Gordy threw Coralline off balance and into the rough stucco wall. Keeping his arm around her shoulder, she heaved him upright, navigating the empty brick streets towards home. Her younger but substantially taller brother had convinced her to go to the pub to celebrate passing the solicitors exam. Although he'd done all the celebrating and she'd done all the paying.

Turning the corner, Coralline stumbled to a stop. "Bloody hell?"

A blue, radiant vortex swirled on the wall opposite her flat. Gordy grinned down at her as if expecting a joke. She pointed and his head wobbled as he refocused on the circling light.

"It's a portal! Like one of them D&D thingies," he said in awe.

"It's in front of my door."

"Maybe it's waiting for us."

"Are you daft?"

"Certainly," he agreed cheerfully and lurched towards it.

"Gordy, get back."

"It probably leads to another dimension."

"Yeah, like a lava world. Or the cold void of space. Or New Zealand."

"New Zealand?"

"World's deadliest animals."

"That's Australia, or Arizona. Doesn't matter. The portal's not taking us to New Zealand."

"It's not taking us anywhere."

Gordy grabbed the edge and hopped onto the lip of the vortex to peer inside.

"Idiot." Coralline snatched him back, but his foot slipped. He slid into the glowing circle, nearly dragging her with him.

"Bloody hell." She paced. She cursed some more, then dove in after her hapless brother.

The vortex rotated shut and disappeared. As if it'd been waiting just for them.

Photo Composite | Originals by Francesco Ungaro & Matheo Jbt