Her loverboy.