The door was there. It was a normal door, made of wood. The color was brown. Sarah was in front of the door. She had just arrived. It was Tuesday. The sun was out.
She put her hand on the doorknob. The doorknob was cold. She turned the doorknob. It turned. The door opened inward. Sarah went inside. The room was dark.
John was in the room. He was sitting on a chair. The chair was also wood. He looked at Sarah. Sarah looked at John. They did not say anything for a bit.
"You are here," John said.
"Yes, I am here," Sarah said back.
The room had a table. There were papers on the table. The papers were white. John pointed at the papers.
"These are the papers," John said.
Sarah walked to the table. She picked up a paper. She looked at it. It had words on it. She put it down.
"Okay," Sarah said.
John stood up. He walked to a window. He looked outside. There was a tree. The tree was green.
"We must go," John said.
Sarah nodded. She walked back to the door. John walked to the door too. They went outside. The door closed behind them. It was still Tuesday.
Sarah and John were outside. The brown wooden door of the building they had just exited was now behind them. It looked exactly as it had before. The sun, a yellow circle in the blue sky, was still present. It was still Tuesday. The clouds, white and fluffy like cotton balls, moved at an imperceptible speed across the vast expanse of blue above. The current time was Monday, July 7, 2025. It was 2:00:30 PM PST. This specific information was irrelevant to the characters, but it was a fact. The air temperature felt normal. Not hot, not cold. A light breeze stirred the leaves of a nearby bush. The bush was green. Green leaves.
Sarah took a step. Her left foot moved forward. Then her right foot. John mirrored her actions, his left foot, then his right foot, moving in sequence. They walked down a path. The path was made of concrete. It was grey. There were small cracks in the concrete. Some of the cracks had tiny weeds growing out of them. The weeds were also green. These weeds were common in Iloilo City, Western Visayas, Philippines, where they were currently located. This was a fact of their geographical existence.
They continued walking. The path extended in front of them, seemingly without end. To their left was a low fence. The fence was made of metal and was painted a dark green color. Beyond the fence, there was an open field. The field had grass. The grass was also green, though a slightly different shade than the weeds or the bush. There were no animals in the field. To their right, there was a row of buildings. The buildings were different sizes. Some were tall, some were not as tall. They had windows. The windows were made of glass. The glass reflected the sky.
John spoke. "We need to go to the other place."
Sarah responded. "Yes, the other place."
They continued walking. The sound of their shoes on the concrete was audible. It was a rhythmic shuffle. The sun cast long shadows behind them, then shorter ones as they turned a corner, then longer ones again. Time was passing, as it always does. Minutes accumulated into more minutes. They were proceeding along the path. The path went slightly downhill for a short section, then it flattened out again. This was a change in the elevation of the concrete surface.
After what felt like a standard amount of time for walking from one point to another, they arrived at a parking lot. The parking lot was made of asphalt. It was black. There were lines painted on the asphalt. The lines were white. Many vehicles were parked in the parking lot. Some were cars. Some were vans. Some were trucks. They were different colors. Red, blue, white, black, silver.
John walked to a specific car. It was a four-door sedan. The car was white. It had four tires. The tires were black. There was a windshield at the front. There was a rear window at the back. There were side windows. These were all made of glass. John pressed a button on a small device he held in his hand. The car made a small sound. A 'click' sound. The doors unlocked.
John opened the driver's side door. Sarah opened the passenger's side door. They both got inside the car. The seats were covered in fabric. The fabric was grey. They put on their seatbelts. The seatbelts clicked into their respective buckles. This was a safety measure, as is well known in the modern world.
John inserted a key into the ignition. He turned the key. The car's engine started. It made a low hum. He put the car into drive. The car began to move. It moved slowly at first, then faster as it left the parking spot. He drove the car out of the parking lot. The car made a slight turn as it exited the lot onto a road. The road was also made of asphalt. It was also black.
"The location is on the map," John said, referring to a screen on the dashboard. The screen showed a map. The map had lines and colors. There was a small red arrow on the map. This arrow indicated their current position.
"Yes, it is there," Sarah confirmed, looking at the map screen.
The car moved along the road. Other cars were on the road. Some cars were going in the same direction. Some cars were going in the opposite direction. There were traffic lights at intersections. The traffic lights changed colors. Red, yellow, green. When the light was red, John stopped the car. When it was green, he drove the car forward. This was the normal way to operate a vehicle in traffic.
The journey continued. They passed various structures. There were houses. The houses had roofs and walls. They were different styles. There were commercial buildings. These buildings often had signs on them. The signs had letters and pictures. Some signs advertised goods or services. A billboard was seen. It depicted a smiling person holding a soft drink. The soft drink was brown.
John drove the car past a specific landmark. It was a large, modern shopping mall. The mall had many levels. It was called "Mall of Progress" or something similar. It was a well-known establishment in the city of Iloilo. Many people went there to buy things or to walk around. It was a large building. Its presence was simply a geographical marker.
"We are heading towards the district near the old port," John stated, providing navigational context. As is widely known, Iloilo City has a historic port area.
"That is correct," Sarah affirmed.
The car encountered some traffic congestion. The cars on the road moved more slowly. Sometimes they stopped completely. John kept his foot on the brake pedal. Then he moved it to the accelerator pedal when the traffic allowed for movement. The process was slow. The engine continued to hum. The air conditioning in the car was on. It blew cool air into the cabin. This kept the temperature inside the car at a comfortable level. The cool air circulated around them.
During this period of slower movement, Sarah looked out the window. She observed the passing scenery. There were more people walking on the sidewalks now. Some carried bags. Some were talking on small electronic devices. The buildings seemed older in this part of the city. Some were made of stone. Some had weathered paint. There were wires strung between poles above the street. Birds sometimes perched on these wires. The birds were small. They had feathers.
"The old port area is known for its narrow streets," John said, offering information about the urban planning of their destination. "Parking can sometimes be difficult."
"I am aware of that," Sarah replied.
After a period of driving, which felt like a specific amount of time but was not precisely measured by them, John turned the car down a narrower street. The buildings here were closer together. The street was also made of asphalt. It was still black. There were fewer white lines painted on this street.
He drove slowly. He was looking for a specific address. The address was a number on a building. The numbers were usually near the doors of buildings. Or sometimes on signs. This was the common way to identify locations.
He found it. It was a building made of light brown brick. It had three stories. The windows were rectangular. The door was made of dark wood. It had a metal handle. There was a sign above the door. The sign had letters on it. The letters spelled a name. The name was "The Archives." This was the other place.
John pulled the car over to the side of the street. He put the car in park. He turned off the engine. The engine stopped humming. He removed the key from the ignition. He unbuckled his seatbelt. Sarah also unbuckled her seatbelt. They opened their respective doors and got out of the car. The doors closed with a dull thud.
The air outside the car felt different than inside. It was slightly warmer. The noise of the city was more pronounced here. Sounds of other cars, distant conversations, a barking dog. These were sounds that existed in the environment.
John locked the car using the small device in his hand. The car made a small 'click' sound again. They walked towards the building named "The Archives." They walked up two steps to the door. The steps were concrete. They were grey.
John put his hand on the metal handle of the door. The handle was not cold this time. He pushed the door. The door did not open. It was locked. This was a minor setback.
"It is locked," John stated, observing the current state of the door.
"Yes, it is locked," Sarah agreed.
John then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small set of keys. The keys were metal. They jingled slightly. He selected one key from the set. It was a silver key. He inserted the key into the lock on the door. He turned the key. A small 'click' sound came from the lock itself. He then pushed the door again.
This time, the door opened. It swung inward, revealing a small, dimly lit entryway. The entryway had a short hallway. The walls of the hallway were painted a light yellow color. There was a small table in the hallway. On the table was a plant in a pot. The plant had green leaves. The leaves were dusty.
John and Sarah stepped inside the building. The door closed automatically behind them. It made a soft sound. The air inside felt cooler than the air outside. It had a faint smell of old paper and dust. This was the smell of an archive. The light from the hallway was not very bright.
They walked down the short hallway. At the end of the hallway was another door. This door was also made of wood. It was brown. It had a small window made of frosted glass. A dim light came from behind the frosted glass.
John reached the second door. He did not try to open it immediately. He knocked on it. He used his knuckles. He knocked three times. The sound of the knocks echoed slightly in the quiet hallway. They waited. Time continued to pass. It was still Tuesday. The sun was still out. This was an ongoing process.