The Man In The Cellar

He gave a final glance at Lee, thought of waking her then decided against it. What exactly would he have said to her had he woke her?

‘Honey, the electricity’s out and I need you to go down to the cellar with me.’

No, that wouldn’t go over well at all.

Instead, he carefully navigated his way through the silent darkness toward the bedroom door. Once there he opened the door just wide enough to peer through it with his right eye. Everything was still, quiet and dark very dark. He stood there listening to the darkness and suddenly felt very foolish. What exactly was he waiting to hear? And why was he peeking out of his bedroom door like a voyeur peeping through a drilled hole in a bathroom wall? This was his house and he wasn’t going to be afraid in his own house.

Jack opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. From here he could make out blocks of inky shadows that might either be the living room furniture or crouching monsters waiting silently to pounce on anyone careless enough to pass by them in the night.

To Jack’s right stood the door to Mona’s room. In the absence of light the Blues Clues stickers that decorated her door looked like splotches of

Blood

gooey liquid. Without thought he grasped the doorknob and opened the door to look in on her. She was sitting, Indian style, on her bed looking directly at Jack.

"Hey pumpkin, why are…"

"Don’t go down to the cellar, daddy." Mona said; her voice had an unusual adult quality to it.

"Why, baby? I have to go fix…" he began.

"He’s waiting for you down there." She said, her voice indifferent to emotion.

Jack felt the icicles of fear skip over his body again but refused to succumb to them.

"There’s noone waiting for nobody in the cellar Mona, now go back to sleep." Jack could hear the doubt in his own voice and hoped Mona didn’t hear it too.

"Please, daddy…" her voice was small and weak and somehow different, not odd or strange but different.

"Cover up baby, and go to sleep, I’ll see you in the morning." He cut her off.

He quietly closed the door without awaiting further protests. From behind the door he thought he heard her say something more but couldn’t make out what it was.

Jack found himself stepping with a prowler’s delicacy as he made his way into the living room and again he was aware of how foolish he was acting, although this time he did nothing to correct himself. Shadow monsters long forgotten, he rounded the corner of the living room and saw the cellar door for the first time since he had heard Mona speaking into the doggie hatch which he had cut into the bottom of it.

His heart felt like it had been replaced by a pulsing glacier and he froze where he stood.

The cellar door was open.

*

Sitting still in her bed Mona began to cry softly. Luke had told her to keep him out of the cellar, and now he was going to be mad. And mean.

*

Jack stood, rooted to the floor, starring at the door for what seemed like millennia. The door wasn’t just ajar as if it hadn’t been fully closed, but wide open with the knob resting in the cradle of plaster that Jack had created earlier. There was no question that he had closed it earlier and he knew Lee wouldn’t have left it open for fear of Mona having an accident on the stairs. But there it was, almost like an invitation in its openness.