As you can clearly see by my photo of the mop closet door warning, the North Carolina Department of Transportation takes their mop closet security seriously. Perhaps that is only on ferries. Or maybe, and this makes the story tingle a bit, maybe they only do so on that particular ferry.

Dozens of questions come to mind, but the one that burns the brightest in my mind is: Why is that mop closet so special?

It could be that some overzealous employee slapped a sign in the wrong place. But, since those boats are inspected daily, I think that is not the case. And it's a long way from April Fools' Day.

To thicken the intrigue, the door is actually a heavy duty security door. That is not exactly the kind of budget allotment likely to protect a few mops and some soap. The lock was the type that protrudes when unlocked and when pressed in locks like a low grade vault. I know this because the closet was UNLOCKED! And there is more! The mops were out and about as if no one cared about their security. So again I ask: Why is that mop closet so special?

I was tempted to open the door for a quick peek, but the notion of getting tazed simply to satisfy my curiosity seemed like a poor trade off. However, after pondering the whole situation, I have a theory. It's obvious they are hiding something. I think the mop closet was a decoy. And it worked. Because I can't tell you any details about the opposite wall from the closet.

So, there you have it. Someone is hiding something really special in plain sight. It could be a portal to another dimension! It could be how the aliens slip in and out of our galaxy. Or, maybe we're the aliens slipping into and out of another galaxy.

Why didn't I think to ask? And to top it all off, this was not some ship's officer level cover-up. This is being done by a cleaner. It's so brilliant! I wish I had been the one who dreamed it all up!

Alas, now that I've posted this publicly they will slip their secret … whatever … to a new location. Well, my friends, keep your eyes open. You never know what kind of discovery is awaiting around the next turn.