Although I couldn’t see, something told me that I definitely wasn’t alone in the cellar.

It all started that morning. I was in the kitchen, making breakfast. It had been raining all night and from the looks of it, it wasn’t going to let up any time soon.

“Great…another day stuck inside, trapped by the rain” I thought to myself. It had been one of those winters where spring just didn’t want to come. While it was finally April, it might as well have still been the dead of winter by the looks of the constant rain. It had been days since the clouds had parted and I had seen blue sky and the sun.

Worse yet, the constant rain all day and all night, day after day, after day, after day had flooded everything. The planters were mud pits instead of beautiful flower beds; the grass was being choked out by moss and nothing seemed to want to bloom because the sun could never fight its way out from behind the clouds.

That morning had been so boring. I had done some reading, taken a nap and watched TV. Since the rain had already been going on for weeks I felt like I had finished all the little chores I could. I had decided that I wasn’t going to let the rain get me down. Instead, I thought maybe baking would pass the time. I spent some time online and found some fun recipes which I already had all the ingredients for.

While I was sitting at the computer I kept hearing a soft moaning and thudding. “What is that racket?” I asked myself. I tried to convince myself that it was just the rain outside, but it seemed to be coming more from the back of the house than outside. I tried to ignore the noise and went back to printing my recipes for my baking. I’d decided to make some banana bread and try my hand had fresh sour dough bread.

I began digging through the pantry, pulling out all the ingredients I needed. I had most everything in the pantry, flour, sugar, yeast…I had butter and eggs in the fridge. I’d managed to find everything I needed except the baking powder for the sour dough bread. “Shit” I cursed, “I’m not going out in the rain for one stupid ingredient!” I thought. Where could I have stashed something like that. Then it dawned on me, the cellar! When the pantry is overflowing with items, I sometimes take those things I don’t use as often and store them in the cellar. Baking powder would definitely be in the basement!

I headed to the back of the house, behind the kitchen and past the pantry closet is the door to the cellar, under the stairs to the upstairs bedrooms. As I headed to the cellar door, that strange noise started getting louder and louder. I paused as I was walking down the back hallway, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. “What the hell is that?!” I kept asking myself.

Finally I reached the cellar door, opened it, and peaked into the cellar. The light switch was at the bottom of the stairs, “such a stupid design, who wants to walk down the stairs in the dark”. It was exceptionally dark that morning. Without any sunshine from all the rain. I hesitated a moment, should I be concerned by that noise? “Can’t be anything.” I told myself. “Enough is enough, get your butt in gear!”

I went down the stairs, cautiously at first and then started to pick up speed. I reached the landing at the bottom and reached for the light switch. ‘Click’ Nothing. I was really starting to get irritated! What was the deal, why would the cellar have no power but the rest of the house was fine. I decided not to let it stop me. The extra storage I used for the pantry overflow was just on the other side of the cellar. Time to get what I needed and move on.

I walked rather quickly, trying to hurry. “Why was I so freaked out?” Hands outstretched in front of me, hoping not to bump into anything. In my haste, I tripped and fell. Thankfully my hands were in front of me, keeping my face from hitting the cold dusty floor. I sat up, rubbing my elbows, trying to catch my breath, that’s when I heard it again. “Thud thud…” and the moaning. The noise seemed to make my stomach fall out of my body with terror. Although I couldn’t see, something told me that I definitely wasn’t alone in the cellar.