I’d never before been inside a church.
Perhaps the answers I seek lay within this ancient cathedral’s walls. My chest tightens as I approach, the gothic doors open, inviting me in, but I cannot. The threshold becomes like a birling log. I step forward but do not move. The carvings on the walls melt; the light shining through the stained glass change from brilliant hues of oranges and yellows to blood red, pooling across the floor. Suddenly a man appears across the narthex. “You are not welcome here.” His voice, strained, barely reaches me. “Go, he will find you here.”