MANX Enterprises, Ltd.

© 2018 MANX Enterprises, Ltd.

    Mackov walked down the well-worn cobblestone path and came to an-other door, its surface covered by oxidized white paint and fissured by time.  He took the two worn stone steps and turned the ancient bronze knob.  The door swung open with a familiar solidness.  Two men and a woman looked up in surprise, then raised their right hands, palms forward, fingers slightly curled, and nodded three times as welcoming smiles formed on their youth- ful faces.  Mackov nodded back as his eyes wandered over pottery laden shelves that wrapped around dusky walls.  In the center of the room were massive wooden tables covered by parts and pieces of partially finished clay figures.     One of the men waved Mackov over.  His perfectly aligned teeth glinted from behind expressive lips.  Short straight silver hair framed his broad, slate grey forehead.  His large, widely spaced, deep set green eyes watched Mackov as Mackov’s eyes settled on the shadowy object that lay on his work bench.  He approached to get a better look only to be interrupted by the woman who gestured towards a tarnished brass door in the far corner.  As he approached it the door slid open.  Inside was a heavily polished brass plate covered by rows of black hexagonal buttons, each embossed with strange copper red symbols.  Above them was a line of three triangular but-tons set into a black panel.  From right to left they were green, yellow, and red.  It all felt uncomfortably familiar.  He entered.  The door trembled shut.  There was a slight jolt and the elevator took him up.     Time passed.  How much Mackov couldn’t tell.  The elevator slowed to a halt and the door slid open.  In walked a woman with pale weathered skin and blond hair turning to grey.  A slight smile formed on her thin lips as she looked Mackov over with her large, brilliant orange eyes.  She pressed the green button with her left finger.  The door rumbled back into place and the elevator resumed its unhurried ascent.     Time passed.  The elevator again came to a stop and the door opened.  The woman stepped off.  Mackov started to follow.  She turned back with a frown, her head tilted left shaking slowly.     “Exit.You.Not.”     She reached in and pressed the yellow button.  The door closed between them.  The elevator continued its slow ascent.      Time passed.  Mackov stood at one end of a dark, narrow hallway.  At the other, two wooden doors faced each other across a dilapidated floor.  He walked up to the one on the right and grabbed its burnished knob.  It swung open easily on loose noisy hinges. Beyond was a small musty room filled by a diffuse light streaming through a small translucent window.  The dried out wooden floor creaked under his feet.  To his right stood an ancient desk its rounded edges shiny with wear its darkened surface covered by a sun faded blotter and desiccated writing materials.  The chair behind it had a high curved back intricate-ly carved with symbols that jogged Mackov’s mind.  To the left; another door.