[ WP ] You suddenly find your doors and windows wo n't open . You log in to Reddit and find the most upvoted thread with over a million comments and just two hours old `` Help , my door is stuck , any tips to get it open ? ''

This is my first prompt... I hope you all enjoy it. 
 
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 Brandon rapped his finger on the door, his face still pressed against the wood. “ Mom! Please. Come here! The door is stuck! ” He listened for the sounds of movement he heard earlier but his ears were only met with silence. His fist hit the door a few swift pounds in a row. 
 
 “ MOM! Come on, man! Mom! ” He heard the murmuring again. The sound of a familiar, female voice. It was gentle and made him smile for a moment. He didn ’ t know why he smiled but he shook it off and knocked again. 
 
 “ MOM! I CAN HEAR YOU! OPEN. THE. DOOR! ” He almost held his breath to make it quieter while he listened for any signs of life. 
 
 His initial panic attack had subsided. For the first half hour or so, he pounded on the door, threw his desk chair at it, and tried sliding S.O.S. notes under the door into the hallway. When that didn ’ t work, he tried opening his window. Living in a city had its perks. Lots of people walking around outside was one of them. But the thick fog was impermeable and the window was solidly frozen shut just like the bedroom door. 
 
 His pounded once more on the glass. “ HEY! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? ” His voice bounced off the window. 
 
 “ What the hell? ” He thought out loud and he wandered to his bed. His legs landed on the bed like heavy weights free falling. His laptop glowed as he opened it. 
 
 “ Dubya Dubya Dubya… reddit dot com. ” His pinky finger hit the enter key as he sighed. “ Might as well do something fun today since I ain ’ t gon na be going to school. I guess I can be glad for that! ” He explained to empty room. 
 
 “ HELP! My door is stuck. Any tips to get it open? ” The headline post read. 
 
 “ Weird! Mine too! DAY-UM! A million comments in… ” he clicked on the link. “ TWO HOURS! Holy hell! What is this? The new safe? ” He chuckled at his own joke and then started reading. 
 
 “ This morning I got up but my door and window are stuck shut. I can ’ t get out of my room. I tried literally everything! Any tips? Edited to add: Thanks for all the help guys but it ’ s still not opening. ” 
 
 As he scrolled he read the various types of comments to get a feel for the thread and where it was going. 
 
 “ Did you try throwing a brick through it? ” One commenter asked. 
 
 “ Who the hell keeps bricks in their room? ” Came a snarky reply. 
 
 “ I ’ m going to now! Haha! Seriously though, why don ’ t you just yell for your flat mate? ” Other commenters gave suggestions and for each one, OP replied that it didn ’ t work. 
 
 Brandon read for several comments before one suggested starting a new subreddit, r/doorsandwindowsstuckshut followed by an edit that the subreddit was live. 
 
 Brandon giggled at the coincidence of the biggest thread, and now hottest new subreddit, mimicking his current predicament. He went back to the main page and scrolled down. Every thread seemed to be about doors, windows, WD-40, and things being stuck. 
 
 “ This is getting weird. ” Brandon was about to click the link on the new subreddit when he heard the voice outside his door again. He tossed his laptop to the side and ran to the door. The door knob still wouldn ’ t turn. The voice was a little louder. He couldn ’ t hear most of what the person was saying but he was now certain that it was his mom. 
 
 “ MOM! MOM! ” The panic and fear started to build. “ MOM! My door is stuck! MOM! CAN YOU HEAR ME? ” He tried to calm his breathing as he pressed his ear against the cold door again. 
 
 Murmuring. Beeps. More Murmuring. “ …Please. Just try … a little longer … I can ’ t … ” the words intermingled with the soft murmuring of her voice. It quivered at times, almost sounding like she could burst into tears at any second. 
 
 “ Mom? ” Brandon listened as the voices stopped again. He heard a thump of a door and then muffled crying. 
 
 “ Mom! Can you hear me? My door is stuck! ” His swollen knuckles tapped the door lightly. 
 
 “ Mom? ” He almost whispered as the muffled cries faded. Silence. 
 
 Brandon waited for a minute trying to hear the voices or any noise. When none came through, his shoulders slumped and he sauntered back to his bed. 
 
 Back on Reddit, he went to the new subreddit, r/doorsandwindowsstuckshut and read the sidebar. 
 
 > “ This is for all the people who are stuck in their rooms with the doors and windows stuck shut. We are here to figure out this mystery together. No hateful comments. No this is not a joke. ” 
 
 “ *ALL* the people? ” Brandon lipped the words as he read them then finally noticed the wall of posts. 
 
 “ I am stuck in my room. ” 
 
 “ My window and door are stuck shut. I have a presentation today! I don ’ t need this shit! ” 
 
 “ HELP! I am stuck in my room. My door and window won ’ t open. ” 
 
 “ [ Theory ] We are all in the matrix and someone glitched the doors and windows. ” 
 
 “ I wonder if this is purgatory. Anyone else and Atheist? ” 
 
 “ I can ’ t get my door to open! Chainsaw anyone? Live streaming. NSFW, maybe. ” 
 
 Brandon gasped as he scrolled through post after post. 
 
 “ How many people are stuck? ” Brandon fought back tears as he read the comments and posts. Refreshing brought in a barrage of new posts; some with ideas of how to get out, some with theories, some jokes to lighten the mood, and more posts of “ Stuck in my room ” types. 
 
 He was just about to submit his own post when he heard his mother ’ s voice like she was standing in the room. “ What did they say? ” 
 
 The question ripped his attention away from his new-found mystery. “ What? Hello? ” 
 
 He could hear talking on the other side of the door. This time, he could just make out the words his brother was saying. “ No. There is no brain activity. ” 
 
 “ Oh God! ” His mother ’ s voice quivered and gave way to a torrent of tears. 
 
 “ There ’ s really nothing… ” Nelson choked back on his tears, “ … they, uh … there ’ s nothing they can do. ” 
 
 Brandon could hear his brother crying now. The sobbing permeated the door. He wasn ’ t sure what was going on but someone was in bad shape. This wasn ’ t making sense. 
 
 “ I wonder if this is purgatory… ” The reddit post flashed in front of his face for a split second. 
 
 “ Oh shit. Oh no! oh GOD! MOM! ” Brandon started pounded on the door, throwing his body at it, trying with every bit of his being to force it open. “ MOM! I ’ M IN HERE! MOM! ” 
 
 He could hear his mother ’ s voice again. It was shaking and at times she would gasp deeply between words. She had been crying for a while. Brandon leaned toward the door to listen again closing his eyes to fight back the tears. 
 
 “ I don ’ t want him to suffer anymore. I ’ m so sorry. ” Brandon felt a hand on his face gently brushing his cheek. “ Oh Brandon… ” Her voice cracked again “ I am so sorry. Please forgive me. ” 
 
 Brandon tried to open his eyes but they wouldn ’ t move. He could hear the beeps again as his brother spoke calmly, “ Yea, Dad? Hey. Uhm … you might want to try to get a quicker flight. I don ’ t think Brandon is going to make it much longer. Uh-huh. Yea. ” 
 
 Nelson ’ s breath was heavy as he sighed. “ We decided to take Brandon off life support. ” His voice wavered and trailed into sobbing which echoed in Brandon ’ s ears as he opened his eyes. 
 
 He was in his room behind the locked door. 
 
 “ NO! MOM! ” Panic set in fully as he threw himself against the door. “ I ’ M STILL ALIVE! ” 
 
 He bounded back to the computer and typed, “ We ’ re all dead! I just heard my mom and brother say they are taking me off life support! I don ’ t want to die! ” 
 
 He hit submit, sat back, and started shaking. The orange message popped up on his Reddit. He clicked the envelope to read if anyone had seen his post. 
 
 “ This is an auto moderator. Your post has been removed. ” 
 

