The Stairs Beyond The Basement (Green Basement)
Dimly the greenish pale walls came into view. The room was small and rather cozy in a quiet, foreboding way. I thought I was standing alone just looking around at the smallish furniture and pillows. The room itself was like a little cubby hole built into a finished basement, fully carpeted, green shag, walls painted all green in streaks with different shades of green as I adjusted my eyes. This was very familiar, but I'd never been in this room before.
We sat down and began to chat about toys, presents and music. The colors about the top of the room were darker than the highlights of green like frost on the pines that stroked down towards the baseboards. Thick green pillows provided more seating in two of the corners. I sat there still, looking at the wall curiously.
I noticed there was a small doorway, not a big, gaping door, but a very small square-like frame leading to a dark set of stairs. Just a very tiny doorway that was built into the wall. Almost undetectable, save for the hair-thin lines. I looked around, the others were playing games and laughing. I casually mentioned that there was a door in the wall and asked if they had ever noticed it before.
The answer was a stunned No...! And they stared directly at it.
"I thought it was just another wall." said Lucy.
"No wait, it may not even open!" Rachel said backing away.
"But there's still an unexplored room in the house, don't you want to know where it leads to? Do we avoid it or find out if there's a monster behind it?" I said. "We'll never know what the door's secret is, unless somebody opens that door."
The rest gathered behind me, peering over my shoulders. I slowly opened the door, turning the tiny knob that was only a foot above the floor. The door itself was about two feet in height and two foot in width. Standing straight up again I said, "There, you see, there is a room in here." The others moved back and stared straight into the opened passageway. I thought for a moment that they were scared. But they stayed there looking on.
Everyone suddenly gathered round the opened doorway and peered inside. I looked deep into the darkness, and far, far away I saw a faint glow.
Oddly, there was so much darkness between the opened doorway and the faint glow that it seemed light years away in a terrible black void. It was stunning and coldly stark at the same time. I thought; What's this gate that leads to outer space? What's it doing in here?
"Well, I'm not going in there first." Lucy stated.
"Na-uh, me either." Rachel said.
I looked straining my eyes to see what the light was made of afar off. It looked as though it was the sun, and that we were in a doorway very far from it.
I felt around for a solid footing while bracing the edges of the small open doorway. There were stairs. I stepped through and a cold, freezing air brushed lightly up against me. The others followed behind me, but one by one, they started to pause in their advancement and I saw them turn back. Fear had won over them. They could not make this journey.
"Dipshits." I muttered. I knew they were too afraid to seek further into this new and rather expanded room. My reasoning was, of course, to keep looking. I called after them but it was of no use, the only thing I could see now was the doorway several yards behind me, a dark void in front of me, and the glow way ahead of me.
Then walking on a level floor slowly, knowing they were all still next to the doorway being chicken, I stepped down suddenly and felt with my foot a stair that descended. I began to walk down the stairs. The cold was beginning to flow upward. Beyond the large, black room that I crossed I stopped for a moment to put up my hand and strangely the far off light signaled to me. I continued. Had it been so hard and bitter I'd have turned back. I looked back and I still saw the faintest sparkle from what I knew was the now far-off little square door of the green basement.
"Well this sucks." I said into the darkness.
"You are the fire and flame here." I heard a voice say, it startled the hell out of me. Shaking off the cold, I headed further.
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