The gunslinger had seen so many doors just like this. They seemed to lead to nowhere, but he knew better. There did not appear to be anything but more dunes beyond this one, but the gunslinger knew that to open it would be to open a pathway into another world, perhaps another time, and, most certainly, another adventure.
This door was unlike the others, however. It was a simple wooden frame with a simple wooden door, just like the others had been, but there were subtle differences. None of the other doors had had molding, for instance. They had just been flat doors. Instead of a simple iron handle like those he had seen before, this door had a crystal knob with many facets, sparkling like a diamond in the desert sunlight.
The word across the top was written in gilded script, like the calligraphy he had seen his mother practice so many years ago in Gilead. The gunslinger squinted his eyes against the blinding sun, reading the word again.
"Redemption."
He had been standing here for a quarter of an hour, staring at this door, wondering what he would find on the other side. He looked beyond the door at the never-ending dunes, stretching out before him into oblivion. There was nothing ahead of him but more desolate sand, and he could stand it no longer. He would have to go through this door, no matter what lay beyond. Reaching out, he grasped the ornate handle and turned it, swinging the door open before him…
