A New Door

It was around 7 AM, when Ayoub suddenly woke up only to discover he was holding his phone the whole night.

' Am I developing a new bad habit or what... ' He thought. After all this was the third night that he spent holding his phone, doing nothing but reading a very interesting web novel that he found only by luck, it was one of those rare hidden gems that didn't get enough credit.

While washing his face with cold water, he heard his mother downstairs calling : "Ayoub, Aya breakfast is ready".

They lived in the outskirts of Tetouan and their house was basically a small villa with two stories. The first one was for the kitchen and the living room, and the second consisted of their sleeping quarters and a bathroom. They had a small garden in the front yard where their mother Aisha loved to spend her evenings. And the back yard contained a small pool that was right now covered since it was the middle of the winter season.

Ayoub left his room heading downstairs, however, on his way, he couldn't help but notice the light was on in his sister's room, so he went to check on her.

He found her sleeping in her desk, covered by books and notebooks instead of blankets and the window was also open. He woke her up, and while leaving her room he heard her sneezing, something that was very much inevitable in this case.

The kitchen table had a rectangular shape, and five chair spread around it, that being said, there were only three dishes on the table. Their father had wake even earlier and went outside to practice his morning routine that consisted essentially of jogging and doing a bit of cardio. As for the last dish, normally it would be reserved for Ayoub's big brother, but at the moment he simply wasn't … present.

The food was delicious and tasty as always. His mother never failed to deliver on that department.

"By the looks of it, you pulled another all nighter, didn't you, Aya?" It was a rhetorical question. Aisha knew how much her daughter was devoted to studying, and while usually that would be something parents hope for their children to have, in her case it was simply overwhelming.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you really should study less and try to enjoy your youth a little bit more. For god's sake, you are only sixteen." Her mother was really upset about this. She knew that Aya had a strong resolve and that she would go the whole way in order to achieve her dreams. But spending all day every day studying at her age was simply abnormal.

'I can't see the problem here though. Most of her peers don't even know what they wanna be doing a year from now, while she's already planned at least ten years ahead. If anything, I think mom should be proud of her just as much as dad is' thought Ayoub.

After breakfast Ayoub and his sister put on their school uniforms and said their goodbyes to their mother. At this hour, in the morning it was really cold outside, so they had to wear an extra layer of clothes.

"Why didn't you defend yourself when we were eating?" Ayoub asked wondering why she didn't rebuke her mother when she obviously could.

"You know how mom could sometimes be, responding to her would only bring more damage than good. Oh and since you were thinking that way, why didn't you defend me? Isn't that what big brothers should do?" She had him right there, he couldn't argue with her reasoning so he just kept quiet until they reached his sister's middle school.

Then he continue on his way to his college which was about fifteen minutes from where he was right now.

After a while he saw something that he simply couldn't believe. It was a small door standing in the middle of no where. Even with all the wind, the door didn't budge at all. He couldn't help but think that this was it! That this door would take him to another world where he'll either be a hero or an esteemed adventurer, leaving behind him this boring life.

And so he went explosively towards that door, and opened it and throw himself throw it. He did all this knowing that it was just a ruse and that the things he read in his novels were exactly that... Novelties.

And so when he found himself really in the middle of desert that stretched all the way to the horizon, he stood there like a statue not knowing what to think or do. The thing that got him out of his awe was the sound of the door shutting behind him, and when he turned he didn't find it anywhere and was now trapped in the middle of no where...