A Different Look at 1111 (3)

 A Romantic Night?

The doorbell rang. Daria opened the door. “Hi, Tom,” she said. They then discreetly kissed.

“Hi, Daria. So, what was this romantic spot you wanted to show me?” Tom Sloane asked.

“Um, upstairs,” Daria said.

When the couple emerged onto the first floor, they heard the Fashion Club talking in Quinn's room.

“Why does one of them sound like they are on a speaker phone?” Tom asked.

“She broke her leg, apparently she doesn't want to be seen,” Daria said.

“Rigtht,” Tom said, as Daria led him to the guest room.

“What's so romantic about the Guest Room?” Tom asked as they entered the guest room.

“It's not the guest room itself, it's where it leads to,” Daria said enigmatically.

Tom wasn't sure of what to say.

Daria opened the closet and pulled him in.

“Um, Daria, what are you doing?”

Daria grabbed a nearby coat hook and turned it. Tom could then hear some rumbling.

“What's that?”

“Wait, Tom, oh, and lean against the back of the closet,” Daria said.

“What?” Tom looked out of the closet and saw that the part of the guest room ceiling close to the closet was retracting. 'That's weird,' he thought. He then felt a jerk as the closet rose, then swung so that he and Daria were on their backs on the back of the closet. “What's happening?”

“In a few seconds, we will be above the roof,” Daria said.

Indeed, Tom could see the roof retracting, thus showing the night sky, with a few stars visible which could outshine Lawndale's light pollution.

After another two seconds, the closet rose towards the sky. About five seconds later, it stopped, and railings rose above the edges of the closet.

Daria got up first. She held out her hand. “Are you going to get up?” she asked.

Tom grabbed her hand “Sure,” he said, sheepishly.

When he got up, he and Daria looked out over Lawndale. “Wow, you're right, this is romantic,” he finally said.

Daria gave him a peck on the cheek. “I thought you would say that,” she said.

“But, how does this, closet-platform work?”

“The house belonged to a stage magician before it belonged to the family with the psychotic relative. This platform and my room are not the only parts of the house that are unusual.”

Tom looked to the north. “There are more mechanisms like this?” he asked.

Daria also looked to the north and glanced at what could be seen of the Big Dipper. “I will show you them later,” she said.

“But how do we get down?” Tom asked.

“By pushing one of the railings to the side, the one with the word 'push' on it.”

“Cool,” Tom said as he gave his girlfriend another kiss.