6,747 words (28–35 minutes)
Genre(s): Fantasy, Psychological fiction
Original publication in Daily Chronicle, 1906

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In this haunting and introspective tale, a successful politician named Lionel Wallace reveals a secret that has shaped and shadowed his entire life—a mysterious green door in a white wall that leads to an enchanted garden of peace and beauty. Seen only sporadically throughout his years, the door offers a path to a deeper fulfillment he continually neglects in favor of worldly duty. As Wallace's confidant listens with increasing unease, the reader is drawn into a meditation on memory, loss, and the conflict between spiritual longing and material ambition. "The Door in the Wall" is H.G. Wells at his most poignant and mystical, asking whether paradise missed is truly paradise lost.